Mass Graves Found in Mexico City Near Site for Upcoming World Cup Games

Many human remains have been found buried in Mexico City, near where World Cup matches will take place later this year.

The discovery of the makeshift graves comes amid a surge in cartel violence, with more than 20 graves discovered around Guadalajara since last year, according to the New York Post.

So far, more than 500 bags of remains have been found in just four of 22 graves, some within miles of Akron Stadium, one of three World Cup venues in Mexico.

Between February and September 2025, 270 bags filled with human remains were discovered at Las Agujas, a 54-acre property located in Zapopan – a town near Guadalajara – and one of the largest mass graves discovered, according to El Pais.

Since the grim discovery by construction workers, other bodies have been found in the area, including 48 bags of remains discovered in a clandestine grave in Zapopan in October, CBS News reported.

An estimated 130,000 people have disappeared in Mexico over the past decade, many linked to cartel violence. Jaime Aguilar, of the Guerreros Buscadores de Jalisco, an organization that searches for missing people, told El País in December that the missing in Jalisco “are made to disappear.”

“It’s so that it doesn’t become known, they want to erase all traces of the missing,” Aguilar added.

Aguilar said the upcoming World Cup has brought attention to the makeshift graves.

“All the discoveries attract attention because they are related to the World Cup. It’s several miles away, but it’s happening near a World Cup stadium,” Aguilar said.