Mexican fans flood Ecuador team hotel with drums and chants ahead of FIFA World Cup Round of 32 clash

Mexican fans turn up the noise outside an Ecuadorian hotel (Image: X) Hundreds of Mexican fans gathered outside Ecuador’s team hotel in Mexico City late Monday night in an apparent attempt to disrupt the visitors’ preparations ahead of their 2026 World Cup Round of 32 clash. The raucous crowd gathered shortly after midnight and created an unrelenting atmosphere with drums, horns, loudspeakers and chants aimed at keeping Ecuador’s players awake before one of their biggest matches in the tournament.

Mexican fans attacked the hotel of the Ecuadorian team

Videos widely shared on X showed a large crowd standing right under the Ecuadorian team’s hotel, where supporters chanted, beat drums and honked car horns all night. The atmosphere became increasingly hostile as fans repeatedly chanted anti-Ecuadorian slogans, including “Ecuatorianos hijos de p*ta”, in an apparent attempt to unsettle the visiting team before kick-off.Several Ecuadorian players were seen looking out from their hotel windows as the commotion continued into the early hours of the morning as team officials monitored the situation.

Huge stakes in Mexico City

The incident took place just hours before the high-pressure round of 32 match at the Mexico City Stadium (Estadio Azteca), where the promotion to the round of 16 is at stake. Mexico have enjoyed an excellent tournament so far, winning all three of their group stage matches without conceding a goal under head coach Javier Aguirre. Meanwhile, Ecuador recovered from a difficult start to the competition by producing one of the tournament’s biggest upsets, knocking out Germany to reach the knockout stages. The winner of Tuesday’s match advances to the round of 16, where either England or DR Congo await.