KATHMANDU, June 12: The FIFA World Cup 2026 officially got underway with a spectacular opening ceremony at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca, featuring music, culture and entertainment.
The tournament’s opening match between co-hosts Mexico and South Africa began immediately after the ceremony at the iconic stadium.
The event showcased Mexican culture, traditions and artistic heritage to a global audience. Indigenous performers, folk dancers and cultural groups took part in the celebrations, highlighting the country’s rich diversity.
The ceremony also featured performances by international and Latin American music stars, including Shakira, Burna Boy, J Balvin, Tyla, Alejandro Fernández, Belinda, Danny Ocean, Lila Downs, Los Ángeles Azules and Maná.
Mexico 2 S. Africa 0
Mexico made an immediate impression on the largest World Cup in history, giving the roaring home crowd at the iconic Azteca Stadium a huge jolt of excitement four years after a major disappointment.
Mexico’s players understood the intense pressure and high expectations they were facing on Thursday in the opening match of the first 48-team World Cup tournament. But they embraced their role and got off to a winning start by beating South Africa 2-0 in a match that also produced three red cards.
Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez scored the goals for Mexico, which is co-hosting the 2026 tournament with Canada and the United States.
The Mexicans rebounded from the massive disappointment of being eliminated after the group stage four years ago in Qatar. That followed seven straight trips to the round the 16 — an achievement that became more of a curse for failing to reach the quarterfinals.
In front of a capacity crowd of 80,824, Mexico got working fast and took the lead in the ninth minute when Quiñones scored. Jiménez added the second goal on a header in 66th — his 46th for Mexico but first in three World Cup tournaments.
South Africa players Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane were both given red cards, forcing the team to finish the match with only nine players. Mexico defender César Montes was then given a red card in injury time.
It was the first time there were three red cards given in the opening match of a World Cup tournament. And it’s the most in a World Cup game since four were handed out when Portugal played the Netherlands at the 2006 tournament in Germany.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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