Less than 100 days before the start of the FIFA men’s World Cup, preparations for the quadrennial tournament are ramping up.
On Wednesday, Mexican officials met with FIFA representatives to discuss security arrangements for the tournament, which Mexico will co-host with the U.S. and Canada, while on Thursday morning President Claudia Sheinbaum announced a competition whose winner will represent Mexico at the World Cup opening ceremony.
Among other issues discussed at the mañanera, Sheinbaum spoke about the recent death of a Mexican citizen who was in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Sheinbaum announces competition to win her ticket to World Cup opener
Sheinbaum announced that a competition called “Represent Mexico in the World Cup Opening Ceremony” will be held to find a young woman to represent her at the opening ceremony and match of the tournament, which will take place in Mexico City on June 11.
The winner of the competition will be given Sheinbaum’s ticket — No. 00001 — for the opening ceremony and match at Estadio Azteca. The president received the ticket from FIFA president Gianni Infantino last August.
The competition, Sheinbaum explained, is a soccer ball juggling contest.
“Young women aged 16 to 25 are going to participate,” she said.
“… What do they have to do? Dominadas for one minute,” Sheinbaum said, using a Spanish-language noun for the juggling of a soccer ball.
She said that participants will submit their entries via the website mundialsocial.gob.mx, where they will enter a link to a YouTube video in which they are shown juggling a soccer ball for one minute. Entries can be submitted between next Monday (March 9) and April 10.
Sheinbaum said that the judges of the competition will be professional soccer player Charlyn Corral Ang, referee Katia Itzel García and commentator Gabriela Fernández de Lara.
“The best [soccer ball juggler], whoever is chosen, will represent Mexico at the World Cup opening ceremony,” she said.
Sheinbaum, who announced last year that she would give away her ticket, said that she would watch the World Cup opening ceremony — which will precede the first match of the tournament between Mexico and South Africa — in the Zócalo, Mexico City’s central square.
“I’ll be here in the Zócalo watching … with the people while a young woman represents me at the opening ceremony,” she said during her press conference at the National Palace, which is adjacent to the central square.
“Why? Because I think that a young woman who plays fútbol is a great representative of our country,” Sheinbaum said.
“Very few people will be able to go to the opening ceremony, very few people. So, I’m going to watch it here with the people and a young woman will represent us, represent me and the people of Mexico,” she said.
Later in the press conference, Sheinbaum said there was a possibility that at least two runners-up would also be able to attend the World Cup opening ceremony.
“Let’s see if we get other tickets. … We’re working on that, let’s see if we can give [tickets] to second and third place, at least,” she said.
Sheinbaum: Mexico sent US a diplomatic note over the death of a Mexican national in ICE custody
A reporter noted that the Foreign Affairs Ministry (SRE) announced the death of a Mexican national in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and asked the president what information she had about the case and whether a “formal diplomatic notice of protest” had been sent to the U.S. government.
Sheinbaum said that a diplomatic note was “immediately” sent to the U.S. government and noted that authorities are supporting the family of the deceased man, identified as 48-year-old Alberto Gutiérrez Reyes, who was originally from Veracruz.
“And the way in which we file a [legal] complaint … [in the U.S.] is through the family. The [Mexican] Consulate can’t do it directly due to legal reasons,” she said.
The SRE published a press release on Sunday, in which it announced “with deep regret the death of a Mexican national while in ICE custody at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California.”
The ministry said it would “demand an immediate and thorough investigation into the conditions that have led to the deaths of Mexicans in this agency’s custody, in order to hold those responsible accountable and ensure no recurrence of such events.”
The SRE also said that “given the seriousness of the situation, the Mexican Consulate in San Bernardino immediately activated its consular protection protocols and communicated urgently with the authorities involved to request detailed information about the circumstances surrounding the death.”
A Mexican national died while in ICE custody at the Adelanto detention center in the High Desert, according to Los Angeles Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez.
Hernandez identified the man who died as Alberto Gutierrez Reyes of Westlake. She claims he died in ICE custody after… pic.twitter.com/lwp50tDA62
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) March 3, 2026
“Formal requests have been submitted for the deceased’s medical records, custody reports, and all other documentation necessary to establish a full and clear account of what occurred,” the ministry added.
The Adelanto ICE Processing Center is located around 145 kilometers (90 miles) northeast of central Los Angeles.
According to L.A. City council member Eunisses Hernandez, Gutiérrez “died in ICE custody after being denied medical care.”
ABC 7 reported that Gutiérrez Reyes “lived in L.A.’s Westlake District, according to his family.”
He arrived in the United States in 2001 “in search of better opportunities for his family,” N+ Univisión reported.
Gutiérrez’s wife, Patricia Martínez Hernández, told ABC 7 that her husband had diabetes and high cholesterol. She “alleges the [ICE processing] center knew this but did nothing to help,” ABC 7 reported.
“He would say that he wasn’t feeling well. He wasn’t feeling well. When my son went to go see him Sunday, my son goes every Sunday, he would tell me, ‘Mom, dad’s skin is yellow. His face is yellow.’ Last week, the Sunday before, he told me, ‘Mom, his eyes are yellow,” said Martínez, whose husband was reportedly detained at the ICE center for less than two months.
Citing his family, N+ Univisión reported that Gutiérrez began to suffer from “serious health problems related to the extreme cold and the conditions in the detention center,” located in the Mojave Desert.
The news outlet said that he lost consciousness at around midnight on Feb. 26 and was transported to the Victor Valley Global Medical Center, where he died early on Feb. 27.
Gutiérrez’s death was the ninth in ICE custody this year, according to Eunisses Hernandez, the L.A. council member. The Associated Press reported Thursday that at least nine people have died in ICE custody this year, including a Haitian man who passed away this week.
The ICE website currently only lists two deaths in its custody this year, but the agency has 90 days to make public such fatalities. There were more than 30 deaths in ICE custody in 2025, the most in more than 20 years, according to the Washington Office on Latin America.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
