Mexico City Plans More Screens and Alcohol Rules After 700,000 Celebrate World Cup Win

Mexico defeated South Korea in a 2026 FIFA World Cup match on June 18, 2026, advancing to the knockout stage and drawing more than 700,000 people downtown for celebrations. Fans dressed in green El Tri jerseys or colourful Lucha Libre masks danced in the rain, waved flags, sang anthems and blew vuvuzelas near the Angel of Independence.

The next morning Reforma Avenue was covered in rubbish and many of its yellow cempasuchil flowers had been trampled.

Authorities collected 40 tonnes of waste around the historic centre. Mexico City government secretary Cesar Cravioto told a news conference on Friday that the government’s duty of care includes controlling illegal sales of alcohol on the streets. He said officials would ask restaurants and bars to stop customers taking drinks off premises and might ask convenience stores to halt alcohol sales in the hours before big games.

The city plans to install seven additional large screens, bringing the total to 19, and will deploy more personnel to limit beer sales by street vendors. “We will keep insisting that fans have fun but without excessive alcohol consumption,” Cravioto said.

In Boston, Scottish fans known as the “Tartan Army” drank such quantities of beer after Scotland beat Haiti 1-0 that several bars reported running dry.

Mexico is scheduled to face the Czech Republic in the group stage on Wednesday.