FIFA World Cup 2026: Mexico Fans Lay Siege To Ecuador Team Hotel on Eve of Clash

Mexico City: Mexico fans staged a noisy celebration outside Ecuador's team hotel late Monday in an apparent attempt to disrupt the South American side's preparations for their last 32 World Cup clash against the tournament co-hosts, officials said.

The Ecuador Football Federation (FEF) said Tuesday it had lodged an official complaint with World Cup organizers after the rowdy scenes outside their team's hotel in Mexico City on Monday.

"This behavior is far removed from the principles of fair play, equity, and unity that a football World Cup should represent," the FEF noted in an official statement released on social media.

Ecuador face co-hosts Mexico later on Tuesday at Mexico City's Azteca Stadium for a place in the last 16 of the tournament.

Addressing the scenes outside the Ecuador hotel on Tuesday, Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said "one must always be respectful of others" before acknowledging that Mexican football victories bring "enormous joy."

"We trust the Mexican people to act responsibly," the president added.

On Monday, Mexico fans arrived at the Ecuador hotel in a caravan of cars and motorcycles according to footage published by local newspaper Reforma.

Waving Mexican flags and blasting air horns, car horns, and trumpets, fans could be heard shouting "Ecuador won't sleep!".

Mexico City police subsequently established a "perimeter cordon around the area," while traffic officers managed the flow of vehicles around the area.

"Subsequently, the crowd dispersed, and the situation returned to normal," a police report said.

Some Mexican media personalities, such as Fox Sports host Ana Valero, encouraged fans to join in the disturbance through ironic messages appealing to fans "not to go" to the hotel while simultaneously providing the address and time, and suggesting they bring "serenades, firecrackers, and noisemakers" to disturb Ecuador's players.

The incident echoes similar disturbances at the 1970 World Cup, when Mexico fans descended on England's team hotel on the night before their group clash with Brazil in Guadalajara.

Fans banged dustbin lids, honked car horns and marched directly into the hotel corridors in a bid to disrupt English players' sleep.