Mexico’s win an emotional celebration of World Cup’s return to the Azteca

Forty years before Mexico defeated South Africa 2-0 in Thursday’s raucous World Cup opener, coach Javier Aguirre wasn’t on the sideline but on the field as a player the last time that his country hosted the tournament.

“They are young,” Aguirre said post-game about his players and his own World Cup past. “They needed to live this experience.”

It was here in 1986 when the national team finished as quarterfinalists, equaling their best performance, which came the first time they hosted the tournament in 1970. Those quarterfinal finishes set a new benchmark for Mexican soccer, uplifting the country that had hoped to enter the upper echelon of the sport.

When asked by BBC Radio 5 Live after the game whether his starting line-up on Wednesday would be the same as for that opening group game, he answered simply: “Maybe.”

From 1994 to 2018, Mexico posted six consecutive and underwhelming round-of-16 finishes in World Cups. In 2022, they regressed, suffering an embarrassing group-stage exit.

But on Thursday, in the first match of the 2026 World Cup? In a tournament back on home soil? That was a sentimental celebration of optimism that hasn’t been seen in years.

The fans, in a spontaneous moment right before the opening whistle, kicked things off by throwing thousands of giveaway paper sombreros high into the air. Less of an act of rebellion, and more one of joy, the scene was set for the hosts to catch everyone by surprise.