Key events<\/p>\n
11 min Quinones actually did a fairly decent job of holding it down after the goal \u2013 he ran about, of course, but given the emotion of the occasion, anything could\u2019ve happened.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a>GOAL! Mexico 1-0 South Africa (Quinones 9)<\/p>\n Or not! Williams passes out to Sithole, who I don\u2019t think wants it there, but even so, his first touch is miserable \u2013 though Lira snaps into the tackle with impressive zeal. The ball breaks to Quinones, he advances, shoots through the keeper\u2019s legs, and he\u2019s just scored the opening goal of a home World Cup<\/a> at Estadio Azteca! What a feeling!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.18 EDT<\/p>\n 9 min We\u2019ve see nothing of SA as an attacking force so far, but I imagine they\u2019re looking to take the sting out of things and keep it tight in tha meantime.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 7 min \u201cI\u2019m here in M\u00e9xico (at a friend\u2019s house, who can afford the stadium?!)\u201d begins Christine Fears. Here\u2019s the Mexican playlist we were listening to this morning:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Also, the, ahem, older rockers at the start of the ceremony were a band called Mana. Something of a one-hit wonder apparently, but get wheeled out for events!\u201d<\/p>\n Quality, will look forward to that \u2013 thanks.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 6 min My daughter knocks at the door so i leave her standing there while I wait for Mexco to make a mess of their corner; take your key, child!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 5 min Reyes skates down the right and on the outside, cutting back a cross to the edge, and Raul Jimenez arrives on to it beautifully! But he manages only a shinner, allowing Williams to plunge right and tip it behind.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 3 min Modiba lunges in on Alvarado so late it\u2019s almost bedtime, so Mexico<\/a> have a free-kick 40- yards from goal, which Gutierrez looks to sneak around the near-side of the wall \u2026 hitting it instead.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 2 min Mexico knock it about, SA back in shape, and the home crowd cheering every touch their team take and jeering each one taken by the visitors.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 1 min \u201cMy first World Cup<\/a> memory was Spain 82 and discovering for the first time as a 10-year-old a certain footballing nation called Brazil,\u201d says Simon Craig. \u201cEveryone at school tried to copy either Zico, Socrates or Eder at break time. I\u2019d never shed tears over a football match but it happened when they tragically went out to Italy in the quarters. The best team never to have won the World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n The Brazilian football writer, Juca Kfouri, once said something like \u201cZico never won the World Cup? That\u2019s the World Cup\u2019s problem.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 1 min Mexico kick off and the 2026 men\u2019s World Cup<\/a> is go!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n We\u2019re ready to go\u2026<\/p>\n Mexican and South African flags during the opening ceremony. Photograph: Rodrigo Oropeza\/AFP\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.13 EDT<\/p>\n The Mexico<\/a> anthem is done a cappella, a nice touch \u2013 but I\u2019d like to get a bit closer so we can hear the players sing.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cMy first World Cup<\/a> memory is watching England lose to Portugal on penalties in 2006 at a pub in New Jersey at 6 years old, says Arran Robertson. \u201cMy dad (Kyle Robertson of the 19.31 post) and his friend frequently talk about looking at my face of despair and hopelessness and feeling immense guilt for what they had subjected me to. Not much has changed. They also reckon no one paid and just left once England had lost.\u201d<\/p>\n I think this father\/son situation may be an MBM first; lovely stuff.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Anthem time!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Righto, our teams are tunnelled and \u2026 here they come! Out into the Azteca, the most storied stadium in World Cup<\/a> history; I can\u2019t begin to fathom how they and their families are feeling, but I\u2019m feeling a way even thinking about it, so I\u2019ve not a clue how they cope.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Of course, our teams for this one met in the 2010 opener too<\/a>, perhaps Peter Drury\u2019s finest hour.