For all the strife, greed, grift and grandstanding that has pockmarked the build-up to this tournament, for all the claims of betrayal and desecration its troubled cradling has provoked, the 2026 World Cup began with a blessing in the Azteca Stadium on Thursday afternoon.All the controversy was swept away for a little while as the tournament dawned in a magnificent cathedral of football that has witnessed some of the World Cup’s most beautiful moments and provided the stage for some of its greatest heroes.As Mexico and South Africa took to the pitch here just before 1pm, it was impossible not to stare down at that hallowed expanse of turf and imagine Pele standing on the edge of the area and playing the most exquisite simple square pass that has ever been played and Carlos Alberto running on to it and smashing it into the goal.That was Brazil’s fourth goal in the 1970 World Cup final against Italy here, the greatest goal that has ever been scored. It was impossible, too, not to imagine Diego Maradona receiving the ball in the centre circle late in the 1986 final against West Germany and playing a brilliant first-time ball to set Jorge Burruchaga free for the winning goal.It was here, too, where Maradona scored his infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal against England 40 years ago and so it was here where he scored the greatest individual goal in World Cup history when he dribbled past most of the England team before poking his shot past Peter Shilton.The ghosts of those games whose magic is stamped on our memories were here to give their benediction to this World Cup of 48 teams and 104 matches and to begin the process of sluicing away the discontent that has preceded it.