After much waiting, finally this Thursday, June 11, the 2026 World Cup kicks off. The match that will start the most important tournament of all will be between Mexico and South Africa, corresponding to the first match of Group A, which will recreate the opening of the 2010 edition.
Although the official time of the match is at 16:00 (Argentina time), the action will begin a little earlier with the classic opening ceremony. Starting at 14:30, the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City will vibrate with musical performances from Shakira, Burna Boy, Alejandro Fernández, Belinda, Danny Ocean, J Balvín, Lila Downs, Los Ángeles Azules, Maná, and Tyla. In addition, the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, will speak and there will be tributes to Pelé and Diego Maradona.
In Argentina, both the match and the opening ceremony will be available to watch through Disney+, DSports, Flow, Paramount+, Telefé, and TyC Sports.
It is worth remembering that this will be the first of three scheduled events. In addition to the one taking place on Mexican soil, there will be two more at each World Cup venue: one at the Toronto Stadium in Canada (before the local match against Bosnia) and another at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, United States, (before the local match against Paraguay), both on Friday, June 12.
How each team is performing and their head-to-head history
So far this year, Mexico has played a total of eight friendlies, achieving great results. In January, they faced Panama (World Cup team) and Bolivia, winning both matches by a narrow margin; a month later, they played against Iceland, whom they defeated with a resounding 4-0. Shortly after, in the FIFA window in March, the Mexican team would achieve a double draw against two strong European teams (0-0 against Portugal and 1-1 against Belgium). In the final stretch of their preparation, the Tri would add three consecutive victories, two against teams that will play in the World Cup (2-0 against Ghana and 1-0 against Australia) and a blowout against another European team (5-1 against Serbia).
On the side of South Africa, after having a rather poor Africa Cup of Nations (eliminated in the round of 16 against Cameroon), they played four friendlies against lower-level opponents and left a worrying balance. In the FIFA window in March, they faced Panama twice, with a result of one 1-1 draw and one 1-2 loss. Later, in their last set of international matches, the Bafana Bafana drew 0-0 with Nicaragua and 1-1 with Jamaica, both non-World Cup teams.
Throughout history, Mexicans and South Africans have faced each other on 4 occasions, with 2 victories for the North Americans, 1 for the Africans, and 1 draw. The last match between them was in the opening match of the 2010 World Cup, which ended in a 1-1 draw, with goals from Siphiwe Tshabalala for the then-host and Rafael Márquez for the visitors.
Possible Lineups
Mexico (4-1-2-3)
Goalkeeper: Raúl Rangel
Defenders: Israel Reyes / Jorge Sánchez, César Montes, Johan Vásquez, and Jesús Gallardo
Midfielders: Érik Lira, Brian Gutiérrez, and Álvaro Fidalgo
Forwards: Roberto Alvarado, Raúl Jiménez, Julian Quiñones
South Africa (4-2-3-1)