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.56 EDT<\/p>\n \u201cMy first World Cup<\/a> was 1966 when I spent the afternoon working in a petrol station in Solihull with only a small transistor radio for company,\u201d says Derek Bishton. \u201cI volunteered for the afternoon shift because the owner was offering double time and as I was a struggling 17-year-old student, I needed the money. Actually, it was the easiest money I ever earnt because not one single car pulled in for petrol during the whole of the game, which of course included extra time. And when the cars finally turned up, most of the drivers were so happy I made a mint out of the tips. I didn\u2019t see the final until some time later when a wonderful colour movie of the tournament was released.\u201d<\/p>\n Brilliant \u2013 and for those unacquainted, the World Cup films are terrific historical pieces.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n We\u2019ve been taken back to the Azteca to see the competing countries introduced. I hope there\u2019s time to get all 94,635 in before kick-off, 15 minutes from now.<\/p>\n Italian singer Andrea Bocelli and South Korean-American singer and songwriter Ejae perform during the opening ceremony. Photograph: Rodrigo Oropeza\/AFP\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.00 EDT<\/p>\n \u201cThe first World Cup<\/a> I remember was 1966, in hindsight one for the ages!\u201d reckons David C Hunter. \u201cI was at Winchester Cathedral participating as a chorister in the Chichester Cathedral Choir. We had a rehearsal the afternoon of the final. Several of the men in the choirs had transistor radios and those bulky earpieces with twisted pink wire. Whenever a team scored they\u2019d use fingers to relay the score. Tied at full time, we were all on edge. The director was the Master of the Winchester choir who was, shall we say, a little overdue for retirement. He was not interested in the game. Trouble was we not as interested in the music as we had been the previous year, when we gave the premiere of the Chichester Psalms and Bernstein had been present. I recall Winchester being bright and airy and everyone cheering once the final whistle blew.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t have any idea how the concert that evening went, but the win was stupendous!\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019m sad this email didn\u2019t come with a sound recording.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Anyway, time to focus on our game this evening. Mexico<\/a> have left Mora on the bench, but I\u2019m still looking forward to seeing how Lira and Fidalgo do in midfield. SA, though, have Mokoena and Adams up against them, both of whom my research tells me can properly play. I\u2019m expecting a tight encounter, with Mexico nicking it.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n I still can\u2019t wrap my swede around this. Madrid are now the seventh club to hope they\u2019ll restore magic which departed over a decade ago.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cNot my first to watch but the only one I ever attended in person \u2013 Scotland v Brazil in the 1998 tournament opener in Paris,\u201d says Colin Livingstone. \u201cMy chance to see legends of the game in person, Taffarel, Dunga, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Cafu \u2013 just phenomenal. And my all time favourite, Roberto Carlos.<\/p>\n A very fine day in the bars of Paris with all the Brazilian fans, rounded off by bumping into a very merry Ewan McGregor in a nearby seat, who had evidently enjoyed his day too. Happy memories.\u201d<\/p>\n We got Sky in 96-97, the year Ronaldo was at Barca, and he was maybe the first player that had me saying to my dad \u201cYou\u2019ve gotta see this bloke play\u201d, rather than him regaling me with players he\u2019d seen. He\u2019s not the best I\u2019ve seen \u2013 though he\u2019s top three \u2013 but no one has made my jaw hang open like he did because the speed of him felt and still feels impossible.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI was eight during Italia 90,\u201d recalls Joe Minihane. \u201cDespite having a Mexico<\/a> 86 red England top, I can\u2019t remember that tournament but was in full campaign mode for the full works in 1990. My dad had let me try it all on in Scott Sports (RIP) in Harlow town centre, but then said we\u2019d have to come another time. A week or so later, he said we\u2019d go and try it on again. We wandered \u2018up the town\u2019 and I donned the white top, navy shorts and white socks in the changing room. When I began to take it off, my old man said there was no need, he\u2019d just paid. Core memory right there! My lad is right and is buzzing (but has asked for Curacao away instead).\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a beauty, is that \u2013 consider your job as a father complete, he\u2019s good to go from here.