Image Credit: ULISES RUIZ / AFP via Getty Images 
The 2026 World Cup is scheduled to start on June 11 and last until July 19.
For the first time ever, the World Cup will be hosted by three countries: the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
The games are to be held in 16 cities. Here is a map of the 16 venues:
Note the three Mexican cities slated to host World Cup games: Mexico City, the Monterrey metro (Guadalupe) and the Guadalajara metro (Zapopan).
Wait a minute, wasn’t the Guadalajara area recently rocked by extreme violence after the death of CJGN cartel boss “El Mencho”?
So how secure will the World Cup be?
“World Cup co-hosts Mexico have announced plans to deploy nearly 100,000 security personnel to protect fans at this summer’s tournament, amid ongoing drug cartel violence in the country,” the BBC recently reported.
“Mexico, hosts alongside the United States and Canada, will stage World Cup fixtures across three cities – including Guadalajara, the capital city of Jalisco where the violence began last month and more than 12,000 people are reported missing.”
“Mexico will also host matches in Mexico City and Monterrey, both spared by the violence, when the World Cup is held between 11 June and 19 July…”
President Claudia Sheinbaum and FIFA (soccer’s governing body) have both “insisted that the violence will have no impact on the World Cup, when millions of visitors are expected.”
“Mexico’s ‘Plan Kukulkan’, named after the serpent deity of the Mayan civilisation, covers the host cities and their nearby tourist destinations and will oversee a security deployment of ‘just over 99,000 personnel’, according to the head of Mexico’s World Cup co-ordination centre, Roman Villalvazo Barrios.”
“FIFA president Gianni Infantino has said he feels ‘very reassured’ that Mexico can still successfully stage World Cup games.”
Let’s hope the World Cup matches in Mexico are safe for all involved.
The Second Great Crusade Has Begun
