The FIFA World Cup is back after four years, bringing in excitement and anticipation. The 2026 edition of the tournament kicks off in a few hours, with the opening match between Mexico vs South Africa inaugurating the World Cup at 12:30 am IST, June 12, 2026.
The FIFA World Cup 2026 is being jointly hosted by Mexico, US and Canada. The historic tournament will see 48 teams take on each other, in the biggest ever edition of football's greatest tournament.
The World Cup will have three different Opening Ceremonies, one for each country. All the Opening Ceremonies will begin 90 minutes before the matches kick off and will feature a stellar line up of artistes.
The first FIFA World Cup 2026 Opening Ceremony will take in Mexico City, Mexico, which will host the tournament opener.
Time: 10:30 PM IST onwards on June 11, 2026
Venue: Estadio Azteca Stadium, Mexico City
Artiste line-up: The tournament Opening Ceremony will be headlined by none other than Shakira who will perform her viral 2026 World Cup song, Dai Dai. She will be accompanied by Burna Boy and other performers including Tyla, J Balvin, Belinda, Alejandro Fernandez, Danny Ocean will also get up on the stage besides others. Andrea Bocelli and EJAE have also joined the line-up.
Canada's Opening Ceremony will take place before the opening match in the country between Canada and Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 13, 2026 at 12:30 am IST.
Time: 11:00 PM IST on June 12, 2026
Venue: Toronto Stadium, Toronto
Artiste line-up: This ceremony will also see a stellar line-up including Alanis Morissette, Michael Buble, Alessia Cara, Elyanna, Jessie Reyez, Nora Fatehi, Sanjoy among others.
The final Opening Ceremony will take before the country's opener as USA faces Paraguay on June 13, 2026 at 6:30 am IST.
Time: 5:00 AM IST on June 13, 2026
Venue: Los Angeles Stadium, Inglewood
Artiste line-up: In this star studded line-up fans will see Katy Perry, Future, Anitta, LISA, Rema, and Tyla among others.
Where to watch the Opening Ceremonies in India?
All the three Opening Ceremonies of the FIFA World Cup 2026 will be broadcast live on Zee's Unite8 Sports television channels and the Zee5 app along with all 104 matches.
In a recent development, besides the official broadcaster of the World Cup, Zee Entertainment, football fans who do not have subscriptions can watch the important matches on Doordarshan Sports. The government sports broadcaster has announced that it will telecast select matches from the tournament.
DD Sports will show the opening match between Mexico and South Africa on June 12, 2026 in India along with the quarter-finals (July 9, 10, 11), semi-finals (July 14 and 15) and the final match of the World Cup (July 19). The dates may vary in accordance to IST.
Zee5 subscriptions are offering two subscription plans for viewers: Rs. 799 for three months and Rs. 1699 for a year.
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