On Thursday, June 11, 2026, as the World Cup kicked off in Mexico, former president Felipe Calder\u00f3n took to X to highlight his presence at the 2010 tournament\u2019s opening match in South Africa, subtly contrasting it with current president Claudia Sheinbaum\u2019s absence from key events in Mexico City. <\/p>\n
Calder\u00f3n shared a post recalling that in 2010, the World Cup was held in South Africa, and the opening game was between the host nation and Mexico. He noted that then-president Jacob Zuma invited him to the match, which ended in a draw highlighted by a stunning goal from Rafa M\u00e1rquez. <\/p>\n
This message was widely seen as a direct response to Sheinbaum\u2019s decision not to attend either the opening match at Estadio Azteca or the Fan Fest at the Z\u00f3calo on June 11, 2026. Instead, Sheinbaum followed the tournament\u2019s start through public activities in the Gustavo A. Madero borough and later from government offices. <\/p>\n
Her absence came amid heightened tensions in Mexico City, with protests planned by the CNTE teachers\u2019 union, search collectives, and other groups during the World Cup inauguration. Authorities responded with a significant security operation, securing both the stadium and the historic downtown area. <\/p>\n
Social media users quickly noticed the contrast, sharing images of Calder\u00f3n at Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg in 2010 alongside Sheinbaum\u2019s more reserved approach to the 2026 opening. <\/p>\n
Sixteen years apart, facing the same opponent\u2014South Africa\u2014the two presidents experienced the World Cup\u2019s opening in very different ways. This moment invites reflection on how political leadership engages with national and international events, and how public presence can shape the narrative around such global spectacles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On Thursday, June 11, 2026, as the World Cup kicked off in Mexico, former president Felipe Calder\u00f3n took to X to highlight his presence at the 2010 tournament\u2019s opening match in South Africa, subtly contrasting it with current president Claudia Sheinbaum\u2019s absence from key events in Mexico City. Calder\u00f3n shared a post recalling that in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nacional"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topnews.mx\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}