Mexico football project offers girls refuge from violence in new film

Al Jazeera has released a 25-minute documentary about a football project on the outskirts of Mexico City that aims to give young people a safer place amid gender violence and cartel activity. The film follows Nallely Arenas, a lawyer and mother who has turned years of legal work into grassroots organising through the Cancha Violeta football organisation.

The documentary, Mexico: Football Without Fear, was published on July 14, 2026, as Mexico prepares to cohost the World Cup. According to Al Jazeera, Arenas is using football as a way to confront the dangers faced by women and girls in her country while trying to protect her daughter, Karol.

A football pitch as a safer space

Al Jazeera says Arenas cofounded Cancha Violeta to support young people living with the pressures of gender violence and cartel activity. The organisation is based on the outskirts of Mexico City and uses football as its main setting for training, community and protection.

The film presents Arenas’s work as an extension of her legal struggle, showing how she moved from courtroom battles into community action. Al Jazeera describes her effort as both personal and public: she is a mother seeking safety for her daughter and an organiser challenging the conditions women face.

A daughter’s World Cup hopes

Karol, Arenas’s daughter, trains with the Cancha Violeta team, according to Al Jazeera. The documentary says she hopes to be chosen to compete at the upcoming Street Child World Cup.

That ambition sits alongside the larger setting of Mexico’s role as a World Cup cohost. Al Jazeera frames the story around football’s global spotlight and the local risks that remain for girls and women in parts of Mexico.

The film was made by Elpida Nikou and Rodrigo Hernandez. Al Jazeera lists its running time as 25 minutes.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.