World Cup fever
Mexicans have waited 40 years to witness a World Cup in their own country and the pride felt from becoming the first nation to stage three tournaments has been easy to sense in the city all week. Those fortunate enough to have secured tickets were not going to miss out. Despite road closures and multiple protests from striking teachers and families of the country’s 130,000 disappeared making travel challenging, all 83,000 seats at the Azteca were filled 90 minutes before kick-off, with Fifa’s fears of being forced to delay proceedings proving unfounded.
Many fans endured a fairly arduous journey, walking several miles along the side of closed motorways from 8am to ensure they were in place long before kick-off. The sight of tens of thousands of sombreros being thrown in the air just before kick-off was a stirring spectacle, while the embryonic Mexican wave that rippled around this vast bowl for the first time in the 17th minute was enough for even the biggest World Cup sceptic to momentarily park their doubts.
Shakira returns
More than £7m raised from the proceeds of the 2010 hit Waka Waka that was supposed to go to charity remains unaccounted for, but Shakira clearly has no hard feelings. The Colombian pop star returned to headline another World Cup opening ceremony and stole the show from fellow performers Burna Boy, J Balvin and Danny Ocean with her rendition of the official tournament song, Dai Dai, although the new tune is unlikely to surpass her original contribution to football culture.
As well as being remembered as an iconic World Cup anthem, Waka Waka seared itself into the wider global consciousness, reaching No 1 in 15 different countries and attracting more than 4.4bn views on YouTube and more than 1bn Spotify downloads. Fittingly, this game was the reverse fixture of the opening match in 2010, when South Africa hosted Mexico in a 1-1 draw at Soccer City, Johannesburg, although mercifully few of the travelling fans had dusted down their vuvuzelas from that tournament. Just before kick-off here, Andrea Bocelli performed the World Cup anthem, DNA, although it was the length of time it took the 48 flag bearers to walk on to the pitch that made the biggest impression, reinforcing the fact that some endurance will be required to get through this serious marathon of a World Cup.
Humble Gianni
On the eve of the Qatar World Cup four years ago, Gianni Infantino cast himself as an almost messianic representative of the underrepresented and oppressed, while even at the draw in Washington six months ago he revelled in Donald Trump’s description of him as the “King of Football”. But the Fifa president has projected a very different image at this tournament.
Coming up against the political and administrative requirements of the US government in particular has been a sobering experience for Fifa, with Infantino at pains to say it is just a sports organisation with little influence over important matters such as immigration and security policy. From a man hubristic enough to set up an alternative to the Nobel peace prize last year, it has been quite a change of tone.
Hungry hosts
Mexico may have been fortunate to kick off against a sloppy South Africa side, who gifted them a goal after only nine minutes with some careless passing and poor goalkeeping, but the hosts took full advantage and could make a real impact on the tournament. Unlike the other nations here, most of Javier Aguirre’s side have benefited from an extended period of preparation, with the Liga MX players called to a mandatory five-week training camp last month, and they looked sharp from the outset.
Wingers Roberto Alvarado and goalscorer Julián Quiñones, in particular, looked threatening, and the hosts should have added to their lead during a dominant first half. While South Korea and Czechia should present more of a challenge in their remaining fixtures, Mexico’s encouraging start reinforced the impression they would be no pushovers for England if they meet here in the last 16, as they will if both win their respective groups.
Long haul
Even in relatively temperate conditions, and with few stoppages in play, the World Cup’s opening game still felt like a slog, which is likely to have set the tone for the tournament. With Fifa’s mandatory three-minute hydration breaks taken despite temperatures of just 22 degrees, the Brazilian referee, Wilton Sampaoi, did not blow his half-time whistle until 55 minutes after kick-off, even though just four minutes of added time had been played.
It seems almost inevitable that all matches in this competition will stretch over two hours, and niggly contests with multiple stoppages played in hot conditions could end up lasting far longer.
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