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n And the award for understatement goes to \u2026 Kyle Robertson. \u201cMy first memory is of the 1970 World Cup<\/a>. As a seven-year old Chelsea fan fresh off their FA Cup win, I was excited to see Peter Bonetti fill in for Gordon Banks but also aware that there was some disappointment around his performance.\u201d<\/p>\n Some disappointment!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n You may have missed it, but on the SA bench is Kamogelo Sebelebele; oh man, what a name that is, musical, poetic and beautiful.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Back on telly, they\u2019re talking about Scott McTominay, Gary Neville saying he\u2019s a different player at Napoli to Man United. He\u2019ll be devastated to know I\u2019m not having that \u2013 his problem was that at United, Bruno Fernandes played his position, so he was forced deeper, but his box-crashing and finishing were excellent even then. What a life he\u2019s made for himself in Naples, though \u2013 not just on the pitch but off it, living like a local and enjoying the love of the people as much for that as for his frankly ludicrous on-pitch deeds.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cCan I just say how much I liked Kev Dwyer\u2019s memory of 1970?\u201d wonders Mason Sato. \u201cI\u2019ve strived for a while to find someone who followed England to that World Cup<\/a>. I was there in 1986 and it wasn\u2019t easy to get visas and the cost as a 20-year-old to get there was exorbitant. I also saved weekly and only managed to get out for the second phase onwards, though the tickets and accommodation were really cheap compared to today. I\u2019ve always wondered how it was for fans 16 years before I could do it.<\/p>\n My first memory of a football match at a WC was either Chile v Australia in the rain or Haiti going 1-0 up v Italy in 1974. Not sure which was first but I clearly remember the first minute of the final.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Teams!<\/p>\n Mexico (4-1-2-3): Rangel; Montes, Vasquez, Reyes, Gallardo; Lira; Gutierrez, Fidalgo; Reyes, Jimenez, Quinones. Subs: Acevedo, Ochoa, Sanchez, Alvarez, Chavez M, Romo, Pineda, Vargas, Mora, Chavez L, Vega, Gimenez, Gonzalez, Huerta, Martinez.<\/p>\n South Africa (5-3-2): Williams; Modiba Mbokazi, Sibisi, Mudau, Okon; Mokoena, Sithole, Adams; Rayners, Foster. Subs: Chaine, Goss, Matuldi, Ndamane, Kabini, Makhanya, Corss, Mbatha, Zwane, Appollis, Moremi, Mofokeng, Maseko, Makgopa, Sebelebele.<\/p>\n Referee: Wilton Sampaio (Brazil)<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.04 EDT<\/p>\n Our teams are in, so while I get them up for you, something to dig into: here\u2019s my playlist of South African bangers. If you\u2019ve a Mexican equivalent, holler.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Oh man, this stuff gets me every time \u2013 we\u2019re watching Bafana Bafana singing their way into the ground. It\u2019s not the below, but it\u2019s similar \u2013 and similarly affirming.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m at the Gare du Nord waiting to board for Blighty,\u201d says Harry McDonald. \u201cMy first World Cup<\/a> was on radio in 1958, I was 10 years old. Danny Blanchflower and Harry Gregg were my main interest.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve watched every one since except the last. I watched not one second and I felt no sense of loss. It was an appalling decision to go there. I\u2019m definitely considering not watching any of this one either: similar reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n Blanchflower and Gregg, two absolute heroes. Harry, of course, saved lives at Munich like it was nothing, while Danny is responsible for one of the great football quotations:<\/p>\n double quotation mark\u201cThe great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It is nothing of the kind. The game is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Shakira and Burna time! The official tune isn\u2019t as good as the 2010 classic, but it\u2019s a decent effort. Burna\u2019s voice reminds me of the groove, depth and texture you get from records relative to CDs.<\/p>\n Shakira and Burna Boy perform during the opening ceremony. Photograph: Kai Pfaffenbach\/Reuters<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.09 EDT<\/p>\n \u201cMy dad went out and bought a colour telly for the first World Cup<\/a> I can remember, which was 1974,\u201d writes Matt Emerson. \u201cThat West German summer was relentlessly overcast and grey in my memory, so we needn\u2019t have bothered, but I was hooked. This will be my f14th and it\u2019s just as good, despite the ongoing attempts to screw things up generally. You measure your life out by World Cups and I reckon I\u2019ve got seven more left after this one, so I\u2019m going to enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n The tech bros will have us living beyond 300 by the time of your seventh, so we\u2019re all good.