The 2026 World Cup kicked off in Mexico City: football, money, politics, and dreams without Israel and Ukraine

Mexico City has launched a tournament the likes of which football has never seen

The 2026 FIFA World Cup began on June 11 in Mexico City—not just as another World Cup, but as the largest football project in FIFA history. For the first time, the tournament is hosted not by one country, or even two, but by three: Mexico, the USA, and Canada. For the first time, 48 teams are playing in the final part. For the first time, the schedule is stretched over 104 matches, and the tournament’s geography covers 16 cities in North America.

This is no longer a World Cup in the old sense, where a few weeks of football fit into one country and one atmosphere. The 2026 World Cup is more like a traveling sports empire: Mexico City, Toronto, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Dallas, Seattle, Vancouver, Monterrey, Guadalajara—different cities, different time zones, different stadiums, different political backgrounds.

And it all started where football was already becoming history.

At the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, which is officially called Mexico City Stadium for the duration of the tournament, the first opening ceremony took place. This arena has seen the World Cups of 1970 and 1986, has seen Pele, Maradona, great finals, and great myths. Now it has become the first stadium to host matches of three different World Cups.

Before the match, there was a show. Shakira, J Balvin, Burna Boy, Andrea Bocelli, EJAE, David Guetta, Megan Thee Stallion—FIFA clearly wanted to show that the new World Cup would be not only a sporting event but also a musical, television, and commercial event of planetary scale.

Beautiful? Yes.

Expensive? Very.

And far from accessible to everyone.

First match: Mexico vs. South Africa and an evening the capital will remember

The opening match Mexico vs. South Africa started around 1:00 PM local time, which is late evening for Kyiv and Israel. For Mexicans, it was not just the start of the tournament but a national holiday. The authorities of Mexico City declared June 11 a holiday and advised the residents of the capital to work from home where possible.

The stadium was filled with anticipation. Not only football—historical.

Mexico defeated South Africa 2-0. For the hosts, this is almost an ideal scenario: home arena, opening match, festive atmosphere, and a victory that immediately gives the tournament an emotional boost. In such games, the score is not the only thing that matters. It is important for the country to feel: the World Cup started right here, right with us, right now.

But behind the festive picture, sharp edges are already visible.

Before the start of the tournament, protests took place in Mexico City. Thousands of people blocked the avenue leading to the stadium, and organizers were criticized for the huge prices for tickets, accommodation, transport, and related services. The World Cup has become a holiday, but a very expensive one. And this is one of the main themes of the 2026 World Cup: football is becoming more global, richer, brighter—but it is increasingly difficult for the ordinary fan to be inside this holiday, rather than just watching it on TV.

The biggest World Cup: 48 teams, 16 cities, and a final near New York

The format of the 2026 World Cup has changed the very architecture of the tournament. Now in the final part, there are 48 teams divided into 12 groups of four teams each. The two best teams from each group and the eight best third-placed teams advance to the playoffs. Therefore, a new stage has appeared—the round of 16. The champion now needs to go through a longer path, and the tournament has become denser and more unpredictable.

This is good for countries that previously had almost no chance of getting to the World Cup. In 2026, several debutants are in the final part, including Uzbekistan, Jordan, Cape Verde, and Curaçao. For them, just reaching the World Cup is already a national story that will be retold for decades.

But the expansion of the tournament also has another side.

More teams—more matches. More matches—more money. More money—more politics around football. FIFA receives a huge product for television, sponsors, tickets, and digital platforms. Host countries receive a flow of tourists, a burden on cities, security issues, and dissatisfaction from those who do not understand why football should become a luxury.

The final will take place on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, near New York. This is also symbolic: the main match of the biggest World Cup will take place not in the football capital of the old world, but in an American metropolis where sports have long become an industry of shows, advertising, and big money.

Tournament cities: from Mexico City to Vancouver

The geography of the 2026 World Cup looks like a map of new football power.

In Mexico, matches are played in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey. In Canada—in Toronto and Vancouver. In the USA—in Los Angeles, New York/New Jersey, Miami, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Boston, Seattle, and the San Francisco area.

For fans, this is a dream and a challenge at the same time. Today a match in Mexico, then a flight to the USA, then Canada, then back to the south. Beautiful on the map, difficult on the wallet.

For Israeli viewers, there is another point: the timing of the matches. Some games will take place at night or late in the evening in Israel. This means the usual football life will become nocturnal again: cafes, home viewings, phones next to the bed, short sleep before work, and morning conversations—who scored, who failed, who already looks like a favorite.

This is how the World Cup lives.

Not only in stadiums.

Israel and Ukraine watch from the sidelines again

For the Israeli audience, the 2026 World Cup began with familiar pain: the Israeli national team is not at the tournament. Since 1970, when Israel played in the World Cup in Mexico for the only time, the country has not returned to the final part. And now, when the World Cup has started again in Mexico, this historical loop is especially noticeable.

Israel went through the European qualifiers in Group I along with Norway, Italy, Estonia, and Moldova. The group was tough but not impossible. In the end, Norway took first place and received a direct ticket, Italy came second and went to the playoffs, and Israel finished third—12 points, goal difference minus 1.

This is not a catastrophe of a complete failure. But it is not a breakthrough either.

