Article by Daniel Scorpie – Published Monday, February 23, 2026, 6:59 p.m. / Updated Monday, February 23, 2026, 7:02 p.m.
Less than four months before the start of the 2026 World Championship, in Mexico it's chaos. One of the three cities that will host matches in the final tournament, Guadalajara, has been paralyzed by the revolt of the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel. This after the leader, Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, was killed by the Mexican authorities during an operation aimed at his arrest.
Football also stopped. Liga di México has postponed the match between Clubs Querétaro and FC Juárez in the men's championship and Chivas – America in the women's championship, which were supposed to be played on Sunday.
The fate of the friendly match between the national teams of Mexico and Iceland, scheduled to take place in Querétaro, is also uncertain. The local media is afraid that some matches could be moved to other cities for security reasons and the concern extends even to the summer World Cup hosted by Mexico, along with the USA and Canada.
“El Mencho” was seriously wounded during an operation carried out by the Mexican army in the city of Tapalpa in the state of Jalisco, dying while being transported to the country's capital, Mexico City. In the exchange of fire, 4 members of the cartel lost their lives. Five other people, including three law enforcement officers, were seriously injured, the BBC writes.
“Mexico's position enters a phase of critical uncertainty!”
The criminal organization reacted violently to the news of the killing of its leader. In at least 8 Mexican states, law enforcement officials were attacked, roads were blocked, cars and buildings were set on fire. Thick smoke also rose over the city of Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco state, one of the cities that will host matches at this summer's World Cup.
Milenio newspaper revealed behind the scenes related to the fact that The Mexican government reportedly asked the Washington administration “to avoid operations against El Mencho in 2026, so as not to destabilize the country during the World Cup.”
Chaos in Mexico / Imago Images
According to the quoted source, this informal agreement was not respected: “Now, following the failure of that secret agreement, the World Cup would be in danger. Televisa, which holds the rights to the final tournament in 2026, said that Mexico's position as organizer has entered a phase of critical uncertainty.”
Guillermo Schutz, a Televisa journalist, announced on social media that FIFA will hold a series of urgent and “very unpleasant” meetings in the coming days with the organizing committees in the Mexican cities of Guadalajara, Monterrey and Mexico City.
