AGENCIES

Mexico will launch their home World Cup campaign against South Africa tonight under pressure to deliver the winning start fans expect at the Estadio Azteca, where the tournament returns for a third time.

The Group A clash marks a return to the World Cup stage for the iconic venue that hosted matches in 1970 and 1986, while also reviving memories of the 2010 tournament opener, when South Africa held Mexico to a 1-1 draw in Johannesburg.

This time, the hosts arrive as clear favourites, and know victory could prove crucial to their hopes of finishing top of a group that also includes South Korea and the Czech Republic.

Mexico have gone unbeaten in their last eight matches, equalling the longest unbeaten run they have taken into a World Cup and providing further encouragement for Javier Aguirre’s side ahead of the tournament.

The atmosphere is expected to be festive as more than 80,000 fans pack the renovated Azteca for the first match of the expanded 48-team tournament, but the occasion will bring its own pressure for a side expected to make the most of home advantage.

South Africa, meanwhile, are back at the World Cup for the first time since hosting the tournament in 2010 and Belgian coach Hugo Broos, who faced Mexico in the 1986 World Cup, believes his largely domestically based squad can surprise more fancied opponents.

South Africa’s preparations were disrupted by visa issues that delayed the arrival of several members of the travelling party, costing them valuable time to acclimatise to conditions in central Mexico.

Yet Broos’s side emerged from a difficult qualifying campaign and will hope to frustrate the hosts once again, 16 years after earning a draw in the last World Cup opener involving the two nations.

In the day’s second fixture, South Korea face the Czech Republic in another Group A clash in Guadalajara on Friday (8:00am Bangladesh time).

Hong Myung-bo’s side endured a difficult qualifying campaign before securing a place at a record 11th consecutive World Cup. South Korea reached the last 16 in 2022, where they were knocked out by Brazil.

The Czechs, meanwhile, arrive confidently after winning six consecutive qualifiers and friendlies following a crisis late last year, when a shock defeat to the Faroe Islands left their campaign in jeopardy.

That loss proved the turning point, prompting the appointment of 74-year-old Miroslav Koubek, who guided the team through the playoffs and into their first World Cup since 2006.