World Cup 2026 kicks off with what should be a cracker as Mexico take on South Africa in the historic Azteca stadium in Mexico City. The site of two previous World Cups (iconic ones considering they were dominated by Pele and Diego Maradona respectively) will see a reverse of the 2010 World Cup opener when then hosts South Africa played Mexico in that tournament's opener. Siphiwe Tshabalala scored one of the great World Cup opening goals to get things underway before Mexico great Rafael Marquez equalised to close out the match at 1-1. Quite remarkably, that match kicked off late on June 11 too, 16 years ago.
Managed by Hugo Broos, South Africa will start as the underdogs against a host side which will be backed by vociferous support at the Azteca. Javier Aguirre (currently in his third stint as Mexico manager) will, meanwhile, aim to start well as El Tri look to go deep in the tournament.
Here's everything you need to know about the World Cup opener
How to watch:
The match will be available on ITV1 in the UK, Fox Sports in the U.S., Zee5 in India and SBS in Australia. You can also follow ESPN's live updates.
Key Details:
Date, kick-off time: Thursday, June 11, 8:00 p.m. BST (3:00 pm EDT; 12.30 am IST and 5:00 am AEST, Friday)
Venue: Estadio Azteca, Mexico City
Referee: Wilton Sampaio (Brazil)
VAR: Nicolas Gallo (Colombia)
Team News
Mexico
César Montes, Edson Álvarez, Luis Chávez, and Alexis Vega were all struggling with injuries in the leadup but played significant minutes in their Jun 5 friendly against Serbia.
South Africa
Aubrey Modiba was previously an injury worry but is now back in full training and Broos said he "should be available" for this match
Talking Points
Mexico look for winning start
Having qualified automatically as one of the three hosts, Mexico's competitive action last year was limited to the CONCACAF Nations League and Gold Cups (which they won) and to add to that, their recent international friendly form has been impressive. They've been undefeated in eight games (W6, D2) dating back to November 2025, with results including a 0-0 draw with Portugal, a 1-1 draw with Belgium and most recently a 5-1 thrashing of Serbia. 66-year-old Aguirre has got the team purring and in his third World Cup will look to improve on the round-of-16 exits in both 2002 and 2010. In a group with obdurate Czechia and a tricky South Korea outfit, a win right off the bat will be a big boost.
Meanwhile, look out for a potential cameo from 17-year-old Gilberto Mora, the youngest player at this World Cup. The Tijuana sensation would become the youngest CONCAF player to appear in a World Cup game, beating compatriot Manuel Rosas, who was 18 at Uruguay 1930. Oh, and if Mora does make it to the turf in this game, he would become the sixth-youngest player to appear in the competition after 17-year-olds Pele, Salomon Olembe, Femi Opabunmi, Samuel Eto'o and record-holder Norman Whiteside.
On the other end of the age scale is 40-year-old Guillermo Ochoa, with only Craig Gordon (43) and Cristiano Ronaldo (41) being older at the World Cup (there are a whole host of 40-year-olds along with Ochoa). In fact, Ochoa made his international debut nearly three years before Mora was born!
South Africa will look to upset the odds again
South Africa's route to the 2026 World Cup was far less straightforward, even if they did top a qualification group that had heavyweights Nigeria. While leading the group, they were docked three points for fielding the ineligible Teboho Mokoena in a straightforward 2-0 win over Lesotho, dropping them into second. They fought back and some impressive performances saw them pip Nigeria and Benin by a point. If that in itself was a major upsetting of the odds, they will look to repeat the trick at the biggest stage of them all.
Playing in their first World Cup since the 2010 edition that they hosted, 74-year-old Broos has his side playing some expansive possession-based football, but they'll need to find a cutting edge up top to make a dent in Group A. They've not won any of their last four matches (D2, L2) and have scored just three goals in those matches. Indicative of this new malaise was their latest friendly vs Nicaragua, where they had 86% possession, 22 shots and 616 passes (vs 3 and 65) and still only managed a 0-0 draw.
They do, incidentally, have a solid head-to-head record against Mexico -- having won one match 2-1 and of course drawn the other 1-1.
