In Brief
- This World Cup will feature a pre-match ritual the FIFA boss has described as a “moment of unity”.
- The tournament will be played over 104 matches, the most ever in a World Cup.
The upcoming FIFA World Cup is set to break records this year, expanding in terms of participating teams, matches, host nations, and the overall grandeur of the event.
The opening match on the first day will see Mexico, one of the co-hosts, face off against South Africa. This inaugural game is scheduled to take place in Mexico City on June 11, local time. For viewers on Australia’s East Coast, the match will broadcast live at 5 am on Friday, June 12.
The World Cup will be jointly hosted by Mexico, Canada, and the United States, featuring 104 matches spread across 16 cities. This marks a significant increase in both the number of games and the geographical spread of the tournament.
Adding to the excitement, Colombian artist Shakira, who famously performed at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, will return to the stage. She will be joined by Nigerian singer-songwriter Burna Boy to kick off the event with a vibrant opening ceremony before the Mexico match begins.
The pair will debut this year’s anthem “Dai Dai,” an Italian phrase meaning “let’s go,” which adds a touch of irony as Italy did not qualify for the tournament.
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The 90-minute opening ceremony, which will be held at Mexico City Stadium, also features Alejandro Fernández, Belinda, Danny Ocean, Ja Balvin and others.
Match 1 will be followed by South Korea v Czechia in Guadalajara at midday AEST.
Standing in a circle
The tournament will feature an expanded 48-team field for the first time in its history, making it the biggest World Cup ever staged.
While there will be traditional pre-match rituals such as handshakes, team photos of the starting line-ups and the coin toss, the World Cup this year will feature a key difference before games.
Instead of the 11 players of the starting team and the refereeing team lining up near the sideline for the national anthems, every player of each team’s 26-man squad plus the referees will line the centre circle for the anthems.
“Having all players and referees face each other in the centre circle during the national anthems will create a moment of unity, pride and emotion that truly belongs to the teams and to everyone in the stadium,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said.
“The FIFA World Cup is about every player and every fan, and this new pre-match ceremony reflects that.”
But for some human rights advocates, the concept of unity sits at odds with the US’ immigration crackdown. This week, the US barred a FIFA referee from Somalia from entering the country to officiate in the tournament.
Since US President Donald Trump started his second term in January, his administration has operated a wide-ranging immigration crackdown, with authorities seeking to deport migrants without legal status in the country.
“Our call to the US government and FIFA is that while these games are happening, there should be a halt on arbitrary arrests [by the] ICE [United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agency,” campaigner for Amnesty International Australia Zaki Haidari said.
“People should have the right of feeling free and feeling protected while they participate in these games.”
Hows to watch the FIFA World Cup
SBS is broadcasting every match live and on demand. The opening matches on Friday 12 June are:
* Mexico v South Africa, 5am AEST
* South Korea v Czechia, 12pm AEST
You can watch all 104 matches of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ live, free and exclusive on SBS, SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand.
FIFA World Cup 2026â„¢ at SBS On Demand: get match ready.
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