Israel had good stretches, victories, hopes. The victory over Estonia 3-1 in June 2025 even lifted the team to second place in the group at that moment and gave fans the feeling that there was a chance.

Then everything returned to the reality of European qualifiers. There you cannot live by individual successful matches. You need to maintain the pace throughout the cycle, take points not only where it is convenient, and withstand the pressure against teams with higher speed, deeper squads, and tougher schools.

Why Israel once again fell short

Israeli football has long lived between two states: “almost there” and “fell short again.” There are talented players, bright evenings, good youth generations, clubs that can surprise in Europe. But the national team still cannot bring all this together into a stable adult system.

The problem is not only in the coach and not only in a specific generation.

The problem is deeper: the intensity of the league, physics, defensive discipline, speed of decision-making, mentality in matches against top opponents. In World Cup qualifiers, small things are not forgiven. One defensive failure, one lost half, one match without concentration—and the whole campaign becomes a story of how it almost worked out again.

That is why the 2026 World Cup for Israel is not just a tournament without its national team. It is a reminder that the dream of returning to the World Cup should not be a slogan but a project. With children’s schools, normal infrastructure, coaching education, a strong league, and patience.

NAnews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency in this context, it is important to talk not only about the beautiful start in Mexico City but also about how Israeli football once again remained outside the door of the big tournament. Fans watch the celebration, but inside there remains the question: why has a country that loves football so much been unable to return to the main stage for more than half a century?

Ukraine: war, playoffs, and a lost ticket

Ukraine will also not play in the 2026 World Cup. And this is a separate pain.

The Ukrainian national team is not just a football team. After the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, it became a symbol of a country that continues to live, play, sing the anthem, take the field, and remind the world: Ukraine exists. Even when cities are under attack. Even when footballers think not only about the tournament table but also about families, the front, the fallen, volunteers, soldiers, air raids.

In March 2026, Ukraine lost to Sweden 1-3 in the semifinals of the European playoff qualifiers. The match took place on March 26, and the statistics looked paradoxical: Ukraine had more possession—68.3% against 31.7%, but the score remained in favor of the Swedes.

Such football is especially cruel. You can control the ball, build attacks, have territory, but lose decisive episodes.

For Ukraine, this was a blow not only to sporting ambitions. The expanded format of the tournament gave hope: more teams, more places, more chances. But the European qualifiers still remained a meat grinder. There are no easy passes here, especially when the path goes through the playoffs.

Ukraine has been to the World Cup only once—in 2006 in Germany, where it reached the quarterfinals. Since then, each new cycle turns into an expectation of return. In 2026, it fell through again.

And yet Ukrainian football does not disappear. It exists despite the war. This is its strength.

Football without politics is impossible: Iran, Russia, Belarus, and scandals around the tournament

FIFA loves to repeat that football unites the world. Partially this is true. But the 2026 World Cup from the first days shows: football does not live in a vacuum. It reflects wars, sanctions, migration conflicts, diplomatic breaks, fears, and money.

The tournament features the Iranian national team. For Israel, this is not just a line in the list of participants. Iran is a state that threatens Israel, supports terrorist structures, and has long turned sports into part of its international showcase. The Iranian team is based in Mexico, although its group stage matches take place in the USA. Against the backdrop of Washington-Tehran relations, this looks like another example of how sports and politics constantly go hand in hand, even if FIFA pretends there is a wall between them.

Russia and Belarus did not participate in the qualifiers. They were suspended after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. And this is a fair part of sports isolation: an aggressor country cannot simultaneously destroy Ukrainian cities and calmly play in the world football celebration.

There is another scandal—with Somali referee Omar Artan. He was supposed to become the first referee from Somalia at the final stage of the World Cup, but the US authorities denied him entry. Artan spoke of hours-long interrogation and return via Istanbul. FIFA called the situation unpleasant but effectively acknowledged that it does not control immigration decisions of states.

This is what the modern World Cup looks like.

On stage—Shakira.

On the field—Mexico and South Africa.

Behind the scenes—visas, protests, sanctions, wars, prices, and diplomacy.

The most expensive celebration that shows the real world

The 2026 World Cup started beautifully. Mexico City got an evening that will be remembered. Mexico won the opening match. FIFA got a large-scale picture. Television—an ideal product. Sponsors—a global showcase.

But if you look closer, this tournament is not only about football.

It is about a new world where sports have become part of big politics and big business. Where the fan wants a celebration but faces prices. Where countries host matches but receive protests. Where some teams play, others are suspended, others did not qualify, and others turn their participation into a diplomatic signal.

For Israel, the 2026 World Cup is a celebration without its national team and a reason to honestly ask why the country once again remained on the sidelines. For Ukraine, it is the pain of an unfulfilled return and a reminder that even during war, the sports dream continues to live. For Russia, it is isolation, which it received not for football but for aggression. For Iran, it is participation against the backdrop of threats, conflicts, and distrust.

And for the whole world, this is a championship that from the very first day showed: football can no longer be just a game.

It is too big.

Too expensive.

Too political.

And that is why not only fans will watch it. Governments, TV channels, advertisers, diplomats, diasporas, armies of fans, and those countries that can only dream of returning to this level will follow it.