MEXICO CITY: Mexico City opened the World Cup on Thursday at the famous Azteca stadium with a ceremony celebrating pre-Hispanic culture, as the ground rocked ahead of the tournament’s first match between Mexico and South Africa that kicks off against a backdrop of protests around the capital.
Fans in Mariachi costumes, with sombreros and trumpets, formed a sea of dark green support as Shakira and Burna Boy performed the 2026 World Cup anthem and pyrotechnics filled the ground.
Alejandro Garcia, 50, decked out in a sombrero and carrying a replica trophy, said he was proud that Mexico was hosting another World Cup. He was a young kid when the country last hosted the tournament in 1986. “This is our temple,” he said on the concourse around the Azteca. “It’s going to be a great World Cup, all of the protests will now be forgotten.”
But outside the ground, the city of 9 million people remained deeply divided.
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