World Cup 2026 opening ceremony LIVE: Shakira to kick off world’s biggest sporting event in Mexico City | OneFootball

After weeks of build-up, World Cup 2026 has finally arrived and will be kickstarted with a bang as a glitzy opening ceremony in Mexico City is followed by the first match of the tournament – Mexico v South Africa.

Music icons Shakira and Burna Boy will headline a star-studded opening ceremony at Estadio Azteca – the first of three at the tournament, with the US and Canada also hosting their own ceremonies tomorrow.

Once the stage has been removed and the confetti cleared, attention will turn to the on-pitch action with a Mexico side led by Javier Aguirre and harbouring hopes of a deep run on home soil taking on Group A underdogs South Africa, who are at the World Cup for the first time since hosting in 2010.

In that tournament, this exact fixture was also the opening contest and Siphiwe Tshabalala sent home fans wild with a 55th-minute goal before Rafael Marquez grabbed a 79th-minute equaliser to spare Mexican blushes. Will we be in for a repeat this evening?

Mexico's men to watch

Star player – Raul Jimenez, Fulham: This will be the veteran centre-forward’s fourth World Cup and, finally, he might start a game. In 2014 there was a single, six-minute appearance off the bench in a scoreless draw with Brazil. Four years later he made two cameos as a substitute without notable impact. And in Qatar he was sprung on in all three group games as El Tri went no further. On home soil and off the back of a steady campaign at Fulham, the time appears to have finally arrived for Jimenez to take a starring role. He is, by some distance, the biggest name in the present squad and there is an expectation that a player with more than 120 caps and approaching 50 international goals must fire for the co-hosts to prosper.

Will Mora start for the hosts? (Reuters)

Breakout talent – Gilberto Mora, Tijuana: The 17-year-old attacking midfielder is not just expected to play a role here but have a queue of scouts wagging their tongues at every display of flair. He has already broken a number of age records held, briefly, by Lamine Yamal and Pele - including the youngest player to win a senior international when aged 16 and 265 days. Once Mora turns 18 he is set to depart for Europe and Aguirre has seen little point in shutting down talk of him becoming a star. “He’s surely on the radar of several huge clubs around the world and it fills me with pride to see him being talked about on the global stage,” the Mexico head coach said, evidently holding few reservations around throwing a special talent in at the deepest end of all.

Alan Smith11 June 2026 17:31

It's the Azteca but not officially

Officially Fifa would prefer that we call the Azteca, site of several of the World Cup’s most memorable moments, as Mexico City stadium.

Why? Because since last year its name is the Estadio Banorte and because Fifa do not recognise sponsorship of stadiums - unless it’s one of their own partners, presumably - they have also decided not to refer it to its old name but, in an imaginative twist, the city it is based in.

The Azteca is ready. (PA)

Alan Smith11 June 2026 17:23

South Africa squad in full

It is a largely domestic based side plucked from the big two of Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs - meaning familiarity could be their biggest strength

Squad

Goalkeepers: Ronwen Williams (Mamelodi Sundowns), Ricardo Goss (Siwelele FC), Sipho Chaine (Orlando Pirates)

Defenders: Khuliso Mudau (Mamelodi Sundowns), Olwethu Makhanya (Philadelphia Union), Bradley Cross (Kaizer Chiefs), Thabang Matuludi (Polokwane City), Nkosinathi Sibisi (Orlando Pirates), Aubrey Modiba (Mamelodi Sundowns), Khulumani Ndamane (Mamelodi Sundowns), Ime Okon (Hannover 96), Samukele Kabini (Molde FK), Mbekezeli Mbokazi (Chicago Fire)

Midfielders: Teboho Mokoena (Mamelodi Sundowns), Jayden Adams (Mamelodi Sundowns), Thalente Mbatha (Orlando Pirates), Sphephelo Sithole (CD Tondela)

Forwards: Oswin Appollis (Orlando Pirates), Tshepang Moremi (Orlando Pirates), Evidence Makgopa (Orlando Pirates), Lyle Foster (Burnley), Iqraam Rayners (Mamelodi Sundowns), Relebohile Mofokeng (Orlando Pirates), Themba Zwane (Mamelodi Sundowns), Patrick Maswanganyi (Orlando Pirates), Kamogelo Sebelebele (Orlando Pirates), Thapelo Morena (Mamelodi Sundowns), Thapelo Maseko (AEL Limassol).

