Mexico, one of the three hosts nations of the FIFA World Cup 2026, will also star in the opening match and opening ceremony (well, the first of three different opening ceremonies in three countries). Thursday, June 11, World Cup officially begins with a match against South Africa in Mexico City.
And the Mexican team has the chance not only to impress the world in such an special occasion, but also to end a curse: Mexico has played seven times in World Cup opening matches since 1930... but has never won one.
It started in the first World Cup recognised as such by FIFA, the 1930 edition in Uruguay, when Mexico was thrashed 4-1 by France in the first-ever official World Cup match, as reported by El País. What followed wasn't much better:
World Cup 1950: Mexico lost 4-0 to Brazil in the opening match
World Cup 1954: Mexico lost 5-0 to Brazil in one of the two opening matches (played at the same time as Yugoslavia 1-0 France)
World Cup 1958: Mexico lost 3-0 to Sweden (in one of eight simultaneous opening matches)
World Cup 1962: Mexico lost 2-0 to Brazil in the opening match
World Cup 1970: Mexico drew 0-0 to Soviet Union in the opening match
World Cup 2010: Mexico drew 1-1 to South Africa in the opening match
Overall, Mexico has not performed too well at World Cup, with the quarter-finals in 1970 and 1970 being their best ever results, and losing in the group stage last time, in Qatar 2022.
Will Mexico defeat South Africa (a rematch from the opening match 16 years ago) and end the curse of the Mexican opening match? Kick-off is at 21:00 CEST, 20:00 BST, followed by the opening ceremony with performances by Shakira, starting at 19:30 CEST.