After FIFA priced them out of their own World Cup, many Mexicans take their TVs to the street

It echoes over fans across the Latin American nation, who roar as they watch Mexico’s national team win another match in the FIFA World Cup with eyes glued to screens set up in plazas, below highway underpasses and tucked away in taco stands. Priced out of stadium tickets to the tournament their country is hosting alongside the U.S. and Canada, many Mexicans are reclaiming the event and staging their own celebrations on the streets. “Honestly, there’s nothing like going to the stadiums, but I prefer being here in the street. … For me it’s like watching the game from my living room,” said Esmeralda Serrato, who watched a TV in the street with dozens of neighbors. “I feel the blood rushing through my veins saying ‘This is the World Cup.’” Ticket prices exclude most Mexican viewers World Cup festivities in Mexico have generated an almost incalculable buzz as hundreds of thousands of people gather in mass celebrations in host cities including Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey following the country’s two consecutive victories. But the street parties also come after months of scrutiny as FIFA has faced searing criticism across the globe for soaring World Cup ticket prices. In Mexico, where the average worker earns around $433 a month and soccer is considered a sport that unites people across class, the gap between who can and cannot get into games is felt acutely. That has fueled social tensions and left many Mexicans feeling as if “it’s a party we weren’t invited to,” said Diego Merla, fiscal justice coordinator for Oxfam Mexico. “The World Cup is built around the logic of squeezing as much value out of it as possible,” Merla said. “It’s about getting those who are willing and able to pay the absolute maximum. And that ends up excluding a lot of