And with that, I’m afraid I must leave you. Thanks so much for your company and comments, sorry I couldn’t use them all – excuse while I interrupt myself, but Jobi McAnuff has just talked about “Ronaldo, Messi, Modric – the GOATS of the era”. And yes, of course GOATS is now a word not an abbreviation – it should take lower-case really – but anyway, it tickled me.
But now it really is time to go – but we’ll be back in under four hours to bring you South Korea v Czechia. We’re under way!
Er, Harry Kane has just been on telly and … appears to be getting into the spirit of things?
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Here’s Jonathan Wilson’s report.
ITV have just shown us footage of the USA squad going wild at the end of last night’s Knicks v Spurs game. If you’ve not seen yet, I urge you so to do.
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On which point I’ve had an unbelievable quantity of those today – thanks a lot, it’s very much appreciated. Apologies I couldn’t get to them all.
“In a shameless attempt for the father-son double,” says Patrick Halladay, “my earliest memories were the Maradona goals in the 1986 quarter-finals at today’s stadium (too soon?). Though at 14, I was a bit old for a first World Cup memory, Maradona, and particularly his mazy second goal, is really the first time that the cup broke through into the US sporting consciousness.”
People are going to start inventing relations when they email in…
I hope poor Sithole is OK, his day already inked into annals as one of the worst in World Cup history; I guess he’ll be banned for the second game, but hopefully gets the chance to redeem his experience in the third.
As for SA, I really don’t know what they set out to achieve. They were unambitious at the start, understandably so perhaps, but they didn’t improve and lacked any kind of zest. But it’s only the first game and, with Czechia and South Korea to come, they’ve still got hopes of making the round of 908,452.
The first game of the competition is in the books. I’d like to have seen a little more zip from Mexico, but I can only imagine the emotional dump of preparing for the game for however long, then playing the opening fixture of a home World Cup in the Azteca. I really liked the look of Gutierrez, and Fidalgo and Lira alongside, that’s a pretty decent midfield.
FULL TIME: Mexico 2-0 South Africa
A solid start for the co-hosts, which I guess makes South Africa’s absolute gas.
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90+6 min I do wonder, though, if we’ve just seen a change in the laws. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a red card shown for denial of a goalscoring opportunity when the foul happened out wide. Are we saying Mudau was going to score, or was going to square it for someone else to score? Because if it’s the latter, we’re now at one remove from the offence, which i’ve also never seen before.
90+5 min It’s not been the best game but, let’s be real, ye cannae argue with three red cards.
MEXICO'S MONTES IS SENT OFF!
90+3 min Now that one I didn’t see coming. I guess Mudau would’ve gone inside towards goal and had men over, but that looked a classic yellow-card foul to me – Montes is shocked and I’m not surprised.
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90+2 min But here they come, Mudau charging down the right, and it’s four on three! He skips outside Montes, who does what any decent human would do, and extends a thigh to trop him, a playground/back yard-style challenge and a thing of beauty.
90+1 min We’ll have seven additional minutes. SA won’t be chuffed by that.
90 min SA have, I’m afraid, produced perhaps the worst opening-match performance I’ve ever seen. Of course, Cameroon had two players set off in 1990, but managed to beat the champions while they were at it. I guess we might say France against Senegal in 2002, but they gave it a much better go than this.
88 min In comms, Ally wants to know what Roy Keane thinks about the red, but luckily I’m able to tell him.
86 min “Red card for THAT? Good grief!” thunders David Marriott, and I wish I agreed – I mean I sort of do agree because who doesn’t love everything that no one wants to see? But he slapped his face and pretty hard; I’m not sure how the law could’ve been interpreted in any other way.
SOUTH AFRICA'S ZWANE IS SENT OFF! THEY'RE DOWN TO NINE MEN!
84 min Much as many of us will have enjoyed that, the ref had no choice, and this has been disastrous for the Saffers.
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82 min I’m not sure what’s going on here, but the ref has gone to the monitor … and we see Zwane moving the ball wide, then making towards the box … slapping the side of Alvarado’s face en route. Oh dear – he thought he was being dead sneaky and he was, it was a pretty solid connection – shame we couldn’t hear it, because it wouldn’t been nice and hollow – except there are a million cameras all over the show and the ref can consult them.
