The visually impaired women building a future in Mexican football.
Wearing blackout goggles and guided only by the sound of a rattling ball, Pau, 31, charges towards goal on a football pitch in Mexico City while her teammates shout instructions from the sidelines. The visually impaired mother is sandwiched between two defenders, but uses her strength to wrestle free, keeping the ball close to her feet. Sweat trickles down her brow and seeps beneath the eye coverings that level the playing field in blind football. Unfazed, she taps the ball from foot to foot – a dribbling technique she has spent years mastering.
Then comes the signal.
Behind the goal, a guide strikes the left-hand post three times with a metal cane and shouts: “¡Tira!” Shoot.
Pau takes a breath, shimmies to the right and unleashes a powerful strike. The ball blasts into the top corner. There are cries of jubilation from her teammates as Chilangas FC takes a 1-0 lead.
Scoring goals is only part of Pau’s life. Off the pitch, shenavigates the daily challenges of raising her six-year-old son, Noel, in one of the world's largest cities. Through Chilangas FC, she has found something she once lacked: independence, community and confidence.
“When the match starts, the first thing I hear is the ball hitting the ground and the referee's whistle. In that moment, everything else disappears,” Pau says with a beaming smile after scoring her first competitive goal. “The wind, the aeroplanes, the noise around the field - they no longer exist. It's magical because you focus on the ball, your guides and your teammates. Nothing else exists.”
The beautiful game is more than just about glory; it is about inclusion for marginalised individuals deemed by some to be unfit or incapable of competing. Grassroots football opens doors for people with disabilities to enjoy the sport, and in the case of Chilangas FC, it shatters machismo stereotypes about disabled women. In Mexico, visually impaired women are often expected to remain at home under the care of relatives, discouraged from seeking employment, while sporting opportunities remain scarce.
“We can't put ourselves in a bubble and stay at home,” Pau says defiantly. “If we don't push ourselves to go out, explore and believe we are capable, we'll never do anything with our lives. We lost our sight, yes - but we can live with that and much more.”
BREAKING BARRIERS
Blind football has existed in Mexico for more than two decades, but opportunities for women have lagged far behind those available to men. That is beginning to change. In April, players from across the country gathered in Mexico City for trials for Mexico's first women's national blind football team, which is expected to compete at the Women's Blind Football Copa América in São Paulo later this year. Following a series of standout performances at the tournament, Pau earned a place in the squad. Players wear blackout eye coverings to equalise vision levels and rely on the sound of a ball filled with metal rattles, verbal communication and guidance from coaches positioned around the pitch.
Despite growing momentum, the women's game remains in its infancy. There are only six women's blind football teams across Mexico, according to the Mexican Federation of Sports for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
“For years, people assumed football was too rough for women with visual impairments,” says Efraín Mora García, president of the Mexican Federation of Sports for the Blind and Visually Impaired. “Now we're building our first national team and showing families that these athletes can compete at the highest level.”
Pau and other players say joining a team means overcoming disability-related barriers and rebelling against long-standing assumptions that football is a sport reserved for men.
FINDING A FAMILY
“What Chilangas FC has given me is a family,” she says. “Before, I felt very alone. Now I have teammates who support me, who understand me and who encourage me to keep going. Football has shown me that blindness doesn't stop me from achieving my goals.”
Before discovering blind football, much of Pau's world revolved around home and family responsibilities. Now she travels across Mexico City several times a week for training and tournaments, balancing football with raising her son and everyday responsibilities. What began as a hobby has evolved into an opportunity to represent her country on the international stage.
Coach Wendy del Río founded Chilangas FC in 2022 to give visually impaired women a place in a sport that had long been dominated by men.
“When we started, there were very few spaces for women,” Wendy says. “Many arrived thinking football wasn't for them because that's what they had been told their whole lives. Some were afraid. Others had never touched a ball before.”
On the pitch, players learned to trust their hearing, their teammates and their instincts. Off it, they found a rare space where disability was understood rather than questioned.
DREAMING OF BRAZIL
The next challenge is financial. Players and coaches are raising funds to send Mexico's first women's blind football national team to the Copa América in Brazil later this year.
“Every donation helps open the door for us to reach Brazil,” says coach Wendy. “But it also helps future generations understand that they have a place in sport.”
The opportunity is extra special for Pau because her greatest fan will be on the sidelines.
“Now every training session feels different because my son is watching,” she says. “I want him to see that disability doesn't stop you from chasing your dreams.”
As the final whistle blows on Chilangas FC's opening match, Pau lowers herself onto the concrete steps beside the pitch. Minutes earlier, she had scored, battled through an ankle injury and helped her team survive a tense penalty shootout.
Nearby, her teammates celebrate with arms draped across one another's shoulders.
“For me, football is freedom,” Pau says.