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Over the past week, a 2026 World Cup image began circulating on social media of the alleged mascots that were designed for the tournament. The United States will co-host the tournament with a majority of venues over Canada que Mexico. This is the first time three different countries co-host the World Cup in football history. We all know this info and have known it for a while now, but these mascots raised certain concerns about how the world views Mexico.
Back in 1986, the mascot for the Mexico World Cup was a spicy pepper with a Mexican sombrero named Pique. Today, that representation of Mexicans seems quite far from what Mexico truly is. We are talking about one of the most multi-cultural countries with grand diversity. You can easily find caucasian people as easy as you can find people who are descendants from the African continent. Thinking about this sombrero stereotype is simply too narrow to describe a country like Mexico these days.
Is the Mexican stereotype back due to this cactus?
The problem here is that in the circulating image, there is a moose representing Canada, Uncle Sam representing the United States and a cactus with a sombrero representing Mexico. Although cacti are very common in the country, the sombrero is where the stereotype attempts to depict a false image of what Mexico truly is. Luckily and to our knowledge, this image of the mascots is fake.
Mascots are not presented to the world before the previous World Cup even starts, they are unveiled about a year before the event takes place. This was nothing more than an unknown designer who wanted to create a thought-provoking image against Mexico. As we approach the Qatar event only a month from now, you can take a look at the Mexican players who are playing in the tournament.
Who are the Mexico player who will play the 2022 World Cup?
Goalkeepers
Guillermo Ochoa, Alfredo Talavera, Rodolfo Cota
Defenders
Jorge Sánchez, Kevin Álvarez, Jesús Alberto Angulo, Néstor Araujo, Héctor Moreno, César Montes, Johan Vásquez, Jesús Gallardo y Gerardo Arteaga.
Midfielders
Edson Álvarez, Héctor Herrera, Andrés Guardado, Erick Gutiérrez, Luis Chávez, Erick Sánchez, Luis Romo, Carlos Rodríguez, Diego Lainez, Orbelín Pineda, Roberto Alvarado y Uriel Antuna
Forwards
Jesús Manuel Corona, Hirving Lozano, Raúl Jiménez, Alexis Vega, Rogelio Funes Mori, Henry Martín y Santiago Giménez