The “Puto!” chant is back.

Weeks before the World Cup descends on North America, the enthusiastic homophobic slur, chanted by Mexico soccer fans at their opponents, is making a comeback at stadiums in the co-host country, despite FIFA sanctions and a campaign by Mexican soccer officials to rid the expression from the “beautiful game.”

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That effort has been tough.

After a lull in recent years, the chant was heard loudly last month at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca, Latin America’s largest stadium, during a friendly game between El Tri, Mexico’s national team, and Portugal. It reared its head again in April at the same venue in a CONCACAF Champions Cup match between Club America and Nashville SC. Play was suspended twice in each match due to the slurs.

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Mexico fans invoke the derisive chant during goal kicks taken by the opposing goalkeeper, typically when Mexico is on the verge of losing. Fans start with a rising yell, “Ehhhhh…!” as the goalie approaches the ball, and then punctuate it with “Puto!” on the kick.

“Puto” translates literally to “prostitute,” but is commonly used as a gay slur insulting the target’s manhood.

The chant went viral at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, and was heard at both competitions in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022.

In 2021, FIFA forced Mexico to play Jamaica in an empty Estadio Azteca following the chant’s appearance during Olympic qualifying matches against the Dominican Republic and the U.S. at Guadalajara. The same punishment was levied in 2022 for two World Cup qualifiers after the chant was heard again in matches against Honduras and Canada. 

The chant is said to have emerged at Guadalajara stadium in 2003.

Now soccer officials are bracing for the slur’s reappearance as Mexico co-hosts the World Cup with Canada and the United States. The competition opens on June 11 with Mexico against South Africa, in the very same stadium where the chant has been heard recently: Estadio Azteca.

“Sustained efforts have been made for years to eradicate this type of expression, with awareness campaigns and measures in stadiums, and while there has been progress, we are aware that isolated incidents still persist,” Mexican Federation President Ivar Sisniega told the Associated Press this week.

“We understand that it often arises as a manifestation of frustration or annoyance from the fan, but that doesn’t make it acceptable, and we must continue working to change that behavior,” Sisniega said.

The chant’s reemergence at the opening match would be a national embarrassment for the co-host country, with billions of fans watching.

A winning performance by El Tri, then, may be the only way they avoid it.

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