Mexico’s top cultural authorities are racing to ready dozens of landmarks before the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with renovations to be carried out at 12 museums and 46 archaeological sites.

The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) is undertaking the refurbishments as part of a nationwide effort to present “the living culture of Mexico” to the world, Culture Minister Claudia Curiel de Icaza said recently during INAH’s 87th anniversary celebration at Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City.

The 58 targeted sites are expected to draw millions of visitors during and around the 2026 men’s World Cup, scheduled for June 11 to July 19 in Mexico, the United States and Canada.

“We are focused on preservation, but at the same time providing functional conditions and better infrastructure for all tourists and visitors,” Curiel de Icaza said, announcing upgrades to the National Museum of Anthropology and Templo Mayor in Mexico City, and “all the tourist structures in the Maya world.”

The Templo Mayor archaeological zone contains remnants from the ancient metropolis of Tenochtitlán, the flourishing Aztec (Mexica) capital from the 1300s to 1500s on an island in Lake Texcoco where present-day Mexico City stands.

Teotihuacán, another one of Mesoamerica’s major pre-Hispanic cities, will be a centerpiece of the effort, with improvements to roads, services and signage in the next three months, along with training for the workers “who will attend to visitors and tourists from all over the world,” she said. The archeological site is about 50 kilometers northeast of present-day Mexico City.

México state officials told the newspaper La Jornada that discussions are underway to reopen the climb to the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacán and revive nighttime light-and-sound shows in time for the 13 World Cup games in Mexico (five in Mexico City, four in Guadalajara and four in Monterrey).

After 5 years, tourists can once again climb Teotihuacán’s Pyramid of the Moon

INAH director Joel Omar Vázquez Herrera said the government has allocated 200 million pesos (US $11.7 million) for the projects, underscoring the pressure on aging infrastructure.

Last year, more than 11.5 million people visited INAH’s network of 165 museums, and about 10.5 million visited its 194 archaeological sites, for a total of slightly more than 22 million visitors, INAH said.

The agency also noted that the National Museum of Anthropology stood out, exceeding 5 million visitors in 2025.

With reports from El Sol de México, Culturamexicana.org and La Jornada