Sheinbaum confirms that King Felipe VI has been invited to the World Cup in Mexico, as have “all countries”

Eduardo González Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed on Thursday that King Felipe VI of Spain has been invited to visit her country next June to attend the opening of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but clarified that the invitation has been extended “to all countries with which Mexico has relations.” The Zarzuela Palace received a letter on February 24, dated February 3, inviting the King to attend the World Cup opening ceremony, which will take place on June 11 at the Azteca Stadium. The letter was received “with pleasure” by the Royal Household, which considers it an example of the “fraternal relationship” between the two countries. The World Cup is jointly hosted by Mexico, the United States, and Canada. At Thursday's press conference, Sheinbaum confirmed the invitation had been sent, but clarified that the letter was not sent by her, but rather by the federal government's coordinator with FIFA, Gabriela Cuevas, who “sent the invitation to all countries in the world to attend the World Cup, and Spain was included, but it's for all countries with which Mexico has relations.” The invitation letter states that the King's presence at the World Cup “constitutes a propitious opportunity to evoke the depth and unique character of the ties between Mexico and Spain, forged by a historical brotherhood and sustained by the shared legacy of language, culture, and collective memory, which is replete with great examples of solidarity, empathy, and a humanist vision between our peoples.” Last Monday, the King stated to the Mexican ambassador to Spain, Quirino Ordaz, that despite the policies of the Catholic Monarchs, “with their directives, the Laws of the Indies, the entire legislative process,” there was “much abuse” during the colonial period. “There are things that, when we study them, when we learn about them, tell us that, in our current view, with our values, obviously cannot make us proud,” the King commented during a visit to the exhibition “Women in Indigenous Mexico,” organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) at the National Archaeological Museum. “We must understand them and their proper context, not with excessive moralizing, but with an objective and rigorous analysis, and draw lessons,” she continued, as seen in a video of the visit shared by the Royal Household's account on the social network X. These words have been positively received, albeit moderately, by the President of Mexico, who in October 2014 excluded King Felipe VI from the guest list for her inauguration precisely because he had not responded to a letter from his predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, urging him to apologize for the Spanish conquest. The Spanish government called this decision “unacceptable” and announced that it would not participate in the inauguration “at any level.” “It is a gesture that we recognize” and marks a difference from what happened “several years ago, when the letter sent by President López Obrador was not even acknowledged and there was a real cooling of relations,” the Mexican president declared this past Tuesday during her daily morning press conference. “Although it wasn’t everything we would have liked, it is a gesture of rapprochement from the King in the sense of acknowledging the excesses and exterminations that occurred during the arrival of the Spanish,” she added. “I believe we must recognize this and continue moving forward with the dialogue,” she continued. Regarding whether this gesture could lead to an invitation for Felipe VI to visit Mexico, Sheinbaum simply replied: “We’ll see, but we must acknowledge the King’s gesture.”

Related Content

The 200 Spanish soldiers who remained in Iraq have been successfully evacuated

The Government announces its urgent measures to mitigate a war that “will cost Spaniards 5 billion euros”

Leo XIV receives the King and Queen in audience ahead of the Pope's upcoming apostolic journey to Spain

Sánchez calls for a “firm” EU response to the war in Iran that moves away from “belligerent logic”

Sánchez asserts he has “the best of relations with Germany” and downplays Von der Leyen's remarks