2026 FIFA World Cup: Mexico vs South Africa - Preview, line-ups and prediction

The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off on Thursday night as co-hosts Mexico face South Africa in the tournament's opening Group A fixture at the iconic Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, the first of 104 matches in football's biggest-ever expanded tournament.

The fixture carries a beautiful sense of history. Sixteen years ago in Johannesburg, these two nations shared a 1-1 draw in the opening game of the 2010 World Cup with Siphiwe Tshabalala's stunning opener and Rafael Márquez's equaliser etched permanently into World Cup folklore. Thursday night is a nostalgic flip of that script, this time on Mexican soil.

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Mexico has already made history before a ball is kicked. They become the first nation to host the men's World Cup three times, adding 2026 to their legendary standalone editions in 1970 and 1986.

Coach Javier Aguirre, now 67 and on his third separate stint in charge of El Tri, has spent two years rebuilding a side desperate to erase the memory of Qatar 2022, when Mexico failed to reach the knockout rounds for the first time since 1978.

Ranked 14th in the world, Mexico bypassed CONCACAF qualifying as co-hosts. After winning both the CONCACAF Nations League and the Gold Cup, they suffered a post-silverware dip — going winless across their final six friendlies of 2023. But 2026 has brought a sharp improvement. They held Portugal and Belgium to draws before stringing together three straight wins against Ghana, Australia, and Serbia – thrashing the latter 5-1 in Toluca last Friday.

Mexico are unbeaten in their last seven World Cup opening games dating back to 1994 and will be backed by a sold-out 83,000-strong crowd on Thursday night.

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South Africa arrive in North America for their fourth World Cup appearance and their first since hosting the tournament in 2010, ending a 16-year absence that included three consecutive failed qualification campaigns for the 2014, 2018, and 2022 editions.

Bafana Bafana punched their ticket to 2026 in dramatic fashion. Their 3-0 final-round victory over Rwanda – combined with Nigeria thrashing group leaders Benin 4-0 – secured top spot in CAF qualifying with 18 points from 10 matches, despite the team being docked three points for fielding an ineligible player in their home win over Lesotho.

Belgian coach Hugo Broos, in charge since 2021, brings a side ranked 60th in the world and 11th among African nations. Their recent form, however, has been a concern. South Africa are winless across their last four friendly fixtures; they drew with and lost against Panama in March, were held to a goalless draw by Nicaragua in May, and most recently were credited with a 1-0 win over Jamaica, only for it to be confirmed eight hours later that the match had actually ended 1-1.

Broos acknowledged after that result that his team's performance "fell short of expectations" and promised a thorough analysis before Thursday's opener. South Africa's last win over Mexico came in July 2005 at the CONCACAF Gold Cup – a 2-1 victory that now feels like a very long time ago.

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Mexico: Ochoa; Sanchez, Montes, Alvarez, Gallardo; Gutierrez, Fidalgo, Pineda; Alvarado, Jimenez, Quinones

South Africa: Williams; Mudau, Mbokazi, Okon, Modiba; Mbatha, Sithole, Mokoena; Appollis, Foster, Moremi

Mexico 2-1 South Africa