June 11, 2026
After the stories of grossly inflated match ticket and transportation prices, water bottles being banned from being taken into stadiums, fans from many of the participating countries being prevented from either purchasing tickets or obtaining visas for the USA, Iran’s entire ticket allocation being cancelled, Iraq striker Aymen Hussain being detained for 7 hours of questioning on arrival at Chicago and the team’s official photographer being denied entry, Iran having to move their base from Arizona to Tijuana in Mexico and prevented from staying overnight in the USA after their games in Los Angeles and Seattle, Africa’s best referee, Omar Artan from Somalia, being refused entry in Miami, Senegal’s players being searched on the tarmac after getting off their aircraft in North Carolina, Uzbekistan’s players and equipment extensively being searched as they entered the stadium in New York for a friendly against The Netherlands ( although the Dutch were not subjected to the same treatment ), and hotel reservations reportedly being significantly down against projections as many supporters decide that attending in person is just not worth the hassle, we are finally close to seeing some football, in what has been described in some quarters as the most controversial sporting event since the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
With the World Cup being hosted across three countries for the first time ever, the honour of the first match was granted to Mexico, with the final being held in New Jersey, USA.
Mexico had previously hosted the 1970 and 1986 finals, so the 93,000 capacity Estadio Azteca will become the first stadium to have held the first match of the finals on three separate occasions.
This would be the second time Mexico and South Africa had met in the opening game of the finals, playing a 1-1 draw in Johannesburg in 2010. In the only other competitive meeting between the two sides, South Africa were victorious in the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup, winning 2-1 in Carson, California. However, Mexico had won friendlies in 1993 and 2000, by margins of 4-0 and 4-2 respectively.
Mexico
As hosts, Mexico were not required to qualify for these finals. Historically, Mexico have been the big fish in the CONCACAF region, and were making their 18th appearance in the World Cup Finals, a record only beaten by Brazil, Germany ( including those of West Germany ) and Argentina. They have only failed to qualify in 1934, 1938, 1974, and were disqualified in 1990 for playing over-age players in a FIFA youth tournament.
Despite their frequent presence, Mexico had only twice reached the quarter-finals, both when they were hosts, but had reached the Round of 16 knock-outs on 7 successive occasions until failing to get out of their group in 2022, when a 95th minute consolation goal for Saudi Arabia eliminated Mexico on goal difference.
Mexico came into the tournament 15th in FIFA’s rankings and were unbeaten in all 8 friendlies played in 2026, winning six and drawing with Portugal and Belgium, both matches played in the USA. The final warm-up game was a comprehensive 5-1 victory over Serbia in a game played in Toluca.
Mexico Coach
Former international, 67-year-old Javier Aguirre ( 59 caps ) is in his third spell as coach, and has been in the hot seat since July 2024. As a player, Aguirre was part of the 1986 World Cup squad but was shown a red card in the quarter-final against West Germany, which the Germans went on to win on penalties after a 0-0 draw.
Aguirre’s club career was mostly spent in Mexico, playing for America and Guadalajara, but there were short spells with the Los Angeles Aztecs and Spanish side Osasuna. Aguirre’s parents were from the Basque region, hence his nickname of The Basque.
With his ancestry, Aguirre was to obtain a Spanish passport and coached Osasuna, Atletico Madrid, Real Zaragoza, Espanyol, Leganes and Real Mallorca. He also coached the national teams of Japan and Egypt.
Mexico Squad
Fulham forward Raul Jimenez ( 124 caps and 45 goals ) is the player that would be most recognisable to followers in the UK. Jimenez has previously played for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Benfica and Atletico Madrid.
Centre-back Edson Alvarez ( 98 caps ) is a West Ham United player, but ended the season on loan at Fenerbache. Before joining West Ham, Alvarez had played for Ajax.
Keeper Guillermo Ochoa was third on the all-time list with 152 appearances for his country and this would be the 6th World Cup finals for the 40-year-old. He is now playing in Cyprus for AEL Limassol and numbered Ajaccio, Standard Liege, Malaga, Granada and Salernitana amongst his European clubs, and America back home. Left-back Jesus Gallardo has 121 caps but had played all of his career in Mexico, and was currently at Toluca.
Five of the Mexico squad were born outside of the country. Guadalajara midfielder Brian Gutierrez ( 7 caps ) was born in the USA and made two appearances in friendlies in 2025 for The Stars And Stripes before switching allegiances, having played over 150 times for Chicago Fire.
AC Milan forward Santiago Gimenez ( 47 caps ) was born in Argentina, but moved at an early age to Mexico. Likewise, his father Christian Gimenez, was also born in Argentina but played for Mexico, becoming a naturalised citizen after playing for four Mexican clubs.
Atletico Madrid midfielder Obed Vargas ( 6 caps ) was born in Anchorage, USA and started with Seattle Sounders. He has a Mexican father and a Spanish mother. Forward Julian Quinones ( 22 caps ) was born in Colombia, and represented their Under 20 side, but until signing for Saudi side Al-Qadsiah had played all of his senior career in Mexico.
Betis midfielder Alvaro Fidalgo ( 4 caps ) was born in Spain and had played for their Under 17 side. He gained Mexican citizenship after spending 5 years in the country playing for America.
Midfielder Erik Lira ( 25 caps ) featured in these diaries’ only report on Mexican football, playing for Cruz Azul in 2023 in their 1-0 win over Atlas in a match played in the Azteca. AEK midfielder Orbelin Pineda ( 92 caps ) had also appeared in these diaries, in both of AEK’s Champions League matches against Antwerp in 2023, and in a Europa League Preview prior to AEK’s game at Brighton and Hove Albion.
