"World Cup construction fever pits Mexico City locals against developers ", 03 February 2026

...As well as an MXN 2 billion (USD 110 million) renovation of the Azteca, authorities have announced a series of ambitious public works projects for the area. These include a 34 km bike lane extending from the centre of the city, the repaving of roads around the stadium and the construction of a 1.5 km elevated pedestrian walkway on Tlalpan Avenue...

But for those living in its shadow, this flurry of public investment has done little to assuage concerns about their already-waning water supplies.

There are three wells in the immediate area of the Azteca but for the past 12 years, Norma Piñón explains, the taps in the family home have only received water two or three times a week. She lives near the stadium, in Santa Úrsula Coapa...

The neighbourhood is mostly home to self-built family houses, like the Piñóns’. A real-estate company recently acquired a property behind their home, however, and started building a modern, 19-unit apartment complex. The eight-storey construction on Popocatepetl Street will tower over the buildings around it.

According to the neighbours, an advertisement marketed the apartments’ strategic location for the upcoming World Cup. Piñón is concerned this development will be more than the local water supply can handle: “I don’t know where they’re going to get the water”...

Neighbours claim the new apartments behind Piñón’s home lack these necessary permits and studies. In early December, city authorities shut down the construction site, but videos recorded by locals appeared to show work continuing...

Fifa, the tournament organiser, did not respond to a request for comment. Previous World Cups have taken place amid controversies over harms linked to them, including mass displacement of favela residents before the 2014 Brazil tournament and alleged migrant worker abuses in the run-up to the 2022 tournament in Qatar.

With five World Cup matches scheduled at the Azteca, activists say the mega-event is not just a sporting milestone. It could also mark an inflection point for who has the right to running water...