Mexican Pride at 36 Pesos an Hour: The World Cup Jersey You Didn't Really Want to Buy

The new Mexico World Cup jersey costs up to 4,999 pesos. The women who embroidered it made 36 pesos an hour.

Let that sit for a second.

With the World Cup nine days away, the Mexico national team kit is getting attention for all the wrong reasons. Adidas and its intermediary partner Someone Somewhere released a promotional video showing indigenous women in traditional clothing doing ball tricks while wearing the black away jersey. The tagline says it "carries Mexican pride beyond the pitch, connecting sport with culture and artisan work."

Lovely. Here's what they left out.

Each jersey comes with a tag that has the artisan's name and a QR code. Scan it and you get a photo, a map of her town, and a bio written like a greeting card. "Maria Isabel, Puebla: she spoils them by making their favorite dishes. Her biggest dream is to see her children graduate from university."

Heartwarming. It's also a feature that turns low wages into a marketing asset.

The women are from Naupan, in the Sierra Norte de Puebla. They embroidered brand logos and team insignias onto packaging. For that work, they were paid 36 pesos per hour. At current exchange rates, that's roughly $2 USD.

The jerseys wearing those logos sell for anywhere between 1,599 and 4,999 pesos. That's $90 to $280 a piece.

You do the math.

Someone Somewhere presents itself as a social enterprise that connects big brands with artisans. And to be fair, there is a QR code with a sweet profile. Nobody is hiding that this arrangement exists. The question is whether 36 pesos an hour for embroidery that goes on a $280 jersey is something worth putting on a tag.

This is not Adidas's first rodeo with Mexican cultural property.

Last year, the German sportswear giant and designer Willy Chavarria launched the "Oaxaca Slip On," a shoe that directly copied traditional huarache designs from Villa Hidalgo Yalalag, Oaxaca. The Oaxaca government filed a formal complaint. President Claudia Sheinbaum called out the plagiarism, offering legal support to the affected communities. Adidas pulled the shoe and Chavarria apologized.

The Oaxaca Slip On is gone. The 36 peso wage is still current.

The Federation has said this collection is about pride and craft. Maybe it is. But "proudly made by women earning two dollars an hour" is a complicated kind of pride to sell.

From Tepito to QR Codes

There is a perfect bookend to this story.

In 1986, during the World Cup in Mexico, Argentina's squad realized their backup jerseys were unwearable in the midday heat. The team sent an equipment manager to Tepito, Mexico City's legendary black market, to buy knockoff Le Coq Sportif shirts from street vendors. Diego Maradona wore one of those knockoffs when he scored the Goal of the Century against England.

That jersey started its life as a contraband rag from Tepito. It sold at auction for $9.3 million.

In 2026, the Mexican national team jersey starts its life in a workshop in the Sierra Norte de Puebla, where women embroider logos on packaging for 36 pesos an hour. Adidas sells it in official stores for up to 5,000 pesos. Each one comes with a QR code that turns the artisan into part of the marketing.

In 1986, the shirt was a hustler's solution. In 2026, the shirt is a carefully engineered brand strategy. Both involve exploitation. The difference is the one from Tepito never pretended to be anything else.

The World Cup is almost here. Mexico will take the field in front of millions of viewers around the world. Fans will buy the jersey at official stores and airports. And somewhere in a workshop in Puebla, women will keep embroidering logos for 36 pesos an hour.

Adidas and Someone Somewhere will call it cultural pride.

The QR code will tell you the artisan's name and her dream for her kids.

The price tag will tell you everything else.