World Cup: Mexico fans make excessive noise outside Ecuador's hotel to prevent team from sleeping before match

How badly do Mexico's fans want their team to win the 2026 World Cup? Bad enough that they are willing to sacrifice their short-term well being as long as it hurts Team Ecuador.

Ahead of Mexico's game against Ecuador in the Round of 32 on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET, Fox), fans of Team Mexico took to the street overnight to loudly make noise just outside the hotel at which Ecuador was staying.

The goal? Make sure players on Team Ecuador could not get a good night's sleep.

If videos from the evening are any indication, the gambit may have worked. Mexico's fans — who showed up between midnight and the early hours of the morning, per the Associated Press — were certainly loud, potentially even loud enough for players on Team Ecuador to hear cheers from their hotel rooms. Whether those cheers were loud enough to keep Ecuadorian players awake through the night remains to be seen. And even if that were the case, it's tough to imagine Team Ecuador would admit it before or after Tuesday's game.

The tactic — which was apparently organized by Team Mexico fans on social media — is not unusual in Latin America, per the AP.

Because of that, it's possible Team Ecuador came prepared ahead of Tuesday's game. Maybe some ear plugs or white noise machines were enough to drown out the noise from the boisterous and highly motived fans of Team Mexico.

The only true way to know whether the tactic worked will be during Tuesday's game. If Team Ecuador comes out looking sluggish, fans of Mexico will know their efforts were not in vain.