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81 min a rare SA attack, Appollis moving inside and drilling low … but straight at Rangel.
79 min Another Mexican alteration: Quinones, who’s played well, gives way to Vega.
76 min Ch ch changes, Alvarez coming on for Lira to win his 100th cap and Gonzalez replacing Jimenez; SA try Makgopa for Rayners and Modiba for Appollis.
74 min Sibisi’s got the taste for it, against using an arm to hammer into Quinones, and this time he’s booked.
73 min Alvarado takes a pass at inside-right – pretty much where Burruchaga collected from Maradona in the 1986 final – and slides in behind for Jimenez, who’s in … for the brief second before Sibisi steps across him, arm into chest. Down he goes, but the ref is emphatic in indicating there’s no foul and rightly so, I think.
71 min Off we go again and, seeing as we’re talking about it, I totally understand the need for breaks – player safety has to be paramount, though I don’t think it’s that hot today, and surely there should be some temperature that needs hitting for one to be in operation. Nor do I think Fifa really understand that by instituting one, they’re affecting the game by disrupting flow and momentum.
69 min Time for another hydration break and, judging by my inbox, numerous adverts everywhere in the world but the UK.
GOAL! Mexico 2-0 South Africa (Raul Jimenez 67)
What a moment! After everything he’s been through and four World Cups without scoring, Raul Jimenez has his moment and doesn’t he enjoy it, eyes welling with tears – I daresay his aren’t the only ones. He holds adroitly then passes to Quinones in midfield, whose clever feet work more space and allow him to find Alvarado down the right. The cross is a beauty and Jimenez, now inside the box, heads down and inside the near post.
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66 min Two changes for Mexico and the crowd like one of them. Off go Gutierrez and Fidalgo, who’ve controlled this game; on come Chavez and Mora, the crowd chanting his name.
63 min “I didn’t have high hopes for this Mexican side, but maybe their long training camp has worked,” posits Kári Tulinius. They look like a team with a plan of attack. If England or Croatia end up facing them in a knockout tie, I don’t think the European side can expect to control the match. That said, as you’ve noted, South Africa haven’t been up to much.”
Yup, if the seeding works out, it’ll be Mexico v England at the Azteca in the last 16. England might, I think, be getting better at controlling games now they’ve got Tuchel as manager – Anderson, Rice, Bellingham is a proper midfield, though I’d be thinking about sneaking Mainoo in for the first of those. We can never be sure they’ll turn up on the day, but I’m beginning to like their chances even if I think a few mistakes were made with the squad selected.
61 min Another change for SA, the veteran midfielder Zwame replacing the disappointing Adams.
60 min I hate to say it, I really do, but SA have been absolutely dreadful today. However they’re still in the game and, if they can avoid conceding a second, you never know what might happen on the counter or from a set-piece – and if the score stays as it, Mexico will get nervous, unsure whether to stick or twist.
58 min Mexico win a free0kick down the right, Gutierrez behind it, and he teases in an outswinger for Reyes, off whose head the ball skids to safety.
57 min Change for SA, Mbatha replacing Foster.
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56 min A rare sortie forward for SA, Modiba looking up 25 yards out and, with no one closing, he opts for a shot, Rangel failing to hold the ball, not for the first time, but tidying thereafter.
55 min “My first World Cup memory was as a nine-year old in 1966,” says Tim Brightwell. “I watched the final on our black and white set. A mixed day of sun and showers. It was an uncomfortable watch. The agony of West Germany’s late equaliser followed by pure joy in extra time.
After the final whistle, ecstatic, I quickly grabbed my football and ran to my friend Geoff’s house to celebrate with a kickabout. I knocked on his door. His mother answered. Could Geoff come out to play? I asked. No! she replied. But England have just won the World Cup, I pleaded. I don’t care, she said, he’s having his tea!”
What was on the menu? We must be told!
53 min Mexico push for a second, winning a corner down the left that’s cleared. SA just want it all to be over, but know their World Cp will be decided by the games against South Korea and Czechia, who meet later on.
52 min Jimenez will take Mexico’s free-kick, almost dead centre and just outside the D … which he hits straight into the wall.
