With just months to go before the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which Mexico will co-host with the United States and Canada in June, a deadly attack at a community football match has reignited fears over security in one of the tournament’s host nations.
At least 11 people were killed on Sunday when gunmen opened fire during a local football game in Loma de Flores, near the city of Salamanca in Guanajuato state. The massacre has sparked anger and grief in a town where sport is promoted as a means of steering young people away from drug cartel violence.
“We no longer know where to find peace,” Norma Barrón, one of the league’s promoters, told AFP.
The attack unfolded as an afternoon of football, attended by families, was drawing to a close. According to Barrón, the assailants arrived in at least three vehicles and stormed the pitch, firing indiscriminately. A preliminary investigation suggests the shooting was linked to a settling of scores between rival criminal gangs.
Barrón, an activist involved in efforts to locate tens of thousands of Mexicans who have disappeared—many believed to have been abducted or killed by cartels—was in the southern state of Oaxaca at the time. Her adult son, who was at the match, called her as the gunfire erupted.
“They’re attacking people. There are several dead. We’re taking cover,” she recalled him saying during an interview at the blood-stained football field on Monday.
Local and federal authorities confirmed 11 fatalities, with 10 others wounded, including a woman and a minor. Residents said the shooting lasted 15 to 20 minutes, leaving behind scenes of chaos: abandoned vehicles, discarded beer cans, players’ clothing scattered across the pitch, and candles lit in memory of the victims.
Among the dead were at least five security guards tasked with protecting the venue and ensuring attendees were unarmed. A federal security source said the guards were targeted because they worked for a company allegedly linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). The attackers were believed to be members of the rival Santa Rosa de Lima cartel, which is locked in a violent struggle with the CJNG over fuel theft, drug trafficking, and extortion in the region. Messages found at the scene also pointed to the cartel rivalry.
The attack has once again highlighted the relentless gang violence gripping Guanajuato, a major industrial hub that is also one of Mexico’s deadliest states. While President Claudia Sheinbaum has pointed to a nationwide drop in homicide rates since taking office in October 2024, the state’s murder rate remains more than double the national average, at 38.84 per 100,000 people.
Guanajuato has seen several high-profile attacks on entertainment venues in recent years, including a shooting at a Christmas party in December 2023 that killed 11 people and a gun battle at a swimming pool earlier that year that left six dead.
In response, Governor Libia Garcia announced the launch of a joint state-federal security operation in the affected area.
