MEXICO CITY – This pitch has no goalkeepers, no grass, no referees. With a little spray paint, any street in the Mexican capital can be transformed into a soccer field and its residents and sometimes tourists become players.
It is a street form of football that has regained popularity with the excitement surrounding the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
In November, four Mexicans set up “Reta Mexa” on social media, where they invite soccer fans to play impromptu matches every Friday in different streets of Mexico City.
“I have a son who loves soccer, and I see him and his generation stuck at home,” explained Roy Jimenez, one of the four founders and father of a 12-year-old boy, Luis Enrique.
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Playing soccer in the streets is known among Mexicans as “reta,” a word that means “duel” or “challenge.” It’s part of the country’s long-standing street soccer culture, which originated mainly among children, but is fading due to concerns over road safety and the popularity of indoor video games.
“This is to show my son that you can still play in the streets,” said Jimenez, a 37-year-old lawyer.
A recent game attended by Noticias Telemundo took place at noon under the Mexico City heat on a street in Roma, a neighborhood popular with tourists and digital nomads from the US.
Initially, 12 youth showed up for the pickup game. One of them is 21-year-old Jesus Gonzalez, the grandson of Enrique Borja, another Reta Mexico founder and famous soccer player of the 1990s.
“We got together, saw a closed road and saw it as an opportunity to set up two goals and the ball, and we invited passers-by to join us,” said Gonzalez, who played semi-professionally for Mexican teams.
Another player who joined is El Bebe del Futbol (The Soccer Baby), a 29-year-old who wears a baby mask while playing and does not reveal his name. El Bebe was originally from the neighborhood of Tepito, a working-class area about five miles from where the game was held.
“I was born in a poor neighborhood and my whole life revolved around soccer,” El Bebe said. “You either misbehave or you stay on the right path, and thanks to soccer, I’m on the right path.”
The group is using old soccer goals. Jimenez described finding him abandoned at his parents’ home; They are small because they were originally intended for use by children.
A game for everyone
Matches are played in three teams and the first team to score two goals wins. They are very intense matches, but they last about 15 minutes. Because the field is in the middle of the road, the game often has to be paused briefly for drivers on motorcycles or delivery drivers to pass. Spectators and curious passers-by gather around and to play, they must challenge the winner.
British tourists Hannah, Ed and Kenny, aged 21, 24 and 20, were walking along the pavement when they stopped to watch the game. At the end of one game, Gonzalez invited him to play. Although none of them spoke Spanish, the three decided to join. He said he didn’t win the match, but it was a winning experience.
“It was so funny, it’s not happening in the UK,” Hannah said. “I think it really represents Mexican culture, they’re all inclusive, the foreigners play with the locals.”
Ed was a soccer enthusiast who occasionally played in the UK, but said he never did so in the middle of the road.
“This culture is very exciting,” he said.
“The Mexicans are so good with their feet; they’re better than the British,” said Ed, adding that he envies anyone coming to Mexico for the upcoming World Cup.
Mexico is one of three host nations for the 2026 World Cup, along with the United States and Canada. Thirteen matches will be played in three stadiums: one in Guadalajara, one in Mexico City and the third in Monterrey.
Of the impromptu soccer game he joined, Kenny said he considered it an example of the “great community” that exists in Mexico.
“It shows how open the country is to tourists and people who don’t live here,” he said.
