As Mexico co-hosts the FIFA World Cup, the average Mexican worker, earning approximately $433 a month, finds stadium tickets priced out of reach, forcing widespread celebrations into public streets, plazas, and underpasses across the country.
Ticket prices for the tournament ranged from $140 to $8,680, with some tickets to the World Cup final later rising to around $32,970. This pricing structure has created a significant gap between those who can and cannot attend games, according to Diego Merla, fiscal justice coordinator for Oxfam Mexico.
Merla stated that many Mexicans feel as if “it’s a party we weren’t invited to.” He described the World Cup as “built around the logic of squeezing as much value out of it as possible,” targeting those “willing and able to pay the absolute maximum,” which “ends up excluding a lot of people.”
The Cost of Capital's Spectacle
FIFA President Gianni Infantino defended the high ticket prices, stating they were appropriate for the U.S. market. Infantino remarked, “You cannot go to watch in the U.S. a college game, not even speaking about a top professional game of a certain level, for less than $300,” adding, “And this is the World Cup.” This justification aligns the global spectacle with the high cost of entertainment in a major capitalist economy, effectively privatizing access to a cultural event.
In Mexico City, Esmeralda Serrato chose to watch matches in the street with dozens of neighbors, stating, “Honestly, there’s nothing like going to the stadiums, but I prefer being here in the street. … For me it’s like watching the game from my living room.” Serrato added, “I feel the blood rushing through my veins saying ‘This is the World Cup.’”
Workers Reclaim the Game
Guillermo Ramírez, 49, a native of Tepito, a working-class Mexico City neighborhood, organized a public viewing by setting up a TV screen and speakers on plastic tables in front of his house and corner shop. Ramírez recalled watching the 1986 Mexico World Cup as a young boy from televisions set up by neighbors who also could not afford stadium entry. He stated, “There are a lot of us who simply can’t afford to go to the stadium,” adding, “Tepito is a soccer barrio, and when there’s a match on, everyone takes out their TVs to watch, especially now during the World Cup.”
Tepito is known for its sprawling street markets, including those selling pirated World Cup jerseys, and soccer is described there as a symbol of resistance and local identity. Neighbors gather around Ramírez’s screen, wearing lucha libre masks and drinking beer from his shop, demonstrating a collective, self-organized response to economic exclusion.
When Mexico’s national team wins, tens of thousands of people flood the streets and gather at Mexico City’s central monument, the Angel de la Independencia, transforming public spaces into sites of collective celebration.
The State's Role in Managing Contradiction
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum criticized the costs, stating last week that FIFA leaders should “reflect on their pricing decisions.” Sheinbaum asserted, “Soccer has to be something else.” She has encouraged fans to attend free public watch parties, which are set up by local governments and FIFA in cities including Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey. Nearly 20 such venues are available in the Mexican capital, some located in lower-income areas.
These state-sanctioned public viewing events, while offering an alternative, do not challenge the underlying profit motive that drives the high ticket prices. For one game, over 200,000 Mexican and foreign fans packed into the Zocalo, Mexico City’s main plaza, for a public viewing. Armando Soriano, who traveled with his family to a smaller Fan Fest, noted that the event felt “more Mexican” than the central FIFA event, seeking to experience “the traditions that people here live and breathe.”