MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP)—Thousands of demonstrators blocked an avenue leading to Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium on Tuesday, just days before the 2026 World Cup kicks off at the venue, an AFP journalist observed.

The protest, led by a breakaway group of the CNTE teachers union, follows a week of chaotic demonstrations in the Mexican capital.

The stadium will host the tournament opener pitting Mexico against South Africa on Thursday.

Speaking earlier Tuesday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the match was “guaranteed.”

The left-leaning leader called teacher protests a “provocation — as if to say, ‘Look at how bad the situation is in Mexico.'”

Authorities have deployed thousands of officers and set up concrete barriers one kilometer (600 meters) from the stadium to block the march, which has not yet reached its destination.

“We intend to reach the stadium,” said protester Angel Villalobos. “The government has given some responses, but they don’t help, they don’t satisfy.”

“We’re going to continue our struggle,” said another protester Austreberto Flores.