Mexico Can't Stop Digging Up Human Remains Near World Cup Host Site in Guadalajara
Latin Times – With less than 200 days before the start of the 2026 World Cup in North America, one of Mexico's host cities is facing a serious problem in the areas surrounding its stadium.
According to recent reports, search groups in the state of Jalisco have found hundreds of bags containing human remains near Akron Stadium, home of Chivas de Guadalajara, one of the country's most prominent soccer teams.
A member of Guerreros Buscadores de Jalisco, a volunteer search collective, said the most recent discovery took place in September. Since 2022, at least 456 bags with human remains have been recovered in the vicinity of Akron Stadium, which is set to host four World Cup group stage matches as well as the inter-confederation playoffs prior to the start of the tournament.
There's a disappearance crisis in Mexico. People go missing and are never found. A lot. But in the area surrounding Estadio Akron, a 2026 World Cup host stadium, civilian search groups have slowly but very surely been digging them up. At least some of them. 456 bags worth to be exact.
456 bags of human remains and counting near Estadio Akron since 2022. How many bodies do we think that is? Is it more or less than 456? Serious question. I do not know if more or less than 1 body fits in a black trash bag. I'm assuming it's more, but I can't say I've come to learn that bit of knowledge my line of work.
On the bright side, World Cup ticket prices have been out of control. It's been all over the news. FIFA is nothing but crooks. But now that the Guadalajara metropolitan area is proving to be built on a pile of human remains, maybe it will fend off the wealthy fair-weather soccer posers, and make way for the true-die hards who don't mind a high probability of staying in an AirBnB that doubles as a clandestine grave.
What a tough beat for the likes of Spain, South Korea, Colombia, Uruguay, and whatever other countries wind up playing group stage matches in Guadalajara. They could have ended up in 16 different cities across North America, and they drew the dead bodies site. Not that there isn't plenty of crime in places like Atlanta, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Toronto, Mexico City, Monterrey, etc. But as far as I know, those particular sites aren't in the midst of a 5-year long Easter egg hunt for decaying body parts outside their venue.
The discovery of clandestine graves remains a critical issue in Mexico, particularly in Jalisco. According to the 2025 national report on missing persons by the Mexican Institute of Human Rights and Democracy, Jalisco is among the five states with the highest number of disappearances, along with the State of Mexico, Tamaulipas, Veracruz and Nuevo León.
The findings come only months before the 2026 World Cup, which will use Akron Stadium as a venue. Servin García criticized what he described as the government's decision to prioritize the event over the crisis of missing persons.
"The government cares about money, not citizens. They even remove our missing persons posters so visitors do not notice the magnitude of the problem," he said.
"They announce that the work is almost finished, but it is not true. They want to speed everything up so that when the World Cup arrives everything looks normal. We will keep working, with or without the World Cup, to bring to light whatever we find," he said.
I'm inclined to say something along the lines of, "What a shit show. Who's bright idea was it to host the World Cup in a place like this?"
But isn't this what the World Cup is all about? A series of disasters leading up to event? What would the World Cup be without the looming threat of being murdered on your way into the stadium. Whether it's for being drunk in Qatar, being gay in Russia, or having your throat cut for your wallet in Guadalajara, that's just classic World Cup soccer.
Honestly speaking, if trash bags full of body parts surrounding one of the host venues is the worst story we get out of this year's World Cup, I'd call that a pretty uneventful tournament. As far as I'm concerned, that's par for FIFA's course.