MEXICO CITY
The World Cup kicks off on Thursday with Fifa betting that the enduring appeal of the greatest footballing show on earth can rise above mounting anger at ticket prices and a US immigration crackdown that has seen fans, a top referee and team officials barred from the tournament.
A record 48 teams and millions of fans are set to descend on the United States, Canada and Mexico for the first World Cup co-hosted by three nations, the largest and most logistically complex edition of the tournament ever staged.
The action gets under way at Mexico City’s iconic Estadio Azteca on Thursday, with co-hosts Mexico taking on South Africa at 1:00 pm local time (1900 GMT), launching a sprawling, nearly six-week-long spectacle that will culminate in the final at New Jersey’s 82,500-seat MetLife Stadium on July 19.
Can Lionel Messi, at the age of 38, settle any lingering debate about his status as the greatest player of all time by leading Argentina to a second consecutive World Cup title?
Or can Messi’s great rival, the 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo, defy father time by inspiring a talented Portugal team to its maiden World Cup win?
Those questions and more will be answered over the course of a tournament that Gianni Infantino, the president of world football’s governing Fifa, has bullishly hyped as “the greatest show that the planet has ever seen.”
EXPANDED FIELD
On the field, the decision to expand the tournament to 48 teams — up from 32 in 2022 — is likely to strip the group stage of any sense of jeopardy.
The tournament will see a range of other innovations.
For the first time in World Cup history, every game will feature cooling breaks in the middle of each half, a measure designed to mitigate the effects of searing heat and humidity expected at many of the tournament’s 16 venues.
TOPSHOT – A big Panini sticker depicting Argentina’s forward Lionel Messi is pictured on a street in San Pedro Garza Garcia, near Monterrey, Mexico on June 9, 2026, ahead of the 2026 World Cup football tournament. (Photo by Julio Cesar AGUILAR / AFP)
Players and referees will need to adjust to several new rules being rolled out at the World Cup, including teams being required to make substitutions inside 10 seconds to prevent time-wasting.
A crackdown on racist abuse will see players risk a red card for covering their mouth with a hand, arm or shirt during a confrontation with an opponent.
INFANTINO TO FACE MEDIA
Infantino is set to face the media on the eve of the World Cup on Wednesday, as off-field distractions dogged the build-up to the tournament.
Infantino is likely to face tough questions about sky-high ticket prices and an immigration crackdown that has seen a top referee, fans and team officials barred from co-hosts the United States.
The head of world football’s governing body will give a rare press conference in Mexico City, where co-hosts Mexico play South Africa on Thursday in the opening match at the Estadio Azteca.
The 2026 men’s World Cup has been expanded to 48 teams and is the biggest and most ambitious in the event’s history, with matches also taking place in Canada.
But the refusal of US immigration authorities to allow Somali referee Omar Artan, one of Africa’s leading match officials, into the country underlined fears that Donald Trump’s immigration policy could leave deep scars on the football extravaganza.
Artan said the “biggest dream of my life” had been ripped away after he was turned back at the US border.
“I am very, very disappointed,” Artan told The New York Times.
“I’m just simply a referee who’s trying to live his dream, the biggest dream of my life, to come to the World Cup.”
Artan, who was named the 2025 men’s referee of the year by the Confederation of African Football, would have been the first Somali to officiate at a World Cup.
He said he was subjected to an 11-hour interview with border officials at Miami International Airport and then detained for several further hours in a holding cell before being put on a flight back to Turkey.
“I had the right papers and everything. I had the right visa,” he added — an assertion confirmed by a Somali government advisor.
A US State Department official alleged that the referee was “associated with suspected members of terrorist organizations”, therefore “making the traveler ineligible for admission to the United States”.
ARTAN VOWS TO RETURN
Artan returned to a hero’s welcome in Mogadishu and vowed to take part in the next tournament in 2030.
“I will be at the next World Cup and will continue to make Somalia proud… Despite what has happened to me, I am not discouraged,” Artan told more than 100 supporters and journalists at Mogadishu’s main airport.
Meanwhile, concerns were rising that the curtain raiser in Mexico City could be disrupted by social unrest.
Protesters on Tuesday blocked an avenue leading to the Estadio Azteca although lines of police prevented the demonstrators from reaching the stadium.
Thousands took part in the demonstration following a week of action that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has called a “provocation.”
Sheinbaum has said that the opening match was “guaranteed,” though the left-leaning leader again ruled out using police to repress the demonstrations. — AFP
