Mexico's national soccer team returned luxury watches worth about 1.5 billion won gifted by an American YouTuber, it has emerged.
The Mexican Football Federation announced through X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday that "the Mexican national team returned all the Rolex watches gifted by a YouTuber after he won a multimillion-dollar bet."
The American YouTuber reportedly earned a profit of $1.2 million (about 1.8 billion won) after betting $2 million (about 3 billion won) on Mexico's victory in the 2026 CONCACAF World Cup round-of-32 match between Mexico and Ecuador held on the 1st.
That day, Mexico defeated Ecuador 2-0, advancing to the World Cup round of 16 for the first time in eight years since the 2018 Russia World Cup. Consecutive goals by Julian Quinones and Raul Jimenez led the way to victory.
The YouTuber then visited the Mexican national team camp and gifted Rolex watches from the Swiss luxury brand, worth a total of $1 million (about 1.5 billion won), to the entire squad, head coach Javier Aguirre, and the coaching staff.
However, as this became known through social media, concerns were raised that the team could face disciplinary action from the FIFA Ethics Committee. As the controversy grew, the Mexican national team decided after an internal review to return all the watches the squad had received.
Meanwhile, Mexico will play England in the round of 16 at Mexico City Stadium at 9 a.m. on the 6th. The winning team will compete against Norway for a place in the semifinals.
