Live from the Opening Match, First Half: Mexico 0, South Africa 0

Studio interview, Raz Shechnik ahead of the 2026 World Cup (Photo: Uri Davidovich) The 2026 World Cup has now kicked off in Mexico City, and this is not just another tournament. For the first time in history, the World Cup is being held with 48 national teams, and for the first time it is spread across three host countries, the United States, Mexico and Canada. After years of preparations, disputes, expectations and no small amount of concern over the expanded format, the biggest tournament in football history gets underway. The stars, the teams and the stories in one place: 2026 World Cup, the special page

The 48 teams will be divided into 12 groups of four. The top two from each group, along with the eight best third-place teams, will advance to a new round of 32. From there, the tournament will continue in a straight knockout format, round of 32, round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and final.

1 View gallery Raul Jimenez (Photo: REUTERS/Eloisa Sanchez)

The total number of matches will be 104, a new World Cup record, and the teams that reach the final will play eight matches instead of seven. The change is intended to create new opportunities for medium-sized and smaller nations, among them Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan, who will make historic debuts.

The opening match pits Mexico, one of the three hosts, against South Africa in Group 1. It is being played at the iconic Azteca Stadium, one of the venues most closely associated with World Cup history. This is the stadium that hosted the 1970 final between Brazil and Italy, and where Diego Maradona scored his famous brace against England in 1986. Mexico is the first country in history to host three World Cups. This time it is doing so as a co-host. For the United States, this is the second time, after hosting in 1994.

Mexico and South Africa have already met in the World Cup opening match, in the historic tournament held in South Africa in 2010, and it ended 1-1. Javier Aguirre's team wants to begin its home campaign on the right foot. Mexico arrives at the tournament in excellent form, still unbeaten in 2026 and coming off three straight warm-up wins, including against Ghana and Australia, with the highlight being a 5-1 victory over Serbia last Friday. Hugo Broos's Belgian-led side, by contrast, has produced less consistent results in friendlies, including draws against Nicaragua and Jamaica and a 2-1 loss to Panama.

Incidentally, the two coaches met exactly 40 years ago as players in the group stage of the 1986 World Cup, in the match between Mexico and Belgium, which ended 2-1 to the South American side, and was also played at the Azteca.

Mexico's best World Cup finishes are two quarterfinal appearances. In the last World Cup it was eliminated in the group stage. For the Bafana Bafana, this is their fourth World Cup appearance, and they showed plenty of character in qualifying after finishing top of Group 3 ahead of strong Nigeria.

Match progress

Lineups

Mexico: Raul Rangel; Israel Reyes, Johan Vasquez, Cesar Montes, Jesus Gallardo; Alvaro Fidalgo, Brian Gutierrez, Eric Lira, Roberto Alvarado; Raul Jimenez, Julian Quinones

South Africa: Ronwen Williams; Khuliso Mudau, Ime Okon, Nkosinathi Sibisi, Mbekezeli Mbokazi, Aubrey Modiba; Thabo Mokoena, Siphephelo Sithole, Jayden Adams; Ikram Rayners, Lyle Foster.