⚽️ Infantino tells fans to ‘chill’ in response to Fifa’s critics
⚽️ Match centre | Player guide | Bracketology | Mail Tom
Greetings everyone. It’s here! The biggest, possibly most controversial and strangest World Cup yet. After months and years of chatter and hype, fear and loathing, we’ll actually have some football to get stuck into from this afternoon/evening. It’s coming up to 1am in Mexico City as the co-hosts enjoy their last sleep before it all starts. And where better to start than the Azteca Stadium, one of the most storied venues in the world, lit up by Pelé and Diego Maradona among others back in the day?
Mexico, too, is a proper football country, though there’s no point pretending there haven’t been problems. The capital has been convulsed by strikes and demonstrations, and protesters may make their presence felt today. We’ll be across every element of the big kick-off as we count down to the opening ceremony and Mexico v South Africa. The show starts at 11.30am local time (6.30pm BST, 1.30pm ET) and will be headlined by Shakira, because it’s always headlined by Shakira, and Burna Boy.