“We will abolish the special excise tax on all moderately consumed beverages, including beer, during the World Cup. In this way, the price of beer will fall by more than 20 percent,” the president said, adding that “everyone is already more focused on football than anything else.”
Noboa, who wore the national team’s yellow jersey when the announcement was made, was confident that the national team would “go very far.” Ecuador is taking part in a World Cup for the fifth time. On Monday (1:00 a.m. CEST), the team will kick off against Ivory Coast before facing Curacao (June 21) and Germany (June 25).
Thursday, June 11, 2026
Japan captain misses World Cup
Japan will have to do without captain Wataru Endō at the World Cup. The 33-year-old midfielder from Liverpool FC did not get fit in time for the World Cup after an injury. Endō sustained the injury in the friendly against Iceland two weeks ago. The Gladbach attacker Shuto Machino was nominated to replace him.
Former Bundesliga professional Kō Itakura will now lead the Japanese onto the field as the new captain. Japan starts the World Cup on Sunday in Dallas against the Netherlands. Other opponents in the preliminary round in Group F are Sweden and Tunisia.
Medical emergency shortly before the start of the World Cup
A fan who actually wanted to watch the World Cup opening game between Mexico and South Africa had to be taken to hospital by emergency doctor. As the Mexican news portal “Milenio” shows in a video on X, emergency doctors were deployed inside the stands of the Aztec Stadium in Mexico City. You can read what happened next here.
ZDF switches on late for the World Cup opening ceremony
The anticipation for the World Cup, especially among football fans, has been extremely high in the last few days. ZDF even started broadcasting the first game almost four hours before kick-off. However, the Mainz broadcaster missed a large part of the World Cup opening ceremony, as ZDF did, read here.
Shakira opens World Cup
Shakira, beats and a lot of party: Mexico City pushed aside concerns about the start of the World Cup with a half-hour show and opened the XXL tournament in three countries in the legendary Aztec Stadium. Traditional clothing, modern pop rhythms and lots of gold characterized the ceremony in the football temple at an altitude of over 2,200 meters, where a World Cup began for the third time after 1970 and 1986.