The opening match of the 2026 World Cup will be on Thursday, June 11 at the Azteca Stadium and will pit Mexico (hosts) against South Africa, as clarified by Friday’s group stage draw.
The tournament to be played in the United States, Mexico and Canada will begin with Group A, which, in addition to the teams that will play the first of the 104 World Cup matches, includes South Korea and the winner of the European D playoff (Denmark, North Macedonia, Ireland and Czech Republic). The team coached by Javier Aguirre, reigning champion of the Gold Cup and the CONCACAF Nations League (Confederation of North, Central American, Caribbean and Caribbean Association Football), will kick off the world’s top soccer tournament against the South African team, which has not played in the finals since 2010, when it hosted the tournament.
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Mexico’s national soccer team and South Africa’s national soccer team will open the World Cup on June 11 at the Azteca stadium in Mexico City.
16 years after the two countries also kicked off the 2010 event.
On that occasion, the match ended in a one-goal draw in a packed Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg to witness the inauguration of the first World Cup on the African continent.
For 2026, Mexico, under the leadership of Javier Aguirre, plans to advance from Group A to the quarterfinals, its historic ‘wall’ at soccer’s top event.
In both 1970 and 1986, the editions in which Mexico was the host country, it reached this stage.
In 1970, a draw against the Soviet Union and two victories against Belgium and El Salvador were enough for the team coached by Raúl Cárdenas and captained by Gustavo Peña to advance to a stage in which Italy, later finalists against Brazil, would dispatch them with a convincing 4-1 win.
In ’86, the fifth game came after topping Group B ahead of Paraguay, Belgium and Iraq and beating Bulgaria in the round of 16.
The quarterfinals, a very even game against Germany, ended 0-0 after ninety minutes and extra time, which led to a penalty shootout in which Die Mannschaft won 4-1.
A strong South Africa and a dangerous South Korea
On June 11, the Mexicans will face a South Africa team coached by Belgian Hugo Broos that qualified first in Group C of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Above Nigeria (which was sent to the play-offs against Congo), Benin, Lesotho, Rwanda and Zimbabwe.
Aguirre’s team will have to be very careful in this first encounter with Mamelodi’s Teboho Mokoena, who played in the last Club World Cup in the United States.
Mexico’s strongest opponent in this group could be South Korea, whom they already faced in France’98.
Son Heung-min, who shone for a decade with Tottenham Hotspur in England and now plays for Los Angeles in the American MLS, is the Asian team’s most dangerous player.
The Koreans booked their ticket to the North American finals after finishing first in the AFC hexagonal B, securing one of the eight direct berths.
The fourth member of group A will be decided in March with the winner of the European play-off D (Czech Republic/Ireland/Denmark/Macedonia).
With information from EFE
For more information, visit QuéOnnda.com
