FIFA president Infantino attends Guadalajara qualifier, signaling confidence in Mexico as World Cup host

FIFA president Gianni Infantino was in Guadalajara’s Akron Stadium on Thursday night to witness Jamaica’s victory over New Caledonia in a World Cup qualifier.

Just 34 days after a military operation near Guadalajara resulted in the death of notorious drug lord Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera, prompting violent repercussions across the country, Infantino’s presence demonstrated FIFA’s commitment to Mexico as host country of the World Cup.

On Monday, the FIFA president is scheduled to meet with President Claudia Sheinbaum at the National Palace to review Mexico’s ongoing preparations for the World Cup which will kick off in earnest at Azteca Stadium on June 11.

Infantino arrived fashionably late to Akron Stadium — he had attended Bolivia’s 2-1 Thursday afternoon win over Suriname at Monterrey’s BBVA Stadium— joining nearly 41,000 fans witnessing Jamaica’s win. He sat in a box seat alongside Mexican Soccer Federation president Mikel Arriola and Guadalajara Chivas owner Amaury Vergara.

Thanks to an 18th-minute goal from Jamaica striker Bailey Cadamarteri, the “Reggae Boyz” move on to face the Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday — also in Akron Stadium — for a spot in the 64-nation World Cup field.

The outcome of the match was less critical than the logistics and security operations, both of which were carried out smoothly. FIFA officials will keep a close watch on Tuesday’s match as well.

Thursday’s game marked the first major international sporting event in Guadalajara since last month’s violence, following a March 7 derby between the city’s two first-division clubs that attracted 36,767 fans to the nearby Jalisco Stadium. That game also went off without a hitch.

Infantino is expected to attend Mexico’s friendly against Portugal on Saturday, a game that will serve as the re-opening of Azteca Stadium which has been undergoing an extensive facelift since June 2024.

There have been concerns that the renovations would not be completed in time for the World Cup — five games, including the Cup’s inaugural match, are scheduled at Azteca Stadium — so stadium operations will be evaluated closely.

In Thursday’s contest in Monterrey, Bolivia’s come-from-behind victory sent “La Verde” into a final qualifier against Iraq on Tuesday. 

With reports from El Diario de Coahuila, El Informador and ESPN

The post FIFA president Infantino attends Guadalajara qualifier, signaling confidence in Mexico as World Cup host appeared first on Mexico News Daily



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What lit up Mexico City’s sky at 4 a.m.? Scientists explain rare bolide event

Image
Residents of Mexico City and other areas in central Mexico were jolted awake early Wednesday by a loud explosion and a bright flash across the sky. The event was later confirmed by monitoring services as a bolide — an exceptionally bright meteor that explodes in Earth’s atmosphere. ¡Impresionante avistamiento en el cielo! Esta madrugada, en el centro del país, se registró un fuerte sonido similar a una explosión cerca de las 04:51 horas. Cámaras de seguridad y Webcams de México captaron el paso de lo que se considera un meteorito a las 03:47:06. pic.twitter.com/0KRHH04pU1 — Bóveda Informativa (@bovedainfo) April 16, 2025 The phenomenon occurred at approximately 3:49 a.m. local time today, sparking widespread social media buzz but no immediate reports of damage, injuries, debris or impact sites. The independent seismic monitoring service Sismo Alerta Mexicana detected the explosion’s acoustic wave via seismographs, affirming on social media it originated from a bolide tha...
Read more

2025 Future of Mexico Forum: MND talks migration with Tatiana Clouthier, Jeff Flake, Roberta Jacobson

Image
On Feb. 6-7, Mexico News Daily and Querencia hosted the “Future of Mexico Forum” at the Querencia Private Golf & Beach Club in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur. The forum brought together leaders from Mexico and the United States to discuss the future of Mexico across a diverse range of topics. As part of this forum, the MND team conducted a series of exclusive interviews with each of the speakers and will be sharing the highlights with you in this series. The participants in the forum session “Migration and its impact on Mexico” were: Former Mexican Economy Minister Tatiana Clouthier, who will soon take up a new position as head of the federal government’s Institute for Mexicans Abroad .  Former United States Congressman and Senator Jeff Flake, who served as U.S. ambassador to Turkey between 2022 and 2024.    Former United States Ambassador to Mexico Roberta Jacobson, who prior to her ambassadorship served as assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere af...
Read more

Cutzamala water levels are up from 2024, but ‘Day Zero’ fears linger in Mexico City

Image
A year after severe drought and lack of rainfall took the Mexico City metropolitan area to the brink of a water crisis, conditions appear much improved in 2025. The National Water Commission (Conagua) reported that as of April 1, the Cutzamala reservoir system — which provides almost a third of the capital’s water and supplies several suburban areas within neighboring México state — was at 56% capacity. A year ago on April 1, 2024, supplies were at 34.7% capacity, more than 20% less than current water levels. Although this is a relief to the millions of people that rely on the Cutzamala for its water, Conagua data shows that the current situation is considerably below average. In 2020, supplies were at 73.3% capacity and, in 2019, the Cutzamala was 82% full. Mexico City’s annual rainy season, which typically runs from May through to September, can be fickle. It was nearly two months late in arriving last year , prompting real concerns that Mexico City could face a Day Zero . Whil...
Read more