Shakira and Burna Boy performed “Dai Dai,” the official song of the tournament, while the broader opening lineup included J Balvin, Maná, Los Ángeles Azules, Alejandro Fernández, Belinda, Danny Ocean, Lila Downs and Tyla.
The ceremony highlighted pre-Hispanic themes and Mexico’s football heritage, with Estadio Azteca returning to the global stage after hosting matches at the 1970 and 1986 World Cups.
The spectacle also showed how heavily commercialized this World Cup has become.
One striking example around the tournament has been Labubu, the monster character from Chinese toy company Pop Mart, which has been turned into official FIFA World Cup merchandise.
The collaboration, described in Chinese state media as FIFA’s first partnership with a designer toy intellectual property for official World Cup merchandise, underlined the growing visibility of Chinese consumer brands around global sports events.
Outside the stadium, the celebratory mood was more complicated.
Mexico City opened the tournament amid protests by teachers and other civic groups, while many local residents criticized high ticket prices and public spending on World Cup-related beautification projects.
The opening match then delivered an equally dramatic start on the pitch, as Mexico beat South Africa 2-0 in a chaotic Group A curtain-raiser marked by three red cards.
Julián Quiñones scored the first goal of the tournament in the ninth minute, punishing a South African defensive error before sliding the ball past goalkeeper Ronwen Williams.
The match spiraled into disciplinary drama after halftime.
South Africa midfielder Sphephelo “Yaya” Sithole was sent off shortly after the restart for bringing down Brian Gutiérrez near the edge of the penalty area.
Substitute Themba Zwane was also shown a red card in the 84th minute after raising his hand toward Alvarado following a challenge.
Mexico defender César Montes was dismissed in stoppage time after fouling Khuliso Mudau as South Africa broke forward, leaving the match to finish with Mexico on 10 men and South Africa on nine.
Teboho Mokoena received the first yellow card of the tournament in the 17th minute, according to live match reports.
The three dismissals made the opener one of the most unusual first matches in World Cup history.
A World Cup opening match had last seen multiple red cards in 1990, when Cameroon had André Kana-Biyik and Benjamin Massing sent off in a shock 1-0 win over defending champion Argentina in Milan.
No previous World Cup opener is widely recorded as having produced three red cards, making Thursday’s match a likely first.
For Mexico, the night ended with three points and a powerful start to a group that also includes South Korea and the Czech Republic.
South Korea will open its Group A campaign against the Czech Republic at Guadalajara Stadium in Zapopan, near Guadalajara, Mexico.
The match kicks off at 8 p.m. Thursday local time, or 11 a.m. Friday in South Korea.
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