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Mexico – South Africa: Perfect start for the hosts in 2026 World Cup

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All eyes were on Mexico and the Estadio Azteca as the 2026 World Cup kicked off Thursday. El Tri dominated South Africa in the Group A opener with two goals but it was two red cards for Bafana Bafana that sealed the hosts’ victory. Read our blog to see how the match unfolded.

 

Official lineups for Mexico – South Africa

Mexique : Rangel – Sanchez, Montes, Vasquez, Gallardo – Lira – Gutierrez, Alvarado, Fidalgo, Quinones – Jimenez

Afrique du Sud : Williams – Sibisi, Okon, Mbokazi – Mudau, Mokoena, Sithole, Adams, Modiba – Rayners, Foster

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South Africa bring the energy

Bafana Bafana arrived on the pitch dancing to warm up.

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First yellow card for Bafana Bafana

Mokoena is shown a yellow card for a late challenge on Mexico’s Fidalgo

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South Africa seek the opening

Bafana Bafana keep the ball moving, looking for openings and swift counter-attacking opportunities.

Bafana Bafana finally threaten

Foster rises well and gets a clear header on goal, but his effort goes wide of Rangel’s post.

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Dominant opener

The hosts cruise to a 2-0 victory against nine-man South Africa. A statement win in the World Cup’s curtain-raiser.

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That’s all from the Azteca. We’re back tomorrow at 9pm ET for USA-Paraguay. Here is our recap.

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The hosts cruise to a 2-0 victory against nine-man South Africa. A statement win in the World Cup’s curtain-raiser.

7 minutes of added time

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Another red card for South Africa

What an awful evening for Bafana Bafana… Themba Zwane is sent off after a VAR review. South Africa now has just nine players on the pitch.

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Midfield becomes a battleground

Loose tackles and mounting fouls in the centre of the pitch. The game is getting rough around the edges, and some challenges are verging on reckless…

Tactical shuffles in the final stretch

Mexico makes three changes: Vega, Gonzalez and Alvarez enter the fray. South Africa responds with Appollis and Makgopa coming on.

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Another caution for Bafana Bafana

Sibisi is shown yellow for a blatant challenge.

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Cooling break over

Tme for another cooling break

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Gooooooal

Roberto Alvarado delivers a pinpoint cross, and Raul Jimenez rises to meet it with a firm header into the bottom left. Mexico 2, South Africa 0.

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Adams replaces Zwane

Foster leaves the pitch, Mbatha comes on

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Tough time for Bafana Bafana

With a man advantage, Mexico is making life increasingly difficult for South Africa.

Sithole’s night is over

The South African midfielder receives a straight red card for a reckless tackle on Gutierrez.

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Second half underway

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For the third time in its history, Mexico’s iconic Azteca Stadium will host the opening match of the World Cup on Thursday at 3pm ET as Mexico take on South Africa in the first of the tournament’s 104 matches. 

Bafana Bafana and El Tri faced each other in the opening match of the 2010 World Cup, drawing 1-1 in Johannesburg. South Africa’s most recent major tournament ended in January when they were knocked out by Cameroon in the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16.

Mexico are unbeaten in their last eight matches, equalling their longest undefeated run heading into a World Cup and giving Javier Aguirre’s side a timely boost in confidence ahead of the tournament. More than 80,000 fans are expected to pack the renovated Azteca Stadium for the opening match in what promises to be a festive atmosphere.

The match will be preceded by a 15-minute opening ceremony featuring, among others, Colombian superstar Shakira, who will perform the World Cup anthem “Dai Dai” alongside Nigerian singer Burna Boy.

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(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)

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Are Leclerc’s struggles down to Lewis Hamilton revival? – F1 Q&A

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Lewis Hamilton secured his 106th career victory – and his maiden win for Ferrari – at Sunday’s Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton is now 41 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who retired from the race.

Mercedes’ George Russell was second and McLaren’s Lando Norris third, making it the first all-British podium since the US Grand Prix in 1968.

BBC F1 correspondent Andrew Benson answers your latest questions after Barcelona.

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Does Lewis Hamilton’s return to form mean he is now back in contention for an eighth title? Does it mean Ferrari may soon be putting their efforts towards him for the championship? – Liam

Lewis Hamilton is the first non-Mercedes driver to win a race this year, and he is now second in the championship – 41 points behind Kimi Antonelli – following Sunday’s victory in Spain.

But it’s too early to make any definitive judgements about Hamilton as a title contender.

Before his triumph at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, the idea of him or Ferrari being title contenders looked fanciful, given how Mercedes had dominated the season.

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A significant aerodynamic upgrade on the Ferrari was enough, though – in combination with all other factors at play – to make Hamilton and Ferrari the fastest driver and car on track on Sunday.

But a lot of circumstances aligned. For one, Mercedes compromised their strategy by covering Hamilton’s early first stop.

They decided to deviate from their optimum stop times for a two-stop race to lock in track position. Arguably, from that moment on, Hamilton’s three-stop was the faster strategy.

Then, the virtual safety car gifted Hamilton a cheap stop that allowed him to pit and retain the lead.

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Without that, he would have still been the fastest car on track, but to win he would have had to pass Lando Norris’ McLaren as well as both Mercedes – or maybe only one, given Antonelli retired late on.