RED CARD FOR SOUTH AFRICA'S SITHOLE!
50 min Oh my days, poor Sithole is having one. A ball in behind and again, Gutierrez is the man making the run, this time through the middle. He’s really crafty in cutting across poor Sithole, as he’ll be known forever more, making almost impossible for him not be fouled, and sure enough, heel catches shin or shin catches heel, the ref has a quick think, then shows the red card. Agony for the SA man, all his life striving to get to this, and now look.
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48 min What on earth was said in the SA dressing room at half-time? “All good lads, just keep doing what you’re doing?
46 min Gosh, SA make a mess immediately and when I tell you what happened, you won’t believe me, but here we go. Williams passes out, dead straight, to Sithole, who didn’t want it last time and definitely doesn’t want it now. Well, it’s his lucky day, because this time the pass is so poor it doesn’t reach him, going straight to Fidalgo, who rolls studs over it to move past the defender, should shoot, doesn’t, takes another touch that takes him too wide, so when he screws square, Williams can smother.
46 min We go again…
“Like Arran Robertson, my first World Cup memory is the 2006 edition at six years old,” says Daniel Halladay. “I recall watching the final at a friend’s house, though I have precisely zero memory of the Zidane headbutt, despite the fact that it’s quite possibly the tournament’s most shocking moment. Instead, I distinctly remember watching David Trezeguet hit the bar with his penalty, as well as a television commercial involving cavemen (I believe it was for FedEx).
Also like Arran, my father and I are regular MBM correspondents, though at the time of writing we are yet to both feature in the same one.”
My old fella barely knows what one is and has definitely never read one. But that’s one for my therapist, because our teams are back with us.
Half-time email: “I was 9-years-old in ‘66 for my first,” says Roger Kirkby, “and obviously watched it at home with my family. I always wondered what that night was like for the pub-going generation. After starting work I asked a guy who was 10 years older than me what was it like for him. He said he watched it at home, went down the pub at seven and left just after nine because they wanted to watch the replay at 10 and the pub had no telly. Most underwhelming.”
Swinging Sixties or what?
Siri, what is art?
HALF-TIME: Mexico 1-0 South Africa
Mexico have played fairly well; South Africa have barely played at all.
45+3 min SA need to have a word with themselves because this has been a total no-show. And as i type, they almost concede a second, Gutierrez – who’s been the best player on the park – again breaking into the box at inside-left, shaping to curl towards the far corner but changing his mind at the last second, attempting a toe-bunger and skewing the ball sideways.
45+1 min We’ll have four additional minutes.
45 min “Ally McCoist and Jon Champion should probably steer clear of politics,” says my colleague Philip Cornwall, “given their claim that Claudia Sheinbaum is unpopular and would need to give away tickets to the entire population to rescue her position. Not even in his delusions does Donald Trump have an approval rating approaching 70%.”
Assuming he can stay awake long enough to complete them, of course.
43 min But here come Mexico again. Montes retrieving a ball that’s run away towards the right side of the box and feeing into Quinones, whose touch is lovely – so too the use of his body to hold off the defender. Back to goal, he ushers into the path of Gutierrez, who caresses a side-footer goalwards … but into the base of the near post. Lovely football, no reward.
42 min Mexico probe outside the box and a lovely clip into the box from Gallardo picks out Jimenez, the keeper unable to move till he sees if there’s any connection … and there isn’t, the ball running away.
40 min Sithole, who’ll still be feeling poorly after his goal-creating mistake, is late on Lira, knee digging into thigh to administer a dead leg. With no yellow card shown, as per the new law, if Lira needs treatment, he’ll have to leAve the pitch … but he’s OK.
39 min “1966 for me,” emails Alan Kirkup. “Dad (who was a professional footballer in his younger days) had booked a family holiday at a B&B in Cumberland the week of the final. He reckoned England had no chance of reaching that far so no problem. Sadly the B&B had no TV, so there we were with a few others outside a tv show room in Keswick watching the final. My memory is that the shop owner decided to close up at half-time. We never saw the rest of the game…”
He did what?!
38 min Better from SA, Mbokazi crossing from the left but without much pace, so when Foster jumps to head, he’s got to really crank his neck muscles, sending a floaty effort wide.
