Statabet 26 47 days until kickoff
★ Opening Match — #1 Group A Azteca, Mexico City Before the Whistle 47 days
Mexico

Mexico

A1 · hosts · 15th in FIFA rankings
vs
June 11, 2026
20:00 CST
South Africa

South Africa

A3 · CAF · 58th in FIFA rankings
Date
JUNE 11Thursday
Kickoff
20:00Mexico City time · 05:00 MSK June 12
Venue
Azteca87,523 · Mexico City
Referee
F. TelloSpain · to be confirmed by May 4
First whistle

First whistle continent — at its peak, after sunset, before the eyes of 22 million people on the streets of Mexico City.

Mexico has not opened a World Cup since 1986 — Maradona's tournament. South Africa last played at the World Cup in 2010 — at their own home tournament, where they also started against Mexico. That history — the opening match of South Africa 2010, a 1:1 draw at Soccer City. Sixteen years later — a remake, now at the Azteca.

Predicted lineups

11
on 11.

Prediction · final lineup — 90 minutes before kickoff

Mexico
4-3-3 · Javier Aguirre
1Ochoa 3Gallardo 2Montes 4Álvarez 23Sánchez 8Rodríguez 6Romo 5Lira 22Lozano 9Jiménez 10Vega
1Guillermo OchoaGK
23Jorge SánchezRB
4Edson Álvarez · CCB
2César MontesCB
3Jesus GallardoLB
5Erik LiraCDM
6Luis RomoCM
8Carlos RodriguezCM
22Irving LozanoRW
9Santiago JiménezST
10Aleksis VegaLW
South Africa
4-3-3 · Hugo Broos
1Williams · C 15Modiba 5Mvala 4Kekana 3Mudau 8Mokoena 6Mbule 10Tshwane 11Tau 9Foster 7Mayambela
1Ronwen Williams · CGK
3Hulisani MudauRB
4Grant KekanaCB
5Mothobi MvalaCB
15Aubrey ModibaLB
8Tebogo MokoenCDM
6Sipho MbuleCM
10Themba ZwaneCAM
7Khulekani MaymelaRW
9Lyle FosterST
11Percy TauLW
Head-to-head matchups

Three key
clashes.

EÁ

Edson Álvarez

West Ham · 28 years old
captain, centre-back

vs
LF

Lyle Foster

Burnley · 25 years old
strike leader and national team top scorer

LR

Luis Romo

Cruz Azul · 30 years old
defensive midfielder

vs
CM

Tebogo Mokoen

Mamelodi Sundowns · 28 years old
heart of the midfield

GO

Memo Ochoa

AVS · 40 years old
sixth World Cup in his career

vs
PT

Percy Tau

Al-Ahly · 31 years old
brightest star of the generation

Head-to-Head

Five
matches.

Throughout history
4 — Mexico
2 — draws
0 — South Africa

Six head-to-head meetings since 1997. Mexico ahead across the board — but in their main encounter, the opening match of South Africa 2010, it ended 1:1.

Recent meetings
2010South Africa 1 — 1 Mexico★ World Cup 2010 opening match, Johannesburg
2008Mexico 2 — 1 South Africafriendly, Mexico City
2005Mexico 2 — 1 South AfricaConfederations Cup, Hanover
1997South Africa 1 — 1 MexicoConfederations Cup, Riyadh
1997Mexico 5 — 0 South Africafriendly, Los Angeles