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The World Cup tournament kicked off on Thursday in the cathedral of football, the iconic Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. El Tri beat South Africa 2-0, before South Korea faced Czechia 550 kms to the northwest in Guadalajara.

Morning Kicks: What’s going on at the World Cup today Back to video

Playing on opening day historically meant disappointment for Mexico, as they had never won — five losses and two draws, including a 1-1 tie with Bafana Bafana in the opening game of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. But that streak ended Thursday, when Julián Quiñones opened the scoring nine minutes into the game. A red card to South Africa’s Yaya Sitole put the visitors in a hole, which only got deeper when Raúl Jiménez added a second for Mexico in the 67th minute. 

South Africa’s Themba Zwane was also sent off with a red card following a VAR review.

The lone blemish: a 92nd minute red card to César Montes, who will miss Mexico’s next game against South Korea. 

Son Heung-min will lead South Korea into their 11th straight World Cup tournament, hoping to improve on their quarterfinal finish from 2022, where they lost to Brazil.

But all of Canada’s attention is on Toronto, where Canada is preparing for their opening game Friday night against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

First, the good news.

Reports broke Thursday morning that Moïse Bombito has been included on the final national team roster, a sign that coach Jesse Marsch is confident the lingering pain he’s feeling from his healing broken leg — he hobbled off the pitch after 30 minutes during last week’s friendly with Uzbekistan — will be diminished enough for him to compete.

But will he start or play against Bosnia at BMO Field on Friday? If not, 20-year-old Luc de Fougerolles will line up beside Derek Cornelius at centreback.

Friday’s game, apart from being Canada’s opener, is crucial to their hopes of getting out of the group stage. The Zmajevi pose the greatest threat, on paper at least, to vie for one of the top two spots.

What’s the expectation for this team? Depends on the difference between hope and reality.

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Former captain Atiba Hutchinson is confident that this team can go toe-to-toe with the best teams in the world, and he’s not wrong. At the 2022 World Cup, only a single goal separated them and the then No. 2 Belgium squad.

But he knows Friday’s game is pivotal to Canada’s hopes.

“If everyone is feeling really good and we’ve got our full squad, then we’re a dangerous team and I think we can honestly play against the best,” he said. “I still think there’s another level that the team can get to, and we’ve seen in the Copa America how well they could perform. I think we still got room to grow, and the sky’s the limit for these guys. They have so much confidence and that has a really strong impact on how these guys can go out there and play with a lot of belief in themselves.”

Hutchinson’s one sobering caution is that the injuries that have bordered on decimating the team, starting with Davies, make it imperative that stars emerge over the weeks ahead.

“Obviously, you are going to need one or two players to be playing at a very high level to really hit good form very early in the tournament. I think if we have a really good start in that first game, we can get a big result and go from there. That would be a huge relief for the team.”

Bombito will be a huge asset for the back line when healthy, but questions remain up front, despite having a striker in Jonathan David who plays in a top-five league. Zero wins and only one World Cup goal.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

The latest FIFA rankings have dropped, and there’s a new sheriff in town.

For the first time since July 2025, Argentina have surged back to the top of the rankings, knocking France all the way down to third. La Selección moved into first place after their performances in their most recent warm-up matches, beating Iceland 3-0 and Honduras 2-0.

Spain stay at No. 2, followed by Les Bleus, who were upset by Ivory Coast in a friendly last week. England, Portugal, and Brazil follow respectively, while Morocco has reached a high-water mark in their history with a No. 7 ranking. The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany round out the top 10.

Canada remains unchanged at No. 3.

The rankings have a real-world effect, serving as the third tiebreaker after goal differential and goals scored in the group stage.