2026 FIFA World Cup: Live blog - Opening Ceremony and Mexico v South Africa

GRNDSTND will be back with a second Live blog from 7pm on Friday evening which will cover the opening ceremony in Toronto, followed by Canada v Bosnia and Herzegovina, and then the opening ceremony in Los Angeles before the USA play Paraguay.

A decent game in parts, a dreadful game in parts and a quite bewildering refereeing display. Mexico have talent, but it is difficult to assess how good they are because South Africa were so awful. The second game in the group takes place overnight in Guadalajara between Czechia and South Korea, Live on ITV1 from 2.30am.

FULL-TIME MEXICO 2-0 SOUTH AFRICA - A stunning start for Mexico, an abysmal one for South Africa

2202 BST South Africa completely waste the free-kick, I think everyone is in shock at the fact this game has seen three red cards, are FIFA setting a terrible precedent for the future of this tournament? MEXICO 2-0 SOUTH AFRICA 95 mins

2200 BST RED CARD FOR MEXICO! THREE PLAYERS SENT OFF! CESAR MONTES IS SENT OFF FOR A TERRIBLE TRIP AND DENIAL OF A GOALSCORING OPPORTUNITY! We are in 7 minutes of added time, and there will surely be more to be added on. Stunning. MEXICO 2-0 SOUTH AFRICA 91 mins

2150 BST SOUTH AFRICA DOWN TO NINE MEN! UNBELIEVABLE RED CARD FOR A SO-CALLED SLAP IN THE FACE, VAR had no need to intervene, that is a shocking decision. Themba Zwane is off, and South Africa match Cameroon in the opening game of Italia 90 with two reds. It is a shocking decision. MEXICO 2-0 SOUTH AFRICA 84 mins

2134 BST UNBELIEVABLE! MEXICO DO SCORE A SECOND! RAUL JIMENEZ HEADS MEXICO CLEAR and Canelo Alvarez celebrates in the stands. Mexico waltzing to glory in the Azteca, South Africa will be devastated at their showing today. MEXICO 2-0 SOUTH AFRICA 67 mins

2132 BST This game has gone badly off the boil. South Africa are showing nothing in terms of an attacking force, but Mexico don't look like scoring a second any time soon. MEXICO 1-0 SOUTH AFRICA 66 mins

2120 BST Mexico have to take advantage of this situation, they need to win the group to give themselves a better chance of progressing to the later stages of this tournament. MEXICO 1-0 SOUTH AFRICA 54 mins

2116 BST SOUTH AFRICA DOWN TO 10 MEN! Yaya Sithole is sent off for a foul and a clear denial of a goalscoring opportunity, and this match is now surely Mexico's for the taking MEXICO 1-0 SOUTH AFRICA 49 mins

HALF-TIME MEXICO 1-0 SOUTH AFRICA

2054 BST Mexico miss a golden chance to make it two! An absolute shank from Gutierrez and this game could and should be over. MEXICO 1-0 SOUTH AFRICA 48 mins

2048 BST Mexico are all over South Africa, and Quinones hits the post with a beautifully passed shot from the edge of the box moments after Williams saved from Jimenez. MEXICO 1-0 SOUTH AFRICA 43 mins

2043 BST South Africa have come into the game, but still look vulnerable at the back, they need to score the next goal in the game. But they are yet to even have an attempt at the Mexican goal. MEXICO 1-0 SOUTH AFRICA 36 mins

2029 BST A few poorly timed tackles being made by both sides here, two yellow cards inside the first 23 minutes and South Africa have a free kick on the right wing, which is cleared easily MEXICO 1-0 SOUTH AFRICA 24 mins, time for drinks

2021 BST South Africa have not got started yet, so few passing sequences in the Mexico half, and they look vulnerable at the back MEXICO 1-0 SOUTH AFRICA 16 mins

2015 BST GOOOAAAALLLLL!!!! Mexico score and the fans are going ballistic! South Africa give the ball away on the edge of their box, awful defending and Mexico pounce! Quinones fires low through the goalkeeper and Mexico lead the opener MEXICO 1-0 SOUTH AFRICA 10 mins

2014 BST Mexico's press is causing South Africa problems getting up the pitch MEXICO 0-0 SOUTH AFRICA 8 mins

2012 BST Incredible save down to his right from Williams denies Jimenez of Mexico and South Africa break away. Positive start in a fantastic atmosphere. MEXICO 0-0 SOUTH AFRICA 6 mins

1959 BST Spine-tingling stuff as the Mexican National Anthem is sung without music, the whole crowd joining in. A true footballing nation, unlike the other two hosts.

