Mexico vs. South Africa LIVE: Latest score, minute-by-minute updates from World Cup 2026 opener

Hello and welcome to FootballWhispers' live matchday blog of the World Cup 2026 opener between Mexico and South Africa at the Estadio Azteca!

Sixteen years on from THAT Tshabalala strike at the 2010 edition, El Tri and Bafana Bafana once again have the honour of raising the curtain on the best sporting event the globe has to offer, with kickoff in the Group A encounter scheduled for 8pm UK time.

Make sure you do not miss a beat with FootballWhispers' live blog below!

Mexico vs. South Africa: What's the story?

Not only is Mexico vs. South Africa a repeat of the 2010 World Cup opener, both teams are locking horns 16 years to the day from that 1-1 stalemate, which represents the fourth and most recent meeting between the two nations.

Five years prior, Bafana Bafana got the better of El Tri during the 2005 Gold Cup, gaining a slice of revenge for their opening two defeats to Mexico during the 2000 Nike Cup – a 4-2 loss – and a 1993 international friendly – a 4-0 hammering in the nations' first-ever senior men's international.

By ensuring that the Tshabalala thunderbolt would not hand South Africa a winning start, Mexico come into Thursday's tussle unbeaten in each of their last seven opening matches of a World Cup, winning five and drawing two such contests since being slain by Norway in 1994.

Thanks to their status as co-hosts, Mexico avoided the rigmarole of a lengthy qualification process for the World Cup, whereas South Africa had to fight their way above Nigeria to guarantee direct qualification for the 2026 event.

The Bafana Bafana usually guarantee entertainment on the biggest stage, as none of their previous nine World Cup matches have finished goalless, but Thursday's nominated ‘visitors' are still searching for their first-ever knockout appearance at a men's Mundial.