Mexico opens the World Cup with a performance by Maná, Andrea Bocelli and World Cup song ‘Dai dai’ by Shakira and Burna Boy

Mexico officially opened the World Cup in North America on Thursday evening. The Mexican band Maná and the Italian singer Andrea Bocelli performed in the Azteca stadium in Mexico City, where the first match between Mexico and South Africa will soon be played. Shakira and Burna Boy performed their World Cup song ‘Dai dai‘ out. The flags of all participating countries were carried in, with those of Mexico, the United States and Canada last.

The ceremony was the first of three opening ceremonies – they are also still being held in the US and Canada.

Mexico and South Africa kick off the tournament on Thursday evening with the first match at 9 p.m. Dutch time. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum herself will not be present in the stadium, she announced a few weeks ago. Sheinbaum gave away her ticket, number 00001, to 21-year-old native Yolett Cervantes Cuaquehua. Cuaquehua won a competition in which women could show their football skills.

The match between Mexico and South Africa is the first of a total of 104 matches that will be played over the next five weeks. 48 countries are participating in the group stage, in which 72 matches have already been played. After that group stage, only 16 countries are eliminated. The bar for getting past the group stage is therefore not high: one win can be enough to advance.

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