On top of that, for now, Ferrari are lacking power compared to Mercedes. Barcelona is not an especially power-sensitive track. And the Ferrari is the fastest car in the corners, especially the type of corners in Barcelona.

But the next three races – Austria, Britain and Belgium – are all on power-sensitive tracks. As things stand, it’s unlikely Ferrari could beat Mercedes there.

Having said that, word on the street is there is a Ferrari engine upgrade coming soon, now they have been officially declared to be allowed two for both this season and next. How much difference will that make?

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In short, Hamilton’s Spain win was enough to make the idea a reasonably logical conversation piece, but it will take more evidence from more races before anyone can say definitively he is a title contender.

Are Charles Leclerc’s current struggles during qualifying due to pressure from Lewis Hamilton’s revival in form? Or is he genuinely struggling with braking problems? – Rob

To address this question, it’s important to separate out Spain from the two races preceding it.

It’s definitely the case that Charles Leclerc was struggling in Canada and Monaco, particularly with the braking characteristics of the Ferrari.

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He had been using different brake discs from Hamilton and they were not working as he wanted.

For Spain, it’s believed he switched to Hamilton’s brake set-up and was much happier.

He was quicker than Hamilton through practice, his race simulation times on Friday afternoon impressed Mercedes, and he was quicker than Hamilton in the second session of qualifying.

Leclerc then crashed on his first lap in Q3.

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He described Turn Four as his “weak spot” all weekend – when compared to Hamilton. And it seems he tried to brake as late as Hamilton there. It worked on entry, but it carried him wide through the corner, he got off line on exit, the car snapped, and he ended up in the wall.

As Hamilton put it: “I was braking very late into Turn Four, which had been visible, and I think Charles probably tried to carry a lot of speed into that corner and unfortunately it didn’t work out for him.”

In the race, Leclerc had to make up ground from 10th on the grid, and he did so impressively in the opening laps. Then, according to team boss Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari changed Leclerc’s strategy mid-race, which suggests he started aiming for a three-stop and converted to a two.

Whether that was an explanation for his lack of pace compared to Hamilton, which other teams noticed, is not entirely clear.

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Vasseur said after the race: “He had a good feeling with the car, he was in confidence, he was able to fight for the pole position yesterday.

“Then the fact that we changed the strategy in the middle of the race, it was difficult for him. He pitted once again one lap before the safety car. But I think the approach and the feeling is much better for Charles today than it was three weeks ago.”

Over the season as a whole, while Hamilton is 6-4 up in their qualifying head-to-head, Leclerc is actually slightly quicker on average, by 0.025secs.

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Genshin Impact 6.7 livestream date and time announced (Luna VIII update)

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HoYoverse has officially revealed the date for the Genshin Impact 6.7 (version Luna VIII) livestream, which will be aired on June 18, 2026, at 8 am (UTC -4). This special program is expected to reveal details about the upcoming version, which – according to speculation – might be the last patch 6.x patch.

Information about the new characters, banners, quests, and events in the Genshin Impact 6.7 update will be shared during the livestream. Read on to find out more details about the Genshin Impact 6.7 livestream, as announced by HoYoverse.


Genshin Impact 6.7 (Luna VIII) livestream details, schedule and countdown

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As per HoYoverse’s official announcement, the Genshin Impact 6.7 livestream will take place on June 18, 2026, at 8 am (UTC -4). The special program will be broadcast simultaneously on Genshin Impact’s official Twitch and YouTube channels, and fans can tune in to know more about the upcoming update.

As per standard pattern, a total of three redemption codes will also be issued during the livestream, which can be exchanged for valuable in-game items such as Primogems, Mystic Enhancement Ores, and Mora.

The official art for the Genshin Impact 6.7 livestream announcement post features Sandrone, Columbina, Citlali, Furina, Chiori and Charlotte, with the Traveler and Paimon being present too. This implies that some of these older characters will most likely be getting their rerun banners in the upcoming update.

Players can keep an eye on the list below to check the Genshin Impact 6.7 livestream timings across various time zones:

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America

  • Pacific Daylight Time (PDT): June 18, 2026, at 5 am
  • Mountain Daylight Time (MDT): June 18, 2026, at 6 am
  • Central Daylight Time (CDT): June 18, 2026, at 7 am
  • Eastern Daylight Time (EDT): June 18, 2026, at 8 am

Europe

  • Western European Summer Time (WEST): June 18, 2026, at 1 pm
  • Central European Summer Time (CEST): June 18, 2026, at 2 pm
  • Eastern European Summer Time (EEST): June 18, 2026, at 3 pm

Asia

  • Indian Standard Time (IST): June 18, 2026, at 5:30 pm
  • China Standard Time (CST): June 18, 2026, at 8 pm
  • Philippine Standard Time (PHT): June 18, 2026, at 8 pm
  • Japanese Standard Time (JST): June 18, 2026, at 9 pm
  • Korea Standard Time (KST): June 18, 2026, at 9 pm

You can also check the countdown below to track the remaining time till the Genshin Impact 6.7 livestream airs:

Also read: Best teams for Genshin Impact 6.6 Spiral Abyss (second half)


Follow Sportskeeda for more Genshin Impact news, updates and guides.