1955 BST Here we go, the teams are set to take the pitch, what an atmosphere in the Azteca. Please let us have a great game.

1950 BST Andrea Bocelli performs the World Cup anthem ahead of kick off, a reminder he also performed at the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics at the San Siro in February. The Italian Tenor living everyone's dream. A true global superstar.

1947 BST A spectacular parade of flags from all 48 competing nations sets the scene for the World Cup, Loud boos for the USA, splendid.

1938 BST The South Africa starting 11 to face Mexico, several of which are from Mamelodi Sundowns, the best team in all of Africa. South Africa could cause an upset today.

1937 BST The Mexico starting 11 to face South Africa

1930 BST Geoff Hurst sharing memories of the 1966 World Cup win, and then you realise he is the last member of the starting XI to be alive, emotional stuff.

1920 BST Jon Champion should be ITV's lead commentator, thank the lord it is him and Ally McCoist on commentary this evening. Jon is one of the premier commentators in the world today, and criminally Sam Matterface is above him in the ITV pecking order.

1911 BST It truly is one of the great sporting arenas of the world, and it would have been great to see FIFA have stage the Final there too

1858 BST Another sarcastic remark from the face for radio Mark Pougatch, and yes, you guessed it, another ad break for ITV. They have been on air for 35 minutes, and 9 of those minutes have been advertising.

1854 BST Here comes Shakira, no need for a narrator for her! Just in case you didn't know, there will be three Opening Ceremonies for this World Cup, in Mexico, Canada and the USA.

1853 BST ITV's lack of narration means I am unfortunately in the dark as to who many of the performers are in the Azteca, it has been a pathetic start by the UK's leading commercial network

1850 BST The colour , the vibes, the positivity, the fun. Mexico should have had the entire tournament.

1847 BST The crowd, which has already filled the Azteca are singing along to this performance in the Opening Ceremony, the atmosphere come kick off will be remarkable

1845 BST I wonder if Donald Trump is watching? "Football unites us all. Mexico is a land of diversity". His skin will be crawling at that no doubt.

1839 BST Thank the lord, here comes the Opening Ceremony at the Azteca Stadium.

1835 BST Atrocious start to ITV's World Cup coverage, I am sure I speak for everyone watching.

1824 BST The World Cup Opening Ceremony gets underway at 1830 BST, but nobody seems to have told ITV that. Frankly that's what I have tuned in for, not Adam Richmond taking me on a tour of New York. 9 minutes in and an ad break already.

1820 BST An England fan called into BBC Radio 5 Live today and said that he was denied a visa to travel to the World Cup because he went on a cruise to Cuba last year. Truly remarkable and shameful.

1815 BST Hello everyone, so here we are, the 2026 FIFA World Cup is finally set to get underway in Mexico City this afternoon with the Opening Ceremony followed by Mexico and South Africa facing off in a repeat of the opening game of the South Africa 2010 tournament. The controversy continues to rage on from fans and referees being denied visas, the weather, the stadiums, pitches, the kick-off times and more, but now the football gets going and we will probably forget it all as usual. This is the first of several LIve blogs on GRNDSTND throughout the tournament, covering key matches through until the final. We will be keeping across social media for updates on the ground, react to the UK tv coverage, report updates from the games and much more. We will also link to our feature articles to give you the best coverage possible of the greatest show on earth.

GRNDSTND, by Matt Hooper

Matt Hooper is an Associate Member of the Sports Journalists Association.