With each of Mexico’s World Cup victories over the past three weeks, more and more soccer fans took to the streets of Mexico City to celebrate.
In this week’s “Mexico in Numbers” article, we’ll look at how the number of revelers celebrating El Tri’s wins in the vicinity of the Angel of Independence (El Ángel) monument on Paseo de la Reforma has grown. We’ll also compare those numbers to the size of the crowd at a free Shakira concert staged earlier this year in the Zócalo, Mexico City’s main square.
Esta noche más de 800 mil personas celebran en las calles de la #CapitalDeLaTransformación el triunfo histórico de nuestra selección. Celebremos protegiéndonos todos y sin generar riesgos.
¡Una vez más demostramos que somos la mejor sede mundialista! pic.twitter.com/V9qN8MqIJE
— Clara Brugada Molina (@ClaraBrugadaM) June 25, 2026
You can read about how the sizes of large crowds are estimated in this article published by New Zealand’s Massey University.
The World Cup group stage
After Mexico’s 2-0 victory over South Africa in the opening match of the World Cup at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on June 11, the Mexico City Culture Ministry reported that 150,000 people celebrated on Paseo de la Reforma in the vicinity of El Ángel where a “great concert” featuring various performers was held.
Following El Tri’s 1-0 win over South Korea in Guadalajara on June 18, around 400,000 people reveled in the victory around El Ángel, the Mexico City government reported. Thus the number of merrymakers increased 166% compared to the previous week.
Mexico defeated Czechia 3-0 in its third and final group stage match, played at Estadio Azteca on June 24. Following El Tri’s victory, more than 800,000 people celebrated in the streets of the capital, said Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada, making an apparent reference to the area around El Ángel. That figure represents a 433% increase compared to the number of celebrants after the South Africa match, and a 100% increase compared to the number of revelers after the South Korea match.
Mexico’s first elimination match
While it was widely reported that around 1 million people celebrated in the vicinity of El Ángel after Mexico’s 2-0 victory over Ecuador on Tuesday night, the Mexico City government announced a lower number on Wednesday.
According to the government, 820,000 people celebrated the win on Paseo de la Reforma near el Ángel, at the nearby Monument to the Revolution and on Juárez Avenue in the historic center of Mexico City. That figure represents a 2.5% increase compared to the 800,000 celebrants after the Mexico-Czechia match, a 105% increase compared to the 400,000 revelers after the Mexico-South Korea match and a 447% increase compared to the 150,000 merrymakers after the Mexico-South Africa match.
The Mexico City government also reported that 484,000 people attended fan festivals in Mexico City during the Mexico-Ecuador match, including the official FIFA one in the Zócalo, while 95,000 people celebrated El Tri’s victory in and around Estadio Azteca.
Thus, some 1.4 million people celebrated Mexico’s win in public places in Mexico City, according to the local government. Mayor Brugada said Wednesday that the crowds on the streets and in public places on Tuesday night were the largest on record in Mexico City and “probably” the largest ever in all of Mexico.
The Shakira benchmark
Shakira, the Colombian pop superstar, performed a free concert in the Zócalo in March that, according to the Mexico City government, drew more than 400,000 people to the central square as well as the Alameda Central park and the Plaza de la República, where the concert was shown on large screens. The 400,000 turnout for Shakira’s concert was the largest on record for a free concert in the Zócalo.
That number of concertgoers is 2.67 times greater than the 150,000 people who celebrated Mexico’s victory over South Africa near El Ángel. It is equal to the number of celebrants after El Tri’s victory over South Korea, but just half the number of people who took to the streets after Mexico’s win against Czechia.
Compared to the Shakira concert, the total number of people who celebrated Mexico’s Tuesday night win over Ecuador in the streets and other public places in Mexico City — 1.4 million — was 3.5 times greater. In percentage terms, the increase was 250%.
Mexico News Daily
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