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.56 EDT<\/p>\n It\u2019d be nice if they told us who everyone is, but so far, it\u2019s just action, no captions or comms. There\u2019s a lad singing in a leather tracky, underneath which things must be extremely ripe, then it\u2019s time for some mariachi.<\/p>\n Artists perform during the opening ceremony. Photograph: Kai Pfaffenbach\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.06 EDT<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m old,\u201d confesses Kev Dwyer. \u201cWatched the 1966 World Cup<\/a> on TV and then as one of a group of four apprentices we all decided to save \u00a32 per week from our wages and go and watch us retain the Jules Rimet in Mexico in 1970. Time went by, weddings happened and then there were two who headed off, the week after my 21st birthday, travelling on a trip organised by the England Football Supporters Association. Tickets to all the matches plus tickets to the final. I got to watch living football legends, and was sitting directly behind the goal when Banksy saved Pele\u2019s shot. The Azteca was a disappointment in that our seats were so far up in the Gods that you couldn\u2019t really make out the intricacies of the game. Great memories, hope that there\u2019s some more made for the supporters over there.\u201d<\/p>\n Brilliant!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe are a nation of diversity, heritage and pride,\u201d says the lead voice \u2013 words I wish were less poignant and pertinent.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe home stadium advantage for Mexico<\/a> has been duly noted but until you experience it you can\u2019t fully appreciate it,\u201d says Mary Waltz. \u201cYes, the heat and altitude is oppressive. But it is the fans that make it so intimidating. Knowledgable, vicious, non-stop support and refs often swayed by the crowd.\u201d<\/p>\n I hope the fans who create that can afford to get in. On which point, we\u2019re ready to get going, drums beating, vocals soaring, dancers in formation.<\/p>\n Mexico fans inside the Azteca stadium. Photograph: Hannah McKay\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.33 EDT<\/p>\n The opening ceremony begins<\/p>\n Aha, the opening ceremony is upon us. We\u2019re in the Azteca, mates!<\/p>\n Photograph: Rodrigo Oropeza\/AFP\/Getty ImagesPerformers on the pitch during the opening ceremony. Photograph: Natacha Pisarenko\/AP Photograph: Kai Pfaffenbach\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.04 EDT<\/p>\n I talked earlier about first World Cups, so please do send in memories of yours. Mine was Mexico 86 \u2013 and how mad is it there\u2019ll have been three there since England last hosted \u2013 and my main takeaway now, as an apparent adult, is how Diego Maradona gave me and my cohort an entirely false representation of what football is. For years afterwards, I thought it was possible for someone to run around everyone between them and goal, but it turns out that\u2019s just him.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThat ITV studio is spectacular,\u201d reckons Kev the Poet. \u201cAlmost as spectacular as the nark-off between Roy Keane and anyone else. The BBC is going to have The Ghost Of Barry Davies coming out of the Manchester Ship Canal to compete.\u201d<\/p>\n It is \u2013 it\u2019s outdoors on the East River, with a sensational view of Manhattan. But I\u2019d take Barry Davies coming out of anywhere.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.48 EDT<\/p>\n And the correct answer is!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I almost got away with playing this at my wedding.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHere in the States, the pre-game crew includes, as ever, Alexi Lalas, but also has a new addition of Zlatan for this tournament,\u201d advises Mac Scarles. \u201cIf the approximately 10 seconds of interaction I just saw is any indication, the odds are high that Zlatan just might kill Lalas with his bare hands before the tournament is over. A chemistry void for the ages. It\u2019s going to be a fun six weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n Goodness, I\u2019m not sure it\u2019s possible to understand football culture, spirit and soul less than Lalas does. Godspeed, Zlats old mate.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Aaaaand the first email of the competition goes too \u2026 Justin Kavanagh. \u201cFootball used to be seen as the opiate of the masses, with many stories from previous World Cups of ceasefires declared to watch games, birthrates soaring 9 months after victories \u2026 etc. However, this one feels more like a methadone clinic, with thin rations stretched out over a longer time frame, and with the dealer going uptown where he\u2019ll find wealthier marks. Sure we\u2019ll all watch on TV because we love the game. But more and more people who actually once participated in the game at any level are coming to the realisation that Fifa\u2019s product is poisoned by politics and by greed, and Infantino and co have shut the gates on us.