35 min Quinones appears near the left corner of the box, looking inside to feed a cunningly disguised reverse-pass down the line for Alvarado, who takes a touch when he shouldn’t and crosses low to the keeper.
33 min “1966 for me, as a 12-year-old, recalls Richard Hirst. “Vividly recall hiding my face behind a cushion when West Germany equalised so my parents couldn’t see me crying. But it turned out all right in the end. Then there were the incomparable Brazilians of 1970, the best I’ve ever seen. But then the greatest team to not win the World Cup: the Dutch in 1974 and 1978. That’s when I knew for sure that football wasn’t fair (though having watched Fulham since 1965 I should already have known!). I’ve not been so invested in a World Cup final since.”
I’d say Brazil1 982 were better than the Netherlands without Cruyff and Van Hanegem, Hungary 1954 also, but no, football definitely isn’t fair. Luckily, life is.
32 min The break has interrupted the flow somewhat – I daresay there’ll be teams glad of it when on the rack, because momentum is crucial to breaking down a rearguard. Burt as I type, a long ball finds Modiba down the left, and his cross goes behind off Reyes … then the offside flag goes up.
30 min Fidalgo slides a pass into the box for Gutierrez, who looks to jink by Okon to create a shooting lane … but the defender does really well to block.
28 min “Watching that clip of the 2010 opening match betwen Mexico and South Africa, the background buzz of the vuvuzela has transformed in my awareness from something that everyone was raging about at the time to an instantly recognisable identifier that we’re watching South Africa 2010,” reckons Daniel Stuass. “Maybe not ‘bring back the vuvuzela’, but certainly a nice bit of nostalgia lo these many years later.”
I agree – one of the things I love most about World Cups is the local vibe, and that one had plenty.
27 min We go again, the three minutes we missed to be added on at the end of the first half.
25 min The free-kick is headed clear, then it’s time for a drink. SA could use a stiff one, though, they’ve been a little better the last few minutes.
23 min Rangel fumbles what the rules of footballing vernacular demand i call a searching cross, so SA pick up possession and Mokoena beats Gutierrez down the right, but not the following plough-through; Gutierrez becomes the second player to be booked.
22 min Mexico attack again, again from the right, with Alvarado crossing … and Mbokazi heading clear. After which we cut to the leather posh seats, where Cafu, Roberto Carlos and Roberto Baggio are sat in a classic “there they are, the lads” situation.
20 min Quinones picks up a decent position at inside-right and, feeling himself, he ignores the run of Fidalgo to swat a rising shot which flashes over the near angle.
19 min It’ll be interesting to see how strict the refs are when it comes to brandishing cards. On the one hand, they’ll want to keep it 11 v 11, but on the other, won’t get the same enjoyment from a free-for-all that the rest of us might.
16 min It’s still all Mexico, Gutierrez moving down the right before losing possession and conceding a free-kick Can SA use the opportunity to build? Well, they do get the ball forward for the first time, but then a cross is headed clear and Mokoena, beaten by a nice touch from Fidalgo, who sees him coming, so waits and nicks off before wearing he foul. Mokoena is booked.
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14 min “The first World Cup that meant anything to me was 1966,” writes Mike Barron. “I was eight and hung on my grandad’s every football wisdom. He’d taken me to my first game the season before – Loftus Road, QPR, Division 3. We watched the final together, having been excused from attending his next-door neighbour’s daughter’s wedding. All the rest of the family went. Our non-attendance was never questioned! Watched the rerun again on Channel 4 on Saturday. Such memories.”
13 min But here Quinones is again, winning a corner down the left, and SA need to be careful because if they don’t rouse themselves, this game could be over before they’ve participated in it.
11 min Quinones actually did a fairly decent job of holding it down after the goal – he ran about, of course, but given the emotion of the occasion, anything could’ve happened.
GOAL! Mexico 1-0 South Africa (Quinones 9)
Or not! Williams passes out to Sithole, who I don’t think wants it there, but even so, his first touch is miserable – though Lira snaps into the tackle with impressive zeal. The ball breaks to Quinones, he advances, shoots through the keeper’s legs, and he’s just scored the opening goal of a home World Cup at Estadio Azteca! What a feeling!
