Mexico v South Africa: The Azteca Opens the Show
For the third time in history, the iconic Mexico City stadium will host the curtain-raiser of a FIFA World Cup. Kickoff is June 11 at 3pm ET.
T he Estadio Azteca has hosted two World Cup finals – Pelé’s Brazil in 1970, Maradona’s Argentina in 1986. On June 11, it will host the opening match of a third tournament, becoming the first stadium in history to do so.
Mexico against South Africa. The hosts against the African qualifiers. Three p.m. Eastern, six p.m. local on the high plateau of Mexico City. Whatever the football looks like, the symbolism is hard to top: Pelé scored here, Maradona scored here, and now the Azteca opens the largest tournament in World Cup history.
The venue itself has been remodeled – sponsors will call it Estadio Banorte for the duration – and the capacity sits around 87,000 for tournament configuration. Mexico will play three group matches there, with the final group match against Czechia closing out the local schedule on June 24.
The Azteca will not host a final this time. That honor belongs to MetLife on July 19. But for one afternoon in June, the oldest cathedral of World Cup football opens the show one more time.