Javier Aguirre will announce his official Mexico World Cup squad on May 27, but the real news in Guadalajara is what lies beneath the grass. While the city’s state government promotes the slogan Zapopan, the heart of soccer, local investigators continue to find clandestine graves dug by cartels. Nearly 1,900 people have vanished in and around Mexico’s second-largest city in recent years. Authorities are stepping up security for the 3 million fans expected to arrive, but the bodies of cartel victims remain an uncomfortable fact of life.

Ten people were shot dead in the early morning hours in Tehuitzingo this week. The Puebla state government confirmed the fatalities as the country prepares to co-host the FIFA World Cup in less than a month. National Guard troops and local police have pledged a multi-pronged response to the violence. The inaugural game is set for June 11 at the Azteca stadium in Mexico City, a metropolis of 23.1 million people already bracing for intense congestion and pollution. Fans are being told that public transportation is the only way to reach the 14-acre Zócalo square without losing their minds in traffic.

Regional trade is shifting as fast as the soccer brackets. Egypt and Eritrea launched a new shipping line this week to boost logistics across the Horn of Africa. This move comes as Somali pirates profit from the chaos in the Middle East. With the Strait of Hormuz choked by conflict, massive tankers like the VLCC Basrah Energy are forced to detour around the southern tip of Africa. These high-risk detours push ships directly into the strike zone of pirate networks forging alliances with Yemeni forces. The price of the game is rising, and not just at the ticket counter.