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9 min We’ve see nothing of SA as an attacking force so far, but I imagine they’re looking to take the sting out of things and keep it tight in tha meantime.
7 min “I’m here in México (at a friend’s house, who can afford the stadium?!)” begins Christine Fears. Here’s the Mexican playlist we were listening to this morning:
Also, the, ahem, older rockers at the start of the ceremony were a band called Mana. Something of a one-hit wonder apparently, but get wheeled out for events!”
Quality, will look forward to that – thanks.
6 min My daughter knocks at the door so i leave her standing there while I wait for Mexco to make a mess of their corner; take your key, child!
5 min Reyes skates down the right and on the outside, cutting back a cross to the edge, and Raul Jimenez arrives on to it beautifully! But he manages only a shinner, allowing Williams to plunge right and tip it behind.
3 min Modiba lunges in on Alvarado so late it’s almost bedtime, so Mexico have a free-kick 40- yards from goal, which Gutierrez looks to sneak around the near-side of the wall … hitting it instead.
2 min Mexico knock it about, SA back in shape, and the home crowd cheering every touch their team take and jeering each one taken by the visitors.
1 min “My first World Cup memory was Spain 82 and discovering for the first time as a 10-year-old a certain footballing nation called Brazil,” says Simon Craig. “Everyone at school tried to copy either Zico, Socrates or Eder at break time. I’d never shed tears over a football match but it happened when they tragically went out to Italy in the quarters. The best team never to have won the World Cup.”
The Brazilian football writer, Juca Kfouri, once said something like “Zico never won the World Cup? That’s the World Cup’s problem.”
1 min Mexico kick off and the 2026 men’s World Cup is go!
We’re ready to go…
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The Mexico anthem is done a cappella, a nice touch – but I’d like to get a bit closer so we can hear the players sing.
“My first World Cup memory is watching England lose to Portugal on penalties in 2006 at a pub in New Jersey at 6 years old, says Arran Robertson. “My dad (Kyle Robertson of the 19.31 post) and his friend frequently talk about looking at my face of despair and hopelessness and feeling immense guilt for what they had subjected me to. Not much has changed. They also reckon no one paid and just left once England had lost.”
I think this father/son situation may be an MBM first; lovely stuff.
Anthem time!
Righto, our teams are tunnelled and … here they come! Out into the Azteca, the most storied stadium in World Cup history; I can’t begin to fathom how they and their families are feeling, but I’m feeling a way even thinking about it, so I’ve not a clue how they cope.
Of course, our teams for this one met in the 2010 opener too, perhaps Peter Drury’s finest hour.
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“My first World Cup was 1966 when I spent the afternoon working in a petrol station in Solihull with only a small transistor radio for company,” says Derek Bishton. “I volunteered for the afternoon shift because the owner was offering double time and as I was a struggling 17-year-old student, I needed the money. Actually, it was the easiest money I ever earnt because not one single car pulled in for petrol during the whole of the game, which of course included extra time. And when the cars finally turned up, most of the drivers were so happy I made a mint out of the tips. I didn’t see the final until some time later when a wonderful colour movie of the tournament was released.”
Brilliant – and for those unacquainted, the World Cup films are terrific historical pieces.
We’ve been taken back to the Azteca to see the competing countries introduced. I hope there’s time to get all 94,635 in before kick-off, 15 minutes from now.
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“The first World Cup I remember was 1966, in hindsight one for the ages!” reckons David C Hunter. “I was at Winchester Cathedral participating as a chorister in the Chichester Cathedral Choir. We had a rehearsal the afternoon of the final. Several of the men in the choirs had transistor radios and those bulky earpieces with twisted pink wire. Whenever a team scored they’d use fingers to relay the score. Tied at full time, we were all on edge. The director was the Master of the Winchester choir who was, shall we say, a little overdue for retirement. He was not interested in the game. Trouble was we not as interested in the music as we had been the previous year, when we gave the premiere of the Chichester Psalms and Bernstein had been present. I recall Winchester being bright and airy and everyone cheering once the final whistle blew.
I don’t have any idea how the concert that evening went, but the win was stupendous!”
