World Cup draw: three matches that we will see in the group have inaugurated a World Cup

The draw for the next World Cup is a 48-square grid, a crossword of flags and colours. So here’s a question for skilled solvers: don’t you think you’ve already seen several of the matches scheduled for the groups? Certainly yes, with a not bad curiosity: even three of the challenges we will witness in June… have opened a World Cup in the past. Not only that: the first match of USA-Canada-Mexico 2026 has already been played as the opening match of a World Cup. A colorful crossword to solve with deja-vu.

MEXICO-SOUTH AFRICA

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Let’s reveal the secret right away: the North American World Cup will open with Mexico-South Africa. That is, the same match with which the world championship began… with reversed fields: it was 11 June 2010, the eyes and above all the ears go back to the African Cup. That of the infamous vuvuzelas and the terrible expedition of Lippi’s Azzurri, eliminated in the groups. On 11 June, however, the World Cup was still in its embryonic stage: Bafana Bafana’s enthusiasm exploded with Tshabalala’s opener, then the Mexican equalizer signed by Marquez. It ended 1-1.

REWIND WITH BRAZIL

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Not only that. Skilled solvers will also remember Brazil-Scotland, a match that will enliven Group C in North America. The mind will go back to the opening match of the ’98 World Cup in France, when the reigning green and gold champions made their debut against the British: a painful 2-1 for the Seleçao who immediately broke the deadlock with Sampaio only to then concede the equalizer signed by Collins. Boyd’s own goal was needed to guarantee the first three points for Ronaldo and co and leave the Stade de France with a smile. The same facility where they returned exactly a month later, for the final against the hosts from France. But then the smile vanished.

FRANCE, SENEGAL IS HERE AGAIN

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There is another challenge that feels like rewinding to the past. It’s France-Senegal, a tasty big match in Group I (where the dangerous Norway also ended up): it opened the 2002 World Cup, the last one in which the world champion national team and not the host country took part in the inaugural match. And it was a debacle: the Transalpines had the last World Cup, the last European Championship and even the last Confederations Cup on their board, yet they ended up empty-handed, punished by the late Diop’s goal. For Africa it was a new page in history, twelve years after Cameroon’s legendary victory against Maradona’s Argentina at San Siro. For France it was a bitter disappointment which coincided with their elimination from the group stage.