The 2026 World Cup kicks off this Thursday, June 11, and it does so in style: Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium raises the curtain on the first World Cup featuring 48 teams, hosted across the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The opening day is brief—just two matches, both in Group A—but it carries all the symbolic weight of a tournament that kicks off once again at one of soccer’s most legendary venues, and which debuts an expanded format with a new round of 32 before the round of 16. The highlight is, without a doubt, the Mexico-South Africa match that kicks off the competition: the host plays at home and under the pressure of not failing in front of its fans at an Azteca Stadium that demands the utmost. Since it’s the debut for both teams, nothing is decided in the standings—only the urgency to get off to a good start: Mexico must win to get the group on track, while South Africa hopes to pull off an upset.
The second match of the night—already in the early hours in Spain—completes Group A: South Korea vs. the Czech Republic, at Akron Stadium in Guadalajara. It lacks the media buzz of the opener, but carries enormous weight for two teams aware that, in a group featuring the host nation, they need to pick up points as soon as possible. The Asians start as slight favorites on paper against a Czech Republic side that will look to rely on discipline and firepower to scrape together a result. As in the first match, this is the opening snapshot of the tournament: no one has played yet, and everything is still to be decided.
Today’s World Cup schedule in Spain, Thursday, June 11
- 9:00 p.m. — Mexico vs. South Africa. Round: first matchday of the group stage (Group A). TV: La 1 and RTVE Play (free-to-air) and DAZN. Stadium: Azteca (Mexico City).
- 4:00 a.m. (early Friday morning) —South Korea vs. Czech Republic. Round: first matchday of the group stage (Group A). TV: DAZN. Stadium: Akron (Guadalajara).
Find your plan for World Cup night:
11 September 2026 18:00 + more dates
30 August 2026 18:30 + more dates
