Soccer matches postponed after Mexico kills cartel leader ‘El Mencho’ near World Cup host

Four professional soccer matches in Mexico were postponed Sunday after violence flared near Guadalajara — one of the country’s host cities for the 2026 World Cup — in the wake of a military operation that left cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera, known as "El Mencho," dead.

Liga MX officials removed two top-flight fixtures from the schedule — Querétaro’s matchup against Juárez FC in the men’s league and the women’s showdown between Chivas and América — and also called off two second-division contests amid security concerns.

The disruption followed 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, vehicles were set ablaze and highways were blocked across nearly a dozen Mexican states, according to officials.

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Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco state, is slated to stage four 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 team remains set to host Iceland in a friendly Wednesday at Corregidora Stadium in Querétaro. As of Sunday, the Mexican soccer federation had not announced any changes to that match.

Not all sporting events were affected. Organizers of the Mexican Open in Acapulco said the ATP tournament would begin Monday at the GNP Arena as planned.

"The tournament's operation continues as normal," organizers of the tournament said in a statement.

Oseguera had carried a $15 million U.S. bounty and rose to prominence following the arrest of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, the former head of the Sinaloa Cartel. Over the past decade and a half, CJNG expanded from a regional criminal group into a global trafficking network operating across much of Mexico from its stronghold in Jalisco.

"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 conducted as part of bilateral coordination and cooperation with the U.S., and that U.S. authorities provided complementary intelligence that contributed to El Mencho's killing.

After El Mencho's death, cartel members burned cars and blocked roads in nearly a dozen Mexican states.

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The Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación is considered the most powerful cartel in Mexico with an estimated 19,000 members and operations across 21 of the country's 32 states.

The Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.