Soccer matches postponed after Mexico kills Cartel…
Four skilled soccer matches in Mexico had been postponed Sunday after violence flared close to Guadalajara — one of the nation’s host cities for the 2026 World Cup — in the wake of a army operation that left cartel chief Nemesio Oseguera, recognized as “El Mencho,” useless.
Liga MX officers eliminated two top-flight fixtures from the schedule — Querétaro’s matchup against Juárez FC in the lads’s league and the ladies’s showdown between Chivas and América — and also called off two second-division contests amid security considerations.
The disruption adopted operations earlier in the day in Tapalpa, Jalisco, roughly two hours southwest of Guadalajara.
Mexican authorities said Oseguera, a former police officer who rose to lead the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), was killed during the operation.
In the aftermath, automobiles had been set ablaze, and highways had been blocked across practically a dozen Mexican states, according to officers.
Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco state, is slated to stage 4 matches during the 2026 World Cup, including two involving South Korea. Mexico, Spain, Uruguay, and Colombia are also scheduled to play at the venue.
Mexico’s national workforce stays set to host Iceland in a pleasant on Wednesday at Corregidora Stadium in Querétaro.
As of Sunday, the Mexican soccer federation had not announced any adjustments to that match.
Four skilled soccer matches in Mexico had been postponed after violence flared close to Guadalajara in the wake of a army operation that left cartel chief Nemesio Oseguera useless. Getty Images
Not all sporting occasions had been affected. Organizers of the Mexican Open in Acapulco said the ATP match would start Monday at the GNP Arena as deliberate.
“The tournament’s operation continues as normal,” organizers of the match said in a assertion.
Oseguera had carried a $15 million U.S. bounty and rose to prominence following the arrest of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the previous head of the Sinaloa Cartel. Over the past decade and a half, CJNG expanded from a regional felony group into a global trafficking community working across a lot of Mexico from its stronghold in Jalisco.
The disruption adopted operations earlier in the day in Tapalpa, Jalisco, roughly two hours southwest of Guadalajara. ZUMAPRESS.com
Vehicles drive past a burning bus used as a roadblock by organized crime following Oseguera’s death in Mexico, February 22, 2026. REUTERS
“I’ve just been informed that Mexican security forces have killed ‘El Mencho,’ one of the bloodiest and most ruthless drug kingpins,” U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said in a post on X. “This is a great development for Mexico, the US, Latin America, and the world. The good guys are stronger than the bad guys.”
The Mexican Defense Department said the operation was performed as half of bilateral coordination and cooperation with the U.S., and that U.S. authorities supplied complementary intelligence that contributed to El Mencho’s killing.
After El Mencho’s death, cartel members burned automobiles and blocked roads in practically a dozen Mexican states.
Firefighters and members of the Morelia police work at the scene where a vehicle is set on fire by suspected members of organized crime after the killing of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes. Ivan Villanueva/EPA/Shutterstock
Smoke billows from burning automobiles in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, following a army operation against drug lord Nemesio Oseguera. @morelifediares via REUTERS
The Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación is taken into account the most highly effective cartel in Mexico, with an estimated 19,000 members and operations across 21 of the nation’s 32 states.
The Trump administration designated the cartel as a overseas terrorist group.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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