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Key events
How about this: you’re still tucking into your morning cornflakes and there’s already a World Cup daily pod to listen to. Jet-lag isn’t Jonathan Wilson’s friend but an evening in the Azteca lifted spirits, especially Raul Jimenez’s goal. Also, a glimpse behind the scenes at the first few days of Max and Barry living together in the US, insights from Barney Ronay and Jeff Rueter as well as your questions answered.
Mexico 2-0 South Africa was the headline but Pablo Iglesias Maurer explains that the story behind the co-hosts’ opening win is complicated. There were even boos for El Tri at 2-0 after they didn’t push on against a poor South Africa. But despite the unrest in and, more notably, outside the Azteca, there was still a beautiful scene inside the stadium when fans broke into song at the final whistle.
PFA refuses to drop legal case against Fifa
Matt Hughes
An important story here from Matt Hughes. The Professional Footballers’ Association is refusing to drop its legal case against Fifa despite the global players’ union Fifpro withdrawing its claim against the governing body this week.
Gianni Infantino announced in a surprise move at his pre-World Cup press conference that Fifa had signed a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Fifpro. It gives Fifpro a seat at the negotiating table with Fifa and a right of veto over issues relating to changes to the transfer system and player welfare. In return Fifpro has withdrawn its legal complaints, most notably a claim first lodged at the European Commission two years ago which accused Fifa of abusing its dominant position and violating European Union law.
The Guardian has learned, however, that the PFA is not entirely satisfied with the MOU as it stands, and is not prepared to withdraw its legal claim until it receives concrete details from Fifa on its plans for the global calendar after 2030. In addition to the European Commission case the PFA has a claim against Fifa in the Brussels Court of Commerce.
The post-2030 calendar is the next major issue facing football after the World Cup, although Fifa appears intent on parking detailed discussions with stakeholders until after its presidential elections next year, when Infantino will seek another four-year term.
The PFA is particularly concerned about Fifa’s desire to expand the Club World Cup to 48 teams and the disruption that will be caused by staging the 2034 Saudi Arabia World Cup in the European winter.
The impact is likely to be felt disproportionately by PFA members, because the Premier League schedule is generally regarded as being the most demanding.
“We have achieved some big wins, but at the same time cannot cave in on such important matters as the calendar,” a PFA source said. “The MOU is significant and brings important governance changes, but we need a solution on the calendar too before we can drop our claim.”
Some great photos here. Take a look at our gallery highlighting the opening ceremony and Mexico’s 2-0 win over South Africa.
What did we make of the opening ceremony? I thought it was really good fun. Shakira and Burna Boy (Sarina Wiegman’s favourite) did their thing and the giant FIFA World Cup as a centrepiece was impressive. I’ll admit, I spent a chunk of time asking my kids, ‘who’s that then?’ and they didn’t know either. Thankfully the Guardian’s resident music man, Alexis Petridis, tuned in and gives us the lowdown. As most of it was local talent, I feel less bad about my ignorance.
Violent clashes outside Azteca
Mexico’s opening World Cup victory party was somewhat tarnished by violent clashes outside the Azteca Stadium. Ticketless fans and protesters attempted to gain access as rocks and bottles were thrown at police outside gate eight. Local media reported that dozens of arrests were made as a result.
Empty seats highlight fears over ticket pricing
Did the official attendance between South Korea and Czechia marry up with the eye test? FIFA reported a crowd of 44,985 for Thursday’s World Cup match in Guadalajara but swathes of empty seats around the stadium renewed concerns over ticket pricing and demand for the expanded tournament.
More here from Reuters:
While more than 80,000 squeezed into the Azteca stadium to watch the opener between co-hosts Mexico and South Africa, the optics of unoccupied rows at the 46,000-seat stadium in Guadalajara, a city with a deep-rooted football culture, have intensified criticism of FIFA’s commercial strategy for the first 48-team World Cup.
Some fans at the stadium blamed the high ticket prices for the rows of empty seats and criticised FIFA for their pricing model.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Wednesday defended FIFA’s ticket pricing following criticism from supporters who argued the cost of attending matches had become prohibitive. He said ticket prices were on a par with other major sporting events.
FIFA has sold more than six million tickets for the tournament and previously highlighted strong interest from across the Americas, with Infantino saying demand had exceeded expectations by “a factor of 10 or more“.
However, groups such as Football Supporters Europe (FSE) had warned that “extortionate” pricing would exclude ordinary fans. According to FSE, ticket prices for this tournament have jumped fivefold compared to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Reuters has contacted FIFA for comment.
Let’s start with the two match reports. More red cards than goals in the first game and a stirring fightback from South Korea in the second.
Mexico 2-0 South Africa – Jonathan Wilson was in the Azteca.
South Korea 2-1 Czechia in Guadalajara.
Preamble
Two down, 102 to go! Good news this morning if you’re a fan of Mexico or South Korea. Not so much for supporters of South Africa or Czechia. Even with the limited data so far, stats are spinning around the online universe, the most eye-popping being that the red count so far in this World Cup is just one fewer than the whole of Qatar 2022. A trend? We shall see. Other stats involve official attendances. More on that shortly.
After Mexico took centre stage on Thursday, day two of World Cup 2026 sees the other two co-hosts in action. Canada take on Bosnia & Herzegovina in Group B before the USA host Paraguay in Group D, that one in the early hours of Saturday for UK viewers. Pat on the back if you’re reading this now having watched the first two games in their entirety.
Anyway, we have five goals, three red cards, an opening ceremony and much else to talk about. No time for drinks breaks here, let’s get this going!
