MEXICO CITY – Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced Thursday that her country has extended an invitation to Spain’s King Felipe VI for the opening ceremony of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
During her daily news briefing, Sheinbaum explained that Gabriela Cuevas, Mexico’s official representative for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, distributed invitations to every nation that maintains diplomatic ties with Mexico, which included the Spanish monarch.
Spanish news outlets first broke the story about the royal invitation, which surfaced following King Felipe VI’s unexpected recognition earlier this week of the wrongdoings committed during Spain’s colonial era.
During the 16th through 18th centuries, Spain controlled one of history’s most expansive empires, stretching across five continents and encompassing large portions of Central and Latin America. The colonial period was marked by forced labor practices, seizure of indigenous lands, and widespread violence against native populations.
The king’s recent statements followed remarks made last month by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a Munich speech, where Rubio lamented the weakening of “great Western empires” and expressed that Washington preferred allies not to be “shackled by guilt and shame.”
While Sheinbaum characterized the Spanish king’s acknowledgment as a diplomatic overture on Tuesday, she noted that “it wasn’t everything we would have wanted.”
The Mexican president had previously excluded King Felipe VI from her 2024 inauguration ceremony after he refused to issue an apology for the abuses committed during Spain’s colonial rule.
