4,757 people in Chiapas set first of 3 World Cup-focused Guinness World Records

Mexico achieved a new Guinness World Record on Friday when 4,757 people gathered in Víctor Manuel Reyna stadium in the capital of Chiapas to create the biggest soccer jersey formed by human figures in the world. 

Thousands of university and preparatory students, as well as other residents of Tuxtla Gutiérrez, arranged themselves on the pitch in the shape of a jersey that measured 48 meters wide by 35.5 meters high. 

Before the event began, volunteers handed out green, red and white t-shirts, representing the colors of the Mexican national flag. Each shirt featured flags of all 32 Mexican states, symbolizing national unity as the country builds momentum toward the 2026 FIFA World Cup, according to the Tourism Ministry, which organized the event.

In the center of the shirt, participants held up the slogans, “Mexico is in style” and “Chiapas is extraordinary by nature,” as a nod to the state’s outstanding natural beauty, from jungles to waterfalls and lagoons. 

The previous record for a similar feat was held by Bucaramanga, Colombia, where 2,891 people formed the image of the local soccer team’s jersey on Nov. 7, 2018. 

These events are part of the “Social World Cup” program, an initiative President Claudia Sheinbaum announced in November. The program aims to bring educational, tourism, and cultural activities to communities across the country in the lead-up to the global soccer tournament.

“I want to thank our president, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, for this opportunity to make Chiapas visible, because with this we are starting the first act of the 2026 World Cup in our country,” Chiapas governor Eduardo Ramírez Aguilar, who attended the event, wrote on social media. 

“It is a historic achievement for the state of Chiapas,” said the official adjudicator for Guinness World Records in Mexico, Alfredo Arista. 

“I have the fortune of being witness to this great image… where we can observe the fraternity that is precisely what we are looking for: The integration of families and people, to achieve a common objective to make this world, this state an amazing place,” added Arista.  

Mexico’s next Guinness World Record attempt, scheduled for Sunday, March 15, in Mexico City, will seek to hold the world’s largest soccer practice. 

With reports from La Jornada and Expansión Política

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