Mexico and Bafana Bafana have announced their starting line-ups for the 2026 FIFA World Cup opening match at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
The wait is over; the biggest football tournament on the globe gets underway this evening with co-hosts Mexico set to play their eighth opening match in the FIFA World Cup.
Despite playing seven opening matches already, El Tri, as Mexico is famously known, have never won an opening game in the World Cup, with five losses and two draws. This evening, they will aim to fix that bad record on home soil.
The co-hosts played 14 friendly matches in preparation for this showpiece, aiming to go further in this tournament. Out of the 14, they won six, drew six, and lost two.
Meanwhile, the 2010 FIFA World Cup hosts had a tough journey coming to this World Cup after finishing top in a group that included Nigeria.
They also had stiff competition in AFCON, where they were knocked out in the round of 16. With their return to the World Cup for the first time since 2010, Hugo Broos’ side will aim to cause an upset this evening by beating Mexico.
This is the second time these two sides have faced each other in an opening game of the World Cup, as they played a 1-1 draw back in 2010.
Here is how they line up:
Mexico XI: Rangel, Gallardo, Reyes, Montes, Vasquez, Lira, Alvarado, Gutierrez, Fidalgo, Quinones, Jimenez
Subs: Acevedo, Ochoa, Sanchez, Romo, Chavez, Vega, Huerta, Alvarez, Mora, Vargas, Pineda, Gonzalez, Martinez, Gimenez
Bafana Bafana XI: Williams, Mudau, Okon, Sibisi, Mbokazi, Modiba, Sithole, Adams, Mokoena, Foster, Rayners.
Subs: Chaine, Goss, Cross, Ndamane, Makhanya, Kabini, Matuludi, Appollis, Moremi, Mofokeng, Mbatha, Zwane, Maseko, Makgopa