Mexico Seeks to End Its Opening-Day World Cup Curse when It Takes on South Africa
The 87,500-seat stadium returns as a World Cup opener after renovations costing about 3.6 billion pesos, organizers said.
- On Thursday, Mexico faces South Africa in the opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2026 at the iconic Estadio Azteca, launching the expanded 48-team tournament across North America.
- The Azteca, the largest stadium in Latin America with approximately 87,500 capacity, sits 2,240 metres above sea level—a physical challenge for visiting players unfamiliar with the altitude.
- Mexico manager Javier Aguirre aims to break a historical winless opening-match streak, while South Africa coach Hugo Broos, who faced Aguirre in 1986, said, "We are prepared very well for tomorrow's match."
- Aguirre emphasized the team must "go out there and win the match," while Broos acknowledged South Africa lacks the "pressure that belongs to the host" facing 87,000 Mexican supporters.
- Spanning 39 days across Mexico, the United States, and Canada, this tournament is the first to feature 48 teams, positioning the opening match as the centerpiece of the largest World Cup in history.
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More than 80,000 fans sang loudly when the first goal came out at Azteca Stadium, this Thursday, in the 2–0 victory of the host Mexico against South Africa, in the opening match of the 2026 World Cup. In addition to intoxicating the audience present, the final whistle of the game led to the breaking of an ancient curse for the country of never having won a debut game in the World Cup. Prior to this edition, there were seven opening games played,…
Mexico wins the opening match of the 2026 World Cup against South Africa in the Aztec Stadium of Mexico City with 2:0.
Javier Aguirre officialized the 11th title of the Mexican team for the debut match against South Africa in the 2026 World Cup, a meeting where the popular passion of two nations of the global South seeks to prevail on the court over the commercial business of football.
The 2026 World Cup opens this Thursday, June 11, with a first match between Mexico, co-host of the competition, and South Africa. The legendary Azteca Stadium, renowned Mexico Stadium for the occasion, was chosen to host this poster. - World 2026: Why does the Mexico-South Africa opening stadium have "something very special"? (Sports).
'I like him, he'll go to Europe': Mexico coach on Rele Mofokeng
Mexico head coach Javier Aguirre has praised Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates winger Relebohile Mofokeng. Ahead of the FIFA World Cup opener between Bafana and Mexico, Aguirre had admitted it won’t be easy playing against South Africa. The 67-year-old has never won against Bafana in three meetings. As Mexico coach, Aguirre lost 2-1 to Bafana in the Gold Cup in 2005 before a 1-1 draw in the 2010 World Cup. In 2019, he lost 1-0 to South Africa in…
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