Mexico City hosts the opening ceremony of the first 48-team World Cup on Thursday

Mexico City will be the stage on Thursday for the opening ceremony of the 2026 World Cup, the first contested by 48 teams and the first hosted by three countries: Mexico, the United States and Canada. The event will take place at the Estadio Ciudad de México, the former Azteca, before the opening match between host Mexico and South Africa. The ceremony will begin at 11:30 a.m. central Mexico time, about 90 minutes before the start of the match, set for 1:00 p.m. (2:30 and 4:00 p.m. in Montevideo and Buenos Aires; 1:30 and 3:00 p.m. in the eastern United States; 7:30 and 9:00 p.m. in Madrid).