I’m sad this email didn’t come with a sound recording.
Anyway, time to focus on our game this evening. Mexico have left Mora on the bench, but I’m still looking forward to seeing how Lira and Fidalgo do in midfield. SA, though, have Mokoena and Adams up against them, both of whom my research tells me can properly play. I’m expecting a tight encounter, with Mexico nicking it.
I still can’t wrap my swede around this. Madrid are now the seventh club to hope they’ll restore magic which departed over a decade ago.
“Not my first to watch but the only one I ever attended in person – Scotland v Brazil in the 1998 tournament opener in Paris,” says Colin Livingstone. “My chance to see legends of the game in person, Taffarel, Dunga, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Cafu – just phenomenal. And my all time favourite, Roberto Carlos.
A very fine day in the bars of Paris with all the Brazilian fans, rounded off by bumping into a very merry Ewan McGregor in a nearby seat, who had evidently enjoyed his day too. Happy memories.”
We got Sky in 96-97, the year Ronaldo was at Barca, and he was maybe the first player that had me saying to my dad “You’ve gotta see this bloke play”, rather than him regaling me with players he’d seen. He’s not the best I’ve seen – though he’s top three – but no one has made my jaw hang open like he did because the speed of him felt and still feels impossible.
“I was eight during Italia 90,” recalls Joe Minihane. “Despite having a Mexico 86 red England top, I can’t remember that tournament but was in full campaign mode for the full works in 1990. My dad had let me try it all on in Scott Sports (RIP) in Harlow town centre, but then said we’d have to come another time. A week or so later, he said we’d go and try it on again. We wandered ‘up the town’ and I donned the white top, navy shorts and white socks in the changing room. When I began to take it off, my old man said there was no need, he’d just paid. Core memory right there! My lad is right and is buzzing (but has asked for Curacao away instead).”
It’s a beauty, is that – consider your job as a father complete, he’s good to go from here.
And the award for understatement goes to … Kyle Robertson. “My first memory is of the 1970 World Cup. As a seven-year old Chelsea fan fresh off their FA Cup win, I was excited to see Peter Bonetti fill in for Gordon Banks but also aware that there was some disappointment around his performance.”
Some disappointment!
You may have missed it, but on the SA bench is Kamogelo Sebelebele; oh man, what a name that is, musical, poetic and beautiful.
Back on telly, they’re talking about Scott McTominay, Gary Neville saying he’s a different player at Napoli to Man United. He’ll be devastated to know I’m not having that – his problem was that at United, Bruno Fernandes played his position, so he was forced deeper, but his box-crashing and finishing were excellent even then. What a life he’s made for himself in Naples, though – not just on the pitch but off it, living like a local and enjoying the love of the people as much for that as for his frankly ludicrous on-pitch deeds.
“Can I just say how much I liked Kev Dwyer’s memory of 1970?” wonders Mason Sato. “I’ve strived for a while to find someone who followed England to that World Cup. I was there in 1986 and it wasn’t easy to get visas and the cost as a 20-year-old to get there was exorbitant. I also saved weekly and only managed to get out for the second phase onwards, though the tickets and accommodation were really cheap compared to today. I’ve always wondered how it was for fans 16 years before I could do it.
My first memory of a football match at a WC was either Chile v Australia in the rain or Haiti going 1-0 up v Italy in 1974. Not sure which was first but I clearly remember the first minute of the final.”
Teams!
Mexico (4-1-2-3): Rangel; Montes, Vasquez, Reyes, Gallardo; Lira; Gutierrez, Fidalgo; Reyes, Jimenez, Quinones. Subs: Acevedo, Ochoa, Sanchez, Alvarez, Chavez M, Romo, Pineda, Vargas, Mora, Chavez L, Vega, Gimenez, Gonzalez, Huerta, Martinez.
South Africa (5-3-2): Williams; Modiba Mbokazi, Sibisi, Mudau, Okon; Mokoena, Sithole, Adams; Rayners, Foster. Subs: Chaine, Goss, Matuldi, Ndamane, Kabini, Makhanya, Corss, Mbatha, Zwane, Appollis, Moremi, Mofokeng, Maseko, Makgopa, Sebelebele.
