Mexico opened the World Cup with a 2-0 win over South Africa on Thursday at Estadio Ciudad de México, and the result fit the mood inside the Azteca: loud, local and unmistakably Mexican. The host team controlled a match that saw three red cards and left South Africa with little threat on a night built around one of the tournament’s few games in the country.
Fans started entering the stadium after the gates opened at 9 a.m., and the rush was immediate. Tickets had climbed well into the thousands, while a beer inside cost about 280 pesos, or $17, a price that did little to slow the buildup around a venue that has been heavily renovated for the occasion.
For Érik Lira, the atmosphere began long before kickoff. He said supporters lined the bus route in the thousands, shouting encouragement as the team traveled to the stadium, and added that the scene felt personal because he grew up in the area. “You’d see signs: ‘Mexico united’ or ‘We love Mexico,’” he said. The words matched what unfolded outside and inside the ground as the World Cup opener turned into a homecoming for Mexico fans.
That celebration, though, shared the day with a rougher scene nearby. Protesters clashed with police on the street close to the stadium on Thursday, even as the Azteca filled with smoke, costumes and a giant exploding Fifa sign hanging over the pitch during the opener presentation. The contrast captured a World Cup that has at times felt like a footnote in Mexico, even while the country still gets one of the showcase moments of the tournament.
Most of the matches are being played in the United States, which also hosts the final, leaving Canada and Mexico with only a token share. Mexico has staged World Cups before, in 1986 and 1970, but this opening win made clear that when the tournament does arrive here, the reception can still feel outsized. What comes next is less clear from the opener itself, beyond the fact that Mexico now carries the lift of a 2-0 start and South Africa leaves having never truly tested the host.
