Kickoff History: How the World Cup Opener Evolved

The format changed, and why should expectations be low? Ahead of the start of the World Cup, Sport 5 published: 11.06.26, 19:26 (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP via Getty Images) | Photo: Sport 5

In one instant, all at once, a single whistle will be heard around the world. A whistle that will put billions of people on alert and announce: it has begun. The 2026 World Cup will get underway tonight (Thursday) at 22:00 with the opening match, which will bring together one of the three hosts, Mexico, and South Africa, a repeat of the opening match from 2010, when South Africa was, as remembered, the host.

The opening match is a festive event, it begins with the famous and impressive ceremony, and continues with a game that does have symbolic meaning, but usually is meant to be the first sign of the exciting month ahead. But this custom, it turns out, was not always here, and is relatively new. Hero of an unforgettable opening match, Milla (Photo by dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images) | Photo: Sport 5

In the first World Cup in 1930, for example, there were two matches held at the same time. Four years later, at the tournament in Italy, the first day included no fewer than eight matches played simultaneously. Only in 1938 was the tradition established of a single match to begin, but it had no real symbolic significance, and was simply another game between Switzerland and Germany, which was then under Nazi rule.

Only in 1966, at the World Cup hosted by England, was the tradition of a ceremonial opening match established. It was the game in which the host, the Three Lions, took the field and played against Uruguay. That match, by the way, ended 0:0, just like the match that followed, between the host of the 1970 World Cup, Mexico, and the Soviet Union.

In 1974, something changed. FIFA decided to increase the match’s appeal and chose to start from where it had left off, meaning the opening match would include the reigning world champion. That tradition continued for 38 years, until 2002. Incidentally, this was not always a particularly comfortable arrangement for the champion, out of eight opening matches, only two were won by the team that arrived with the World Cup trophy.

In 1994, in the United States, West Germany beat Bolivia 1:0, and four years later, Brazil beat Scotland 2:1 with a Tommy Boyd own goal deciding the match. During that period, there were also plenty of surprises, for example in 1982 in Spain, reigning world champion Argentina arrived with Maradona and lost 1:0 to Belgium. Eight years later, Argentina again came as champion and was beaten 1:0 at San Siro by Cameroon, with Roger Milla’s famous dance. And the peak was, of course, in 2002, with Senegal’s sensational victory over the great France, 1:0 from Papa Bouba Diop’s goal.

Then we returned to the source. Ahead of the 2006 World Cup, FIFA decided that the reigning world champion would no longer receive an automatic ticket to the tournament. That meant that, in effect, it could not be known in advance whether the world champion would even be in the next World Cup, so the old custom returned, in which the host leads off the first match. And so we got Germany’s 4:2 over Costa Rica, that goal by Tshabalala and South Africa in the game that ended 1:1, and Russia’s five-goal display against Saudi Arabia in 2018.

History shows that, most of the time, opening matches do not reach a high level. Since the tradition was established in 1974, opening matches usually end with no more than three goals at best, indicating a slow start to the tournament, which builds momentum later on. So do not be surprised if this match also lacks many exciting moments, but they are certainly waiting for you further along the way.

In the last tournament, host Qatar was defeated fairly easily by Ecuador. It was also a sign of its weak tournament, as it became the only host in World Cup history not to earn even a single point in the group stage. Mexico, one of the three hosts, will try to improve the impression at the Azteca Stadium. The first course of the World Cup is waiting for us very soon. Come hungry.

World Cup 2026

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