Referee: Wilton Sampaio (Brazil)
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Our teams are in, so while I get them up for you, something to dig into: here’s my playlist of South African bangers. If you’ve a Mexican equivalent, holler.
Oh man, this stuff gets me every time – we’re watching Bafana Bafana singing their way into the ground. It’s not the below, but it’s similar – and similarly affirming.
“I’m at the Gare du Nord waiting to board for Blighty,” says Harry McDonald. “My first World Cup was on radio in 1958, I was 10 years old. Danny Blanchflower and Harry Gregg were my main interest.
I’ve watched every one since except the last. I watched not one second and I felt no sense of loss. It was an appalling decision to go there. I’m definitely considering not watching any of this one either: similar reasons.”
Blanchflower and Gregg, two absolute heroes. Harry, of course, saved lives at Munich like it was nothing, while Danny is responsible for one of the great football quotations:
“The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It is nothing of the kind. The game is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom.”
Shakira and Burna time! The official tune isn’t as good as the 2010 classic, but it’s a decent effort. Burna’s voice reminds me of the groove, depth and texture you get from records relative to CDs.
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“My dad went out and bought a colour telly for the first World Cup I can remember, which was 1974,” writes Matt Emerson. “That West German summer was relentlessly overcast and grey in my memory, so we needn’t have bothered, but I was hooked. This will be my f14th and it’s just as good, despite the ongoing attempts to screw things up generally. You measure your life out by World Cups and I reckon I’ve got seven more left after this one, so I’m going to enjoy it.”
The tech bros will have us living beyond 300 by the time of your seventh, so we’re all good.
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It’d be nice if they told us who everyone is, but so far, it’s just action, no captions or comms. There’s a lad singing in a leather tracky, underneath which things must be extremely ripe, then it’s time for some mariachi.
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“I’m old,” confesses Kev Dwyer. “Watched the 1966 World Cup on TV and then as one of a group of four apprentices we all decided to save £2 per week from our wages and go and watch us retain the Jules Rimet in Mexico in 1970. Time went by, weddings happened and then there were two who headed off, the week after my 21st birthday, travelling on a trip organised by the England Football Supporters Association. Tickets to all the matches plus tickets to the final. I got to watch living football legends, and was sitting directly behind the goal when Banksy saved Pele’s shot. The Azteca was a disappointment in that our seats were so far up in the Gods that you couldn’t really make out the intricacies of the game. Great memories, hope that there’s some more made for the supporters over there.”
Brilliant!
“We are a nation of diversity, heritage and pride,” says the lead voice – words I wish were less poignant and pertinent.
“The home stadium advantage for Mexico has been duly noted but until you experience it you can’t fully appreciate it,” says Mary Waltz. “Yes, the heat and altitude is oppressive. But it is the fans that make it so intimidating. Knowledgable, vicious, non-stop support and refs often swayed by the crowd.”
I hope the fans who create that can afford to get in. On which point, we’re ready to get going, drums beating, vocals soaring, dancers in formation.
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The opening ceremony begins
Aha, the opening ceremony is upon us. We’re in the Azteca, mates!
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I talked earlier about first World Cups, so please do send in memories of yours. Mine was Mexico 86 – and how mad is it there’ll have been three there since England last hosted – and my main takeaway now, as an apparent adult, is how Diego Maradona gave me and my cohort an entirely false representation of what football is. For years afterwards, I thought it was possible for someone to run around everyone between them and goal, but it turns out that’s just him.
“That ITV studio is spectacular,” reckons Kev the Poet. “Almost as spectacular as the nark-off between Roy Keane and anyone else. The BBC is going to have The Ghost Of Barry Davies coming out of the Manchester Ship Canal to compete.”
It is – it’s outdoors on the East River, with a sensational view of Manhattan. But I’d take Barry Davies coming out of anywhere.
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And the correct answer is!
I almost got away with playing this at my wedding.
“Here in the States, the pre-game crew includes, as ever, Alexi Lalas, but also has a new addition of Zlatan for this tournament,” advises Mac Scarles. “If the approximately 10 seconds of interaction I just saw is any indication, the odds are high that Zlatan just might kill Lalas with his bare hands before the tournament is over. A chemistry void for the ages. It’s going to be a fun six weeks.”