Three Mexican players were included in the BBC’s 20 young players to watch at the World Cup feature. 17-year-old Gilberto Mora ( 8 caps ) of Tijuana is the youngest player at the tournament, and was a sensation at last year’s CONCACAF Gold Cup, starting in the final against the USA, where Mexico were 2-1 winners. Striker Armando Gonzalez ( 7 caps ) scored 25 goals in Liga MX for Guadalajara last season and was tipped by the BBC as a likely super-sub and to help take the burden off Jimenez. The other player to watch was Brian Gutierrez !
South Africa
South Africa are currently 60th in FIFA rankings and have a nickname of Bafana, Bafana, which roughly translates as Boys, Boys.
This is the fourth occasion that South Africa have qualified for the World Cup finals, but they had never previously got out of the group stages.
In 1998, they lost to host nation France 0-3 and draws with Denmark ( 1-1 ) and Saudi Arabia ( 2-2 ) saw them finished 3rd in their group. Four years later in South Korea, they started with a 2-2 draw with Paraguay before recording their first ever win in the finals, overcoming Slovenia 1-0. However, a 2-3 loss to Spain saw South Africa eliminated on goals scored, having one fewer than Paraguay.
South Africa’s were hosts for the 2010 finals, and became the first ever host nation to fail to get out of their group. They opened with a 1-1 draw with Mexico but then slumped to a 0-3 defeat at the hands of Uruguay. A 2-1 upset victory over France, who had a miserable tournament, wasn’t enough to take South Africa to the knock-out rounds, as they finished below Mexico on goal difference.
Following the end of the Apartheid era, South Africa were one of the strongest nations in Africa, winning the 1996 African Cup Of Nations which they hosted, beating Tunisia 2-0 in the final, and were runners-up in 1998 and were third in 2002. Since those glories days though, they failed to qualify on four occasions and their best results were reaching the quarter finals three times until they came third in 2023, beating DR Congo on penalties after a 0—0 draw after having lost the semi-final on penalties following a 1-1 draw with Nigeria. In 2025 they were eliminated in the Round of 16, losing 1-2 to Cameroon.
South Africa Qualifying Campaign
South Africa topped their qualifying group by finishing one point ahead of Nigeria but they made things difficult for the themselves by fielding an ineligible player in a game against Lesotho which they won 2-0, but the result was over-turned into a 0-3 defeat. Midfielder Teboho Mokoena should have been serving a one match suspension but instead played 82 minutes of the match.
South Africa started with a 2-1 home win over Benin but then fell to a disappointing 0-2 defeat in Rwanda. An important 1-1 draw was achieved in Nigeria, then Zimbabwe were beaten 3-1 in Polokwane.
The Lesotho fiasco followed next, but South Africa recovered with a 2-0 win in the return with Benin, which was played in the Ivory Coast, and then a 3-0 victory over Lesotho with the match being played in Bloemfontein due to Lesotho not having a suitable stadium to host World Cup matches.
A 1-1 draw at home to Nigeria took South Africa to the brink of qualification but a 0-0 away draw with Zimbabwe, played in Durban, left South Africa needing to beat Rwanda in the final game, which was accomplished with a 3-0 victory.
Since the 2025 AFCON finals South Africa’s form had been lukewarm, and they were yet to win a match in 2026. Two home friendlies against Panama had resulted in a 1-1 draw then a 1-2 defeat, and the home farewell against Nicaragua, ranked 131st by FIFA, was a lucklustre 0-0 draw. Their final warm-up fixture was a 1-1 draw against Jamaica in a game played in Toluca.
South Africa Coach
Belgian Hugo Broos has been coach since 2021. As a player, defender Broos represented Belgium on 24 occasions, and was part of the squad that finished fourth in the 1986 World Cup finals. Broos was in the Belgium line-up that lost 1-2 in a group game to a Mexico side including Aguirre, so they will face each other again 40 years later ! In total Broos made over 500 league appearances for Anderlecht and Club Brugge.
His coaching career took Broos to Greece, Turkey and Algeria, in additional to a spell as the coach of Cameroon. He has also coached 6 sides in Belgium, including Club Brugge, Anderlecht and Genk.
South Africa Squad
All of the South African players were born in their country but only seven of them currently play their club football outside of their country.
Burnley striker Lyle Foster ( 26 caps ) would be the most familiar to those in the UK, winger Thapelo Maseko ( 9 caps ) plays for AEL Limassol, and midfielder Yaya Sithole ( 27 caps ), whose name needs to be pronounced very carefully, plays in Portugal for Tondela.
Defender Imo Okon ( 7 caps ) is with Hannover 96, uncapped defender Olwethu Makhanya plays for Philadelphia Union, centre-back Mbekezeli Mbokazi ( 10 caps ) also plays in the USA, for Chicago Fire, whilst Samukele Kabini ( 5 caps ) is with Norwegian side Molde.
2025/26 champions Orlando Pirates from Soweto, and runners-up Mamelodi Swallows based in Pretoria, had the highest representation in the squad with 8 players each.
Captain and keeper Ronwen Williams ( 62 caps ) was with Mamelodi Swallows, as were veteran midfielder Themba Zwane ( 53 caps ) and left-back Aubrey Modiba ( 44 caps ).
Matchday Information
With Mexico playing at home the match was predicted to be an 83,000 sell-out, with the referee being Brazilian Wilton Sampaio.
Bet365 made Mexico 21/50 favourites, with South Africa at 7/1 and the draw 7/2.
The weather at the 13.00 local time kick-off ( 20.00 UK ) was forecast to be 22 degrees with a good chance of rain.
Mexico were scheduled to play in their traditional green shirts with white shorts whilst South Africa were due to be playing in their yellow shirts and green shorts.
The game will be proceeded by an opening ceremony, in which Shakira will be performing, and Fatbear will be bothering to watch.
