Thousands of fans arrived at the legendary Azteca stadium with a real sense of excitement and anticipation to watch the World Cup on their home turf for the first time in 40 years.
It has been a complicated build up from the renovations of the airport and Azteca stadium to protests around the event and the cartel violence seen in Mexico only months ago, but on Thursday those issues appeared to have been pushed to the side as football takes centre stage.
Javier Pérez came with his family for the opener and told Source the excitement now outweighs any hassles experienced up to this point.
He said they were lucky to get hospitality tickets and it is a unique experience, adding he has never been to a World Cup before so bringing his family is wonderful.
He just wants Mexico to get off on the right foot, win, and score a load of goals before seeing how far they can go.
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Mexico is co-hosting the 2026 tournament alongside the US and Canada, with those North American teams hosting their own opening ceremonies on Friday.
Today the focus was on Mexico’s festivities, and ahead of the co-hosts match against South Africa fans in the stadium were treated to musical performances from Shakira, Colombia’s J Balvin, Afrobeats star Burna Boy, Latin music star Danny Ocean, and Fher Olvera.
Mexican singer Fernández, the son of veteran crooner Vicente Fernández, sang the Mexican national anthem ahead of the match.
Grammy winning South African star Tyla performed her national anthem, and she will return to the World Cup stage on Friday to take part in the US opening ceremony in Los Angeles alongside Katy Perry, Future, Lisa, and Anitta.
Performers in the historic stadium wore indigenous clothing while others were dressed in all gold and held giant golden footballs above their heads.
A packed stadium of fans were dressed in their own colourful outfits, many wearing Mexico’s team colours.
When the opening ceremony wrapped up and the match got under way thousands of fans threw their sombreros into the air, ready to celebrate having the biggest tournament in football play out on home soil.
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