Football
FIFA World Cup 2026
Mexico

Mexico fans turn to prayers ahead of England clash as World Cup hopes grow

One of the world’s most Catholic nations turns to the Virgin of Guadalupe, even in football.
by Redazione Undici 5 July 2026 at 09:12
Mexico are living through a World Cup that feels almost perfect: they finished the group stage with maximum points, without conceding a single goal, and they also broke what had become a kind of fourth-match curse, since from 1986 onwards they had never managed to win a knockout game at a World Cup. In a situation like this the enthusiasm becomes unavoidable, almost physical, and it spills into the streets in ways that are difficult to contain, with one million people, more or less, gathering in Mexico City after the victory over Ecuador in the round of 16. Now England waits, and it is a home match as well, inside the Azteca, which tends to turn every expectation into something heavier than football itself.

The anticipation around Harry Kane and his team only amplifies what is already happening across the country, and according to the Wall Street Journal, one of the most authoritative newspapers in the world, votive offerings have multiplied in the capital and beyond, meaning promises addressed to God, to the saints, and to the Virgin of Guadalupe, in a country where more than 77 percent of the population identifies as Catholic. Francisco Acero, auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Mexico City, told the WSJ that many supporters pray to the Virgin of Guadalupe asking her to help the ball find its way into the net, which is the kind of statement that, taken literally, sits exactly where football and belief begin to overlap.

A closer look at social media is enough to confirm how widespread this has become, with videos circulating of fans making increasingly elaborate vows in exchange for a result against England and, implicitly, for what might follow if the tournament continues to open up. Some of these promises are lighter, almost symbolic, while others are more explicit in their religious tone, but most of them return to the same figure, the Virgin of Guadalupe, who according to Catholic doctrine appeared in Mexico in 1531 and who remains the central reference point for devotion in the country. “Whatever is asked in Mexico is asked of her,” Acero said, as if to underline how naturally this transfer of expectation takes place. And at this point the entire country seems to orbit around a single image, the national team in its green shirt moving through the World Cup, first against England and then into whatever comes next.

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