MAHLATSE’S DAILY WORLD CUP TALKING POINT | Wait finally over as tournament kicks off at Azteca

The wait is over. The 2026 Fifa World Cup kicks off on Thursday, and Bafana Bafana end their 16-year wait to return to the tournament when they clash against Mexico in the opening match.

The famed Estadio Azteca will be packed with a wall of green supporters behind coach Javier Aguirre’s tough “El Tri” as counterpart Hugo Broos’s Bafana Bafana will be up against the co-hosts (1pm in Mexico City, 9pm SA time).

This may be one of the most controversial World Cups in history, if not the most. For South Africans, come 9pm the focus will be on their team’s first World Cup finals match since bowing out as hosts in the opening round despite a 2-0 win over France in their final Group A game in Bloemfontein in June 2010. − TimesLIVE