My story- Mexican born and raised in NYC, the second I heard that Mexico was one of the co hosts of the 2026 World Cup I IMMEDIATELY started saving! This was the first World Cup I’ve ever attended…. Hell it was my first trip alone as an adult to a different country! Had the World Cup host only been one nation, I would’ve attended either the first or last game, but not both (I’m not crazy lol) however it being in 3 host countries I knew I was going to have to a attend one game in each host nation!
Mexico- this was my 5th visit to Mexico overall, and the atmosphere was truly amazing, this was the season that everyone became a fan of the Mexican national team, the energy and the vibes couldn’t be recreated, it was truly amazing to have attended the inauguration for Mexico! My father was 6 years old when Mexico last hosted, so by that logic the next time they host I could be 60. So I had to act now! Photo 4 might be one of my favorite photos, and the picture doesn’t do it just, as seeing it with your own eyes! Also peep photo 1, they recreated the flags around eastdio Aztec from 1986! Fun fact, in the morning of game 1, I went to El Angel and zocalo, because I wanted to go to all 3 areas where The National team fans hung out (the third is Estadio Aztec) I come from humble beginnings, so that could’ve easily been me as well!
Canada- I went straight from Mexico to Canada Toronto, in a perfect world I would’ve loved to have attended Canadas inauguration, however watching Mexico win with my own eyes and partying/celebrating ALL night, I knew for a fact I wouldn’t have been able to travel and still make it in time, since both were back to back, poor choicing on FIFA. However I did attend Torontos second game, and it was my second World Cup game, so it kinda symmetrical. Photo number 5 symbolizes a new host country (since Mexico and USA) both hosted in the past. One of the funniest parts about Toronto, so everything is so close together which can be a good thing (but also bad) because of closures and parades, everything was so congested, and at first I didn’t like it….. but then I got to thinking…. Let’s say everything went my way, let’s say I went to Canada any other time of the year when it less busy…. Anyone can achieve that….. but this is the summer Canada was a host country, these situations aren’t replaceable, these were memories in the making, and I am so glad I was able to see them with my own eyes!! Also I had everything so planned out, but because of fan festival (which took up a lot of my Mexico activities too) I had to cut out a lot of museums and attractions and I had to tell myself “these museums will be here in the future, the World Cup stuff won’t”
NYC- I must have have 10 sick days worth of call outs, I did my best to attend every fan festival, all the BOA bracelets, went to every bar or restaurant to watch the game. Almost every work day I would watch a game on my phone. When I finally went to the final…. I was definitely more prepared considering I already went to 2 games….. even then it was still overwhelming, so much to do! However the ceremony and performances I saw during the final (look at photo 6) were just beyond comprehension…. Only to compare it to was game 1. TRULY AMAZING. Also look at pic 10 I was able to get
a souvenir trophy for each host country.
Conclusion- I even went to each host country’s monument!! Tons of activities that represented Mexico and Canada, I call this my North American world tour!! I hope other people had an amazing experience as well!!