The 2026 World Cup is less than 24 hours away from starting, so millions of fans around the world are already counting the minutes until the ball starts rolling in the Mexico City Stadium next Thursday, June 11, when the national teams of Mexico and South Africa at the inaugural engagement.
However, before these teams repeat the opening match of the World Cup in South Africa 2010fans will be able to enjoy the long-awaited ceremony inaugural in the Mexican capital, since, for first time In the history of the World Cups, there will be three ceremonies inaugural sessions, one for each headquarters: Mexico, the US and Canada.
The opening ceremony will be divided into three acts Due to the nature of this unpublished World Cup with three organizers. The first will take place next Thursday, June 11 at the Mexico City Stadium. One day later the Canadain the city of torontoand from the United States, in Los Angeles, California.
The list of artists confirmed for the opening in Mexico includes names ranging from latin pop even traditional music, but the Colombian singer and composer Shakira will be the central figure with the interpretation of Dai Dai, the official song of the 2026 World Cup, which he wrote with Nigerian record producer Burna Boy.
Inauguration of the 2026 World Cup
The first World Cup opening will take place at the Mexico City Stadium next Thursday, June 11, and is scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. of Guatemala and Mexico (10:30 a.m. in Los Angeles12:30 p.m. Chicago and 1:30 p.m. toronto), so millions of people will be able to enjoy the show.
For this event, the International Association Football Federation (FIFA) confirmed the actions of MannaAlejandro Fernandez, BelindaThe Blue Angels, J BalvinRyan Castro, Lila Downs, Danny Ocean and the South African singer Tyla, whose presence constitutes a nod to the rival of the Mexican team in the opening match of the World Cup.
One day later, the June 12Canada will hold its own opening ceremony in toronto before the match between the Canadian team and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The show will feature local music figures, such as Michael BubleAlanis Morissette, Alessia Cara, Jessie Reyez and William Prince, as well as international guests.
The Canadian ceremony will take place at the Canadian National Stadiumbefore more than 45 thousand spectators, and is scheduled to begin at 12.00 hours of Guatemala and Mexico (11:00 a.m. in Los Angeles, 1:00 p.m. in Chicago, and 2:00 p.m. in Toronto), as the game will mark the start of the first World Cup in Canada.
Parades and presentations
That same June 12 will also be the turn of USAthe country that will host the majority of the tournament’s matches, with 78 matches in 11 cities in its territory. There, the ceremony will take place in Los Angeles ahead of USA’s debut against Paraguayand the poster will be headed by Katy Perry, Future, AnittaLISA, Rema and Tyla.
The US inaugural ceremony in California will take place in the SoFi Stadiuma multipurpose venue with capacity for almost 70 thousand spectators, and is scheduled to begin at 17.30 hours of Guatemala and Mexico (4:30 p.m. in Los Angeles, 6:30 p.m. in Chicago and 7:30 p.m. in Toronto) and will include a show of lights.
However, the three inaugurations will share some traditional elements, such as parades of flags, protocol acts and the exhibition of the official ball of the tournament, but each one will have a visual identity and own cultural, since the general production is in charge of the Italian Marco Balic, responsible for Olympic ceremonies.