World Cup 2026 LIVE!
The World Cup is off and running as all three tournament co-hosts have each played their first games. Canada came from a goal down to draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina, thus earning their first-ever point at football’s global tournament after previous finals appearances in 1986 and 2022 both featured a clean sweep of defeats.
Then over at the SoFI Stadium in California, USA thumped Paraguay 4-1 to kick off Group D. Much is expected of Mauricio Pochettino’s USMNT this summer, and Florian Balogun was the star of the show as he netted twice to move top of the goalscoring charts at this early stage.
Proceedings got underway on Thursday, with Mexico brushing aside South Africa 2-0 in a game that featured three red cards before Group A rivals South Korea came from behind to beat Czechia 2-1 amid scores of empty seats in Guadalajara. England have experienced some trouble upon arriving at their training base in Kansas City as they gear up for Wednesday’s Group L opener against Croatia, having beaten Miami United 6-0 in a training friendly to follow their easy win over Costa Rica. Follow the latest World Cup news and updates live below!
World Cup 2026 latest news
Live updates
The next game sees South Korea take on Czechia in the second Group A match.
Here’s how you can watch along in the UK.
Why were South Africa and Mexico players sent off?
The World Cup kicked off in remarkable fashion on Thursday night as co-hosts Mexico cruised to victory over South Africa in a game overshadowed by three red cards.
Julian Quinones gave Mexico an early lead inside nine minutes, drilling home from inside the area after a mix-up in the Bafana Bafana defence. Raul Jimenez put the game beyond doubt in the second half, scoring his first ever finals goal on his final start in the tournament.
But it was the three red cards, two of which were shown to South Africa players. It was the seventh time there have been three or more red cards in a World Cup game, and the first time in an opener.
Shakira and Burna Boy kick off World Cup 2026 party
Shakira and Burna Boy kicked off the World Cup with a performance at the spectacular opening ceremony in Mexico.
The Colombian singer performed 'Let's go', the official World Cup song, alongside Nigerian artist Burna Boy ahead of the opening fixture in Mexico City.
The high-octane ceremony in the Mexico City Stadium came ahead of the joint host nation taking on South Africa in the first game of the tournament.
The match was the first of 104 at the biggest ever FIFA World Cup, where 48 countries will compete across 16 cities.
It began with costumes performing as a giant World Cup rose up in the centre of the pitch.
Raining red cards as co-hosts kick off World Cup with a win
Mexico’s misery in World Cup opening games was finally ended as they secured a 2-0 win over South Africa at the Estadio Azteca in a match featuring three red cards.
The co-hosts had been involved in seven matches which either alone, or jointly, opened previous tournaments, but had won none of them.
They put that right at the eighth attempt however as goals from Julian Quinones and Fulham’s Raul Jimenez in either half gave them a victorious start against a South Africa side who finished with nine men.
Cesar Montes’ dismissal in stoppage time took some of the shine off an otherwise upbeat afternoon.
Wataru Endo withdraws from Japan squad and retires
Japan midfielder Wataru Endo has retired from international football after being ruled out of the World Cup because of a foot problem.
The Liverpool star sustained the injury against Sunderland on February 11 in what was his final club appearance of the season.
He made his comeback by completing 45 minutes in a 1-0 World Cup warm-up victory over Iceland, but his recovery has not progressed as hoped for.
Endo said on X: “I will be leaving the World Cup squad. Since my injury, I’ve done everything I could, so I have no regrets. Of course I’m frustrated at not being able to participate in this World Cup.
“But more than that, I’m proud to have led this team as captain since the Qatar World Cup and to see it grow into a group that can naturally talk about the goal of winning the World Cup.
“With this action, I will be retiring from the national team. From now on, I’ll continue to support the Japan national team as a fan alone.”
Mexico vs South Africa LIVE
After all of that, we still have the not-so-little matter of the first match of the World Cup to focus on.
You can follow our dedicated live coverage of the opening match with our blog here.
Well then, that was very fun! A great way to kick off the tournament!
Shakira must have a World Cup residency at this point, and well deserved it is too.
Shakira is shaking those famous hips of hers, and Burna Boy is donning double denim in this heat.
It’s all going on.
She is joined by men in white trousers and vests, who part like the seas to welcome Burna Boy, to perform the official World Cup song, ‘Dai Dai’.
Shakira is here!