\u201d<\/p>\n It takes a lot to make Sepp Blatter look like the arch liberator, doesn\u2019t it? I wish I had something pithily amusing and reassuring to say here, but I don\u2019t; we just have to do our best to oppose wrongness in our immediate spheres of influence.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Almost straight off the bat, ITV go to the politics \u2013 \u201cThings that always litter a pre-tournament buildup,\u201d says Neville. Er, do they? He goes on to say the football will take over, but Ian Wright, Roy Keane and Mark Pougatch make sure to stipulate we mustn\u2019t let it obscure the continuing issues.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Gosh, the first montage of the tournament, of tournaments past, has me quite emotional \u2013 there\u2019s a lot to take in, and that\u2019s before I get going on Gary Neville\u2019s shirt, straight off the peg from River Island c.1995.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Watching from the UK, it\u2019s time for ITV\u2019s credits and, if you\u2019ve not seen them, they\u2019re beautiful, shot on film and lush as you like.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.45 EDT<\/p>\n Yes! <\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Quiz time: name that tune!<\/p>\n Ahhhh! Ding! Ding ding ding ding! Neow! Ding ding ding ding! Ta bam bam bam bam bam bam!<\/p>\n De ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne. De ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne. De ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne, ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne!<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Preamble<\/p>\n What a feeling! Thirty-nine days, 104 matches, and the greatest joy known to humankind, an affirming, inspiring, immersive, absorbing, challenging, compelling, enriching, educational orgy of glorious, wondrous, beauteous football. Drink it in, people!<\/p>\n Just be careful you don\u2019t choke. Because though we thought that, after Russia and Qatar, World Cups \u2013 or should that be Worlds Cup, we deal with all the important issues here \u2013 couldn\u2019t get any more problematic, here we are.<\/p>\n The awfulness is too extensive to enumerate in this preamble but, before football happens and narcotises us into compliance, we must pay our debt to pleasure \u2013 ideally not simply by grousing, but perhaps by doing something small to combat the forces that co-opt us and our incomparable game. Being kind and tolerant, perhaps, or donating to a charity that supports migrants or refugees \u2013 our options are numerous.<\/p>\n Quite how we segue from here back to the sport isn\u2019t totally clear, but such are the complexities of life, the game a victim of its own genius, simply too amazing and uniting not to be exploited by bad actors, corporate voids and invertebrate suits. So let\u2019s dig into that; seamless, eh?<\/p>\n We\u2019ll begin of course, with the spectacle and snark of our first opening ceremony \u2013 USA is also staging one \u2013 with those of us old enough to remember 1970 and 1986 forgiven for convulsing into tears at the mere sight of Estadio Azteca. In which connection, it\u2019s worth remembering that for millions of children around the world, this is their debut tournament; the first time they\u2019ve experienced the joy of a football onslaught. And, while those of us who are well beyond that will never recapture our personal moment, staying up late and sneaking snide watches, the sense of wonder is something we understand better now, as adults, than in the moment as kids.<\/p>\n A Mexico fan poses for a photograph outside the stadium. Photograph: Kai Pfaffenbach\/Reuters<\/p>\n A lot\u2019s happened to us since then, the weight of the years narrowing eyes and dulling senses. But if we take a moment with ourselves, we\u2019re there, the sense of wonder perpetually part of us and perennially there for us. These are the days of our lives, and this is the vibe we can bring to it \u2013 and everything else \u2013 if we allow ourselves to.<\/p>\n On to our opening match and it\u2019s a belter, two teams looking to attack but in different ways: Mexico<\/a> by controlling the centre of the pitch and South Africa with thrust down the flanks. Look out for Gilberto Mora, the hosts\u2019 17-year-old midfielder \u2013 he\u2019s the youngest player in the tournament and a serious talent \u2013 but really, look out for absolutely everything. It\u2019s here!<\/p>\n Opening ceremony: 11.30am local, 1,30pm EDT, 6.30pm BST, 3.30am (Fri) AEST<\/p>\n Kick-off: 1pm local, 3pm EDT, 8pm BST, 5am (Fri) AEST<\/p>\n