Performers, kickoff time, players to look out for, tactics, the venue, where to watch on TV and moreJune 11, 2026 at 2:38 pmepa13029082 Soccer fans gather outside Mexico City Stadium in Mexico City, Mexico, 10 June 2026, on the eve of the opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup between Mexico and Bafana Bafana South Africa. (Mario Guzman/EPA/BackpagePix) The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off on Thursday when Mexico clash against Bafana Bafana at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.Here is all you need to know about the game and World Cup opening:Kickoff time: 1pm in Mexico City, 9pm SA timeVenue: Estadio Azteca - also known as Mexico City Stadium (the official name for the World Cup) and and Estadio Banorte (for sponsorship reasons)Azteca capacity: 87,523On TV: The opening ceremony and opening match will be televised on SABC 3 and SuperSport streamed free on SABCMatch officials: Referee: Wilton Sampaio (Brazil); assistant referee 1: Bruno Pires (Brazil); assistant referee 2: Bruno Boschilia (Brazil); fourth official: Juan Gabriel Benítez (Paraguay); reserve assistant referee: Eduardo Cardozo (Paraguay); video assistant referee (VAR): Nicolás Gallo (Colombia)Co-hosts of the 2026 World Cup: Mexico, Canada, USOpening ceremony start time: 11am in Mexico City, 7pm SA time (televised from about 7.40pm in SA)Who will sing the South African national anthem: Grammy Award-winning South African singer TylaThe Mexico anthem: Mexican singer Alejandro Fernández Mexico opening ceremony performers: Shakira and Burna Boy will premiere the official tournament song titles Dai Dai; plus J Balvin, Tyla, Alejandro Fernández, Maná, Belinda, Danny Ocean, Lila Downs, Los Ángeles AzulesAdditional opening ceremonies: Games in Canada in the US on Friday will also have opening ceremonies.When is the 2026 World Cup final?: July 19 (MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford)Who to watch out for in Mexico’s ranks: Raúl Jiménez, Fulham centre-forward is the star player and attacking fulcrum who is deadly in front of goal. Johan Vásquez (Genoa) and Lokomotiv Moscow’s César Montes are tough centrebacks. Full-backs Jesús Gallardo and Israel Reyes like to get forward on the overlap. Fenerbahce’s Edson Álvarez at anchor and box-to-box player Érik Lira are usually the central midfielders. Tijuana’s 17-year-old Gilberto Mora, the youngest player at the World; Brian Gutiérrez of Guadalajara and Real Betis’s Álvaro Fidalgo are attacking midfield options who will look for space between the lines. Alexis Vega (Toluca) and César Huerta (Anderlecht) provide pace and width on the wings. Other striker options include Armando González (Guadalajara) and AC Milan’s 25-year-old striker Santiago Giménez.Mexico’s tactics: Mexico coach Javier Aguirre wants his team to be resilient and uncomfortable to face. If you’re their opponents you can expect Mexico to be rigid and frustrating to launch attacks against, and expect pacey, pointed, direct attacks back at you when you lose the ball in their territory. They play a flexible 4-3-3 formation that can become a 4-2-3-1 or even a 4-4-2 depending on the game situation and opponents.Who will be key for Bafana?: Ronwen Williams in goal, 20-year-old talent Mbekezeli Mbokazi and whoever he partners in central defence. Right-back Khuliso Mudau is a machine and left-back Aubrey Modiba hugely experienced. Teboho Mokoena is Bafana’s other major star player with Williams in central midfield, where he may partner talented Jayden Adams or the more physical Sphephelo Sithole. Orlando Pirates’ Tshepang Moremi and Oswin Appollis (another huge performer for Pirates and Bafana coach Hugo Broos) are likely to be the wide attacking players. Lyle Foster’s experience seems likely to get him the nod upfront, though he’s been a bit out of touch, so Iqraam Rayners and Evidence Makgopa are the striking back-up on the bench.A bit about the Azteca: Estadio Azteca is the only football stadium in the world to have both Pelé (1970) and Diego Maradona (1986), regarded as the two best footballers ever, win the World Cup there. Mexico hosted the 1970 World Cup, in which Pelé’s Brazil, regarded as perhaps the best team of all time, beat Italy 4-1 in a legendary final. The 1986 World Cup in Mexico is regarded as perhaps the best of all time. Maradona’s virtuous performance throughout, including his Goal of the Century in the quarterfinal against England and probably the second-best goal of all time in the semifinal against Belgium, and two magical assists in the 2-1 final win against Germany, is the stuff of legend. It’s capacity then was 115,000 but that has been reduced by modernisation and renovations.A fascinating piece of trivia: Mexico beat Belgium 2-1 in the opening game in 1986. Mexico’s current coach Aguirre and Bafana coach Broos lined up against each other in that match, and now are coaches in the 2026 opener, 40 years later, at the same venue.Trivia most people know: Thursday’s 2026 opener is a rematch of the 1-1 opening game draw between Bafana and Mexico at FNB Stadium when South Africa hosted the 2010 World Cup.World Cup group: Group AOther teams in the group: Czechia (Czech Republic), Korea RepublicRankings of the teams in Group A: Mexico - 15; South Korea - 25; Czechia - 41; South Africa - 60Next Group A game: Korea Republic v Czechia, Estadio Guadalajara (Thursday, 8pm in Mexico; 4am on Friday morning SA time)How teams progress to the last 32 and knockouts: Finish in the top two in the group or among the eight best third-placed finishers from the 12 groups.TimesLIVE