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.
52 Articles
52 Articles
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…
Mexico plays against history, against its own history, this Thursday, June 11 against South Africa, when the ball rolls in the Aztec Stadium, renamed Estadio Ciudad de México for the World Cup, after having been renamed Banorte. Random has placed him for the eighth time in an inaugural match of a World Cup. Thus, it will be the eighth opportunity to break a streak that accompanies him since the first World Cup, that of 1930: winning the first ma…
The History Of Mexico's Opening-Day World Cup Curse
Mexico usually hits a wall when it plays on the opening day of the World Cup.Of the seven previous occurrences, El Tri's record is five losses and two draws. Mexico gets another shot Thursday when it hosts South Africa to kick off the 48-team tournament."We must break that trend," coach Javier Aguirre told a news conference Wednesday at the Azteca stadium."I did not know about that," he said of the winless sequence, "but I’ll mention it to the g…
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