Coach: Hugo Broos.

Lyle Foster is one of few familiar names (Getty)

Alan Smith11 June 2026 17:16

Mexico squad in full

A number of experienced campaigners with Premier League experience are joined by Gilberto Mora, a teenager whose domestic breakthrough has captured the attention of European big guns.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Raul Rangel (Guadalajara), Guillermo Ochoa (AEL Limassol), Carlos Acevedo (Santos Laguna)

Defenders: Jorge Sanchez (PAOK), Israel Reyes (Club America), Cesar Montes (Lokomotiv Moscow), Johan Vasquez (Genoa), Jesus Gallardo (Toluca), Mateo Chavez (AZ)

Midfielders: Erik Lira (Cruz Azul), Orbelin Pineda (AEK Athens), Alvaro Fidalgo (Real Betis), Roberto Alvarado (Guadalajara), Brian Gutierrez (Guadalajara), Luis Romo (Guadalajara), Edson Alvarez (West Ham), Obed Vargas (Atletico Madrid), Gilberto Mora (Tijuana), Luis Chavez (Dynamo Moscow)

Forwards: Cesar Huerta (Anderlecht), Alexis Vega (Toluca), Julian Quinones (Al-Qadsiah), Guillermo Martinez (UNAM), Armando Gonzalez (Guadalajara), Santiago Gimenez (AC Milan), Raul Jimenez (Fulham)

Coach: Javier Aguirre

Mexico’s squad training earlier this week (Reuters)

Alan Smith11 June 2026 17:09

How South Africa could fare

Back on the biggest stage for the first time since hosting in 2010, will there be a moment to rival “Goal, Bafana, Bafana” in a repeat of that opening fixture 16 years ago? Probably not.

They entered last winter’s Africa Cup of Nations with high hopes of a deep run only for Cameroon to win a round of 16 meeting 2-1, while their qualification for this tournament appeared in some jeopardy after being docked three points after midfielder Teboho Mokoena mistakenly played in a qualifier versus Lesotho despite being suspended because of an accumulation of yellow cards..

Lyle Foster, the Burnley forward, may be the only recognisable name for fans watching on from the UK but their big strength will be familiarity. Eight of the squad are clubmates for Mamelodi Sundowns, the dominant domestic team who had won eight of the previous titles before Orlando Pirates pipped them by a point this season. There are eight Pirates in the squad too.

That camaraderie will be key if they are to cause a surprise, though head coach Hugo Broos, a 74-year-old veteran, is hardly spelling out grand expectations. “We’re going to do our best but I don’t think anyone will blame us if we don’t make it out of the group,” he said recently.

How USA ’94 changed football forever

On the day that USA ’94 started, as Jack Charlton tried to deliver instructions at Giants Stadium ahead of Ireland vs Italy the following evening, some of his players just couldn’t stop looking up. “My eyes were everywhere,” Andy Townsend said.

The stadium, on the site of the current MetLife Stadium, and which will be known as New York New Jersey Stadium this summer, was different to European football grounds, but that only made its scale all the more striking.

It wasn’t quite the World Cup as they knew it, but it was special. As Townsend and his teammates looked up, of course, the view was made all the more spectacular by how it reached into bright blue skies.

That remains the impression of USA ’94. Through all of the historic images, from a Romario toe-poke to the audacity of Gheorghe Hagi and Roberto Baggio’s final penalty miss, everything is so bright.

Miguel Delaney reflects on the impact of the previous World Cup in the US and discusses what legacy this summer’s tournament might leave:

How USA ’94 changed football forever

USA ’94 was ‘ground zero’ for ‘soccer’ in the United States. Now, with 11 American owners of Premier League clubs, the US has become the ‘ATM’ of the global game ahead of the 2026 World Cup, writes Miguel Delaney

Luke Baker11 June 2026 16:38

Trumpification of 2026 World Cup

The biggest World Cup of all time finally starts today. In so many ways, from Iran and visa issues to 48 teams and 16 venues, it is an unprecedented tournament.

Miguel Delaney, on the ground in New York, delves into the details behind the immense scale of ‘United 2026’

Miguel Delaney

Alan Smith11 June 2026 16:33

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