Goodness, I’m not sure it’s possible to understand football culture, spirit and soul less than Lalas does. Godspeed, Zlats old mate.
Aaaaand the first email of the competition goes too … Justin Kavanagh. “Football used to be seen as the opiate of the masses, with many stories from previous World Cups of ceasefires declared to watch games, birthrates soaring 9 months after victories … etc. However, this one feels more like a methadone clinic, with thin rations stretched out over a longer time frame, and with the dealer going uptown where he’ll find wealthier marks. Sure we’ll all watch on TV because we love the game. But more and more people who actually once participated in the game at any level are coming to the realisation that Fifa’s product is poisoned by politics and by greed, and Infantino and co have shut the gates on us.”
It takes a lot to make Sepp Blatter look like the arch liberator, doesn’t it? I wish I had something pithily amusing and reassuring to say here, but I don’t; we just have to do our best to oppose wrongness in our immediate spheres of influence.
Almost straight off the bat, ITV go to the politics – “Things that always litter a pre-tournament buildup,” says Neville. Er, do they? He goes on to say the football will take over, but Ian Wright, Roy Keane and Mark Pougatch make sure to stipulate we mustn’t let it obscure the continuing issues.
Gosh, the first montage of the tournament, of tournaments past, has me quite emotional – there’s a lot to take in, and that’s before I get going on Gary Neville’s shirt, straight off the peg from River Island c.1995.
Watching from the UK, it’s time for ITV’s credits and, if you’ve not seen them, they’re beautiful, shot on film and lush as you like.
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Yes!
Quiz time: name that tune!
Ahhhh! Ding! Ding ding ding ding! Neow! Ding ding ding ding! Ta bam bam bam bam bam bam!
De ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne. De ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne. De ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne, ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne ne!
Preamble
What a feeling! Thirty-nine days, 104 matches, and the greatest joy known to humankind, an affirming, inspiring, immersive, absorbing, challenging, compelling, enriching, educational orgy of glorious, wondrous, beauteous football. Drink it in, people!
Just be careful you don’t choke. Because though we thought that, after Russia and Qatar, World Cups – or should that be Worlds Cup, we deal with all the important issues here – couldn’t get any more problematic, here we are.
The awfulness is too extensive to enumerate in this preamble but, before football happens and narcotises us into compliance, we must pay our debt to pleasure – ideally not simply by grousing, but perhaps by doing something small to combat the forces that co-opt us and our incomparable game. Being kind and tolerant, perhaps, or donating to a charity that supports migrants or refugees – our options are numerous.
Quite how we segue from here back to the sport isn’t totally clear, but such are the complexities of life, the game a victim of its own genius, simply too amazing and uniting not to be exploited by bad actors, corporate voids and invertebrate suits. So let’s dig into that; seamless, eh?
We’ll begin of course, with the spectacle and snark of our first opening ceremony – each host is staging one – with those of us old enough to remember 1970 and 1986 forgiven for convulsing into tears at the mere sight of Estadio Azteca. In which connection, it’s worth remembering that for millions of children around the world, this is their debut tournament; the first time they’ve experienced the joy of a football onslaught. And, while those of us who are well beyond that will never recapture our personal moment, staying up late and sneaking snide watches, the sense of wonder is something we understand better now, as adults, than in the moment as kids.
A lot’s happened to us since then, the weight of the years narrowing eyes and dulling senses. But if we take a moment with ourselves, we’re there, the sense of wonder perpetually part of us and perennially there for us. These are the days of our lives, and this is the vibe we can bring to it – and everything else – if we allow ourselves to.
On to our opening match and it’s a belter, two teams looking to attack but in different ways: Mexico by controlling the centre of the pitch and South Africa with thrust down the flanks. Look out for Gilberto Mora, the hosts’ 17-year-old midfielder – he’s the youngest player in the tournament and a serious talent – but really, look out for absolutely everything. It’s here!
Opening ceremony: 11.30am local, 1,30pm EDT, 6.30pm BST, 3.30am (Fri) AEST
Kick-off: 1pm local, 3pm EDT, 8pm BST, 5am (Fri) AEST
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