As the excitement builds for this year’s World Cup, Matt Reilly points out an intriguing fact: “The opening match of this year’s tournament is Mexico versus South Africa.” This pairing mirrors the inaugural game of the 2010 World Cup held in South Africa. Is this the first instance of an opening match at a World Cup featuring the same teams as a previous tournament? If not, what’s the most frequently seen opening matchup?
In the 2010 tournament, South Africa and Mexico played to a 1-1 draw in their opening encounter. Siphiwe Tshabalala gave the hosts an early lead with a stunning goal, but Rafael Márquez equalized in the 79th minute. The two teams are set to clash again at the Azteca Stadium on Thursday.
This isn’t the first time a World Cup has had a repeat opening match, and again, Mexico was part of it. Historically, many World Cups kicked off with simultaneous matches. For instance, in 1934 Italy, all 16 teams played their initial games at the same time: 4 PM CET on May 27.
The last World Cup to feature simultaneous openers took place in Chile in 1962. This kind of scheduling opens the door for repeated fixtures, and Mexico faced Brazil three times across four tournaments from 1950 to 1962.
In 1950, during Brazil’s World Cup, Mexico participated in a standalone opening match. In both 1954 and 1962, the games were part of a four-match lineup. Brazil triumphed in all three encounters, with their 2-0 win in 1962 highlighted by a legendary solo effort from Pelé.
- 1950: Brazil 4-0 Mexico (Goals: Ademir 2, Jair, Baltazar)
- 1954: Brazil 5-0 Mexico (Goals: Baltazar, Didi, Pinga 2, Julinho)
- 1962: Brazil 2-0 Mexico (Goals: Zagallo, Pelé)
The 1950 match ended with Brazil defeating Mexico 4-0, while in 1954, Brazil achieved a resounding 5-0 victory. The 1962 match concluded with a 2-0 score, thanks to Pelé’s brilliance.
Moreover, Mexico was in the same group during the 2014 World Cup held in Brazil, creating a scenario where that could have served as the opening game. However, Brazil began their campaign with a 3-1 win over Croatia, followed by a goalless draw against Mexico.
Since its inception in 1991, the Women’s World Cup has only had one opening match, and thus far, there have been no repetitions.
Peter Chamberlain raises an interesting point, asking, “Are there really no Real Madrid players in Spain’s World Cup squad—could this be a first?”
Indeed, it marks a first. While there are ten Real Madrid players in the tournament, none will be donning the Spain jersey. Before this year, the fewest Madrid players in a World Cup squad was in 1950, when Luis Molowny was the only representative. He featured in a single match against Uruguay, who eventually became champions.
Notably, there were no Real Madrid players in the Spain squad during the women’s participation in the 2015 and 2019 World Cups. At that time, the women’s team, founded in 2014, had grown to include eight players by 2023, including Olga Carmona, who netted the decisive goal in the final.
The Everton Connection
Mike Hulse inquires, “With three former Everton managers helming teams at the World Cup—Carlo Ancelotti (Brazil), Roberto Martínez (Portugal), and Ronald Koeman (Netherlands)—is this a record?”
This isn’t the highest number for a single tournament. Matthew Williams highlighted that four Chelsea managers will also be coaching in the upcoming weeks:
- Carlo Ancelotti (Brazil)
- Mauricio Pochettino (USA)
- Graham Potter (Sweden)
- Thomas Tuchel (England)
In addition to that, Matthew pointed out that Scotland will have a former Chelsea assistant coach in Steve Clarke.
Exploring the Knowledge Archive
Paul Wilson asked, “New Zealand’s Tommy Smith has been called up to their World Cup squad. He played for Braintree Town last season in the fifth-tier National League. Has a player from a lower division ever been selected for a World Cup or continental championship?”
This question was posed four years ago, with the best example being from the 2006 World Cup. Leigh Cartwright noted that both Togo and Trinidad and Tobago had players from lower leagues. “In 2006, they brought Dennis Lawrence from fourth-tier Wrexham and Evans Wise from Germany’s fifth tier with Waldhof Mannheim,” he shared. “Brent Sancho, Ian Cox, and Chris Birchall were also selected from League One clubs.”
“During the same tournament, three players from Togo played for clubs in lower divisions of French football,” Chai from Atalanta added. “Affo Erassa was with AS Moulins (tier three), Alaixys Romao played for Louhans-Cuiseaux (tier three), and Richmond Forson was with Vendée Poiré sur Vie in Régional 1 (tier seven).”
Finally, Florian Camphausen mentioned the one who missed out. “Sherif Touré Coubageat from a German seventh-tier side Concordia Ihrhove played a few minutes for Togo in the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations, but he wasn’t called up for the World Cup.”
Some trivia remains overlooked.
Can You Assist?
Kári Tulinius inquired, “German legend Thomas Hässler won the World Cup in 1990 and the European Championship in 1996. His club achievements were far less impressive, securing only an Intertoto Cup with Karlsruher SC. Has anyone surpassed his international medal count by two or more?”
Brendon O’Mahony noted, “In 1986, Gary Lineker netted six of England’s seven World Cup goals.” He posed the question: “Has anyone scored a higher percentage of their nation’s goals at a World Cup? We should exclude teams eliminated in the group stage or those scoring three goals or fewer, as that would allow players like Antonin Panenka to count.”
Stuart McLagan pointed out that Scotland’s 2026 squad includes no more than three players from one team, considering Findlay Curtis was on loan at Kilmarnock but is still a Rangers player. He questioned whether this is the lowest representation for any national team at this World Cup or any previous tournament. Furthermore, he noted that with only Celtic, Bournemouth, and Hearts providing more than one player, is the record number of clubs represented in the Scottish squad 21? Lastly, he recalled the unusual case of El Salvador’s 1982 World Cup squad, which brought only 20 players instead of the allowed 22 for cost-saving reasons. Is this the most recent example of a squad being short-handed?
