The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off at one of football's most storied venues — the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City — as co-hosts Mexico prepare to face South Africa in the tournament's opening match.

Mexico enter the contest as favourites, buoyed by the weight of home support and a strong historical record when hosting major international football. South Africa, however, arrive in confident form, energised by an impressive qualifying campaign and determined to announce themselves on the world stage once more.

Williams: the captain, the goalkeeper, the symbol

At the heart of South Africa's preparations stands captain and goalkeeper Ronwen Williams, whose performances over the past two years have cemented his reputation as one of the continent's finest players in his position.

Williams spoke to Isaac Fanin ahead of the fixture, reflecting on the weight of leading Bafana Bafana in the first game of a World Cup — and what that moment means to him and his family.

The match represents South Africa's return to football's biggest stage, a moment the nation has been building toward through a qualifying run that turned heads across Africa and beyond.

48 teams, three nations, one tournament

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is the most expansive edition of the tournament in history, with 48 teams competing across three co-host nations: Mexico, the United States, and Canada. From the group stages through to the final, the scale and diversity of this World Cup promise to redefine what the tournament can be.

BBC World Service's More than the Score podcast is following every twist — the new teams, the standout stars, the trends, and the fan cultures shaping this edition in ways that numbers alone cannot capture.