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World Cup opens with Mexico-South Africa rematch on pitch that shaped Pelé, Maradona legends
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World Cup opens with Mexico-South Africa rematch on pitch that shaped Pelé, Maradona legends

France 24 · Jun 11, 2026, 12:23 PM · Also reported by 3 other sources

Key takeaways

  • Mexico City’s storied Azteca Stadium has been the stage for some of the most iconic moments in World Cup history, from Pelé’s third title to Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal.
  • By: Benjamin DODMAN Video by: Camille Corcoran To display this content from You Tube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement.
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Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.

Mexico City’s storied Azteca Stadium has been the stage for some of the most iconic moments in World Cup history, from Pelé’s third title to Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal. The hallowed venue hosts the 2026 World Cup opener between Mexico and South Africa on Thursday, a throwback to the 2010 curtain-raiser in Johannesburg – and a rematch between coaches who faced off as players in the same stadium 40 years ago.

By: Benjamin DODMAN Video by: Camille Corcoran To display this content from You Tube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement.

One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site.

Article preview — originally published by France 24. Full story at the source.
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