FIFA World Cup 2026 Day 1: Shakira shines, Mexico soar and South Africa implode as tournament begins with chaos at Azteca

The FIFA World Cup 2026 was off to a glittering start at the iconic Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on Thursday. Colombian pop icon Shakira, making her fourth appearance at a World Cup, headlined a star-studded opening ceremony that also witnessed performances from leading artists such as Burna Boy, J Balvin, Belinda and more, while Mexico defeated South Africa in an opener that became viral for red cards and referee Wilton Sampaio.

The ceremony began with a dance and theatrical performance that shed light on Mexico's history and its roots and concluded with Shakira, easily the biggest draw of the ceremony, performing 'Dai Dai' – the official theme song for the tournament – along with Nigerian Afrobeats star Burna Boy.

Mexico's Azteca shines on opening night

The star power and fireworks in the opening ceremony, however, would take a backseat later in the day with Mexico and South Africa delivering a tournament opener for the ages. By the time the 80,000-plus spectators began milling towards the exit gates after the final whistle, few would have been discussing Shakira's performance or anything else that they witnessed before the start of play.

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Shakira and Burna Boy perform during the opening ceremony before the match between Mexico and South Africa. Image: Reuters

Mexico shares a special bond with football's showpiece event, whose popularity matches that of the Olympics and can be described as a global sport in the true sense. The country is hosting the tournament for the third time, albeit as a co-host on this occasion, and the Azteca – counted among the 'Cathedrals of Football' – has witnessed both Pelé and Diego Maradona lift the trophy, 16 years apart.

It was only fitting for the venue, which became the first in World Cup history to host three opening fixtures, to deliver a drama-filled showdown between Mexico and South Africa and get the tournament off to a high-octane start.

More red cards than goals

It wasn't exactly a gripping contest between two equals that went down to the wire. On the contrary, 'El Tri' dominated the contest from the opening touch right down to the final whistle, ending the game with 61 per cent of the possession and creating 15 shots compared to just four for their opponents.

The final scoreline of 2-0, thus, doesn't accurately reflect the Mexican dominance, and Javier Aguirre and his men will feel they could have added another goal or two to improve their goal difference and boost their chances of reaching the knockouts.

Instead, the biggest talking point on social media after the game was the fact that there were more red cards issued by the referee Sampaio than there were goals scored. The 2018 and the 2022 editions had witnessed four red cards each, none of them being issued in the opening game of the fixture.

Sunday's clash at Azteca, on the other hand, had three, with two of them being issued to Bafana Bafana, reducing them to nine men. That was in addition to three yellow cards issued to players from both teams, making for a rather busy afternoon for the Brazilian referee, who was officiating the opening game of the season.

The Mexico-Netherlands match is the closest thing, at least in World Cups, we've had to the 'Battle of Nuremberg' – the Round of 16 meeting between Portugal and the Netherlands in which referee Valentin Ivanov issued a record four red cards and 16 yellow cards. And the reactions of the players, especially when Themba Zwane was being sent off six minutes before stoppage time, made for great television and memes.

An ideal start from FIFA's perspective? 

FIFA is harbouring a lot of hopes from the 23rd edition of the World Cup, the first to feature 48 teams as well as the first to be hosted by three nations, and also intends to use the boost to football's popularity in the United States, a market it has struggled to capture all these years.

A game like the one that we just witnessed might not be ideal from the perspective of the quality of football presented on the field, with South Africa found woefully lacking on many fronts and guilty of gifting possession away with silly mistakes.

And yet, the drama that ensued at the hallowed venue has got the entire world talking about the World Cup, which might have been ideal for FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino as far as setting the tone for the remainder of the tournament is concerned.