World Cup kickoff today after pre-tournament turbulence

MEXICO CITY: The World Cup kicks off today (Thursday) with Fifa betting that the enduring appeal of the greatest footballing show on earth can rise above mounting anger at ticket prices and a US immigration crackdown that has seen fans, a top referee and team officials barred from the tournament.
A record 48 teams and millions of fans are set to descend on the United States, Canada and Mexico for the first World Cup co-hosted by three nations, the largest and most logistically complex edition of the tournament ever staged.
The action gets under way at Mexico City's iconic Estadio Azteca on Thursday, with co-hosts Mexico taking on South Africa at 1:00 pm local time (1900 GMT), launching a sprawling, nearly six-week-long spectacle that will culminate in the final at New Jersey's 82,500-seat MetLife Stadium on July 19.
Can Lionel Messi, at the age of 38, settle any lingering debate about his status as the greatest player of all time by leading Argentina to a second consecutive World Cup title?
Or can Messi's great rival, the 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo, defy father time by inspiring a talented Portugal team to its maiden World Cup win?
Those questions and more will be answered over the course of a tournament that Gianni Infantino, the president of world football's governing Fifa, has bullishly hyped as 'the greatest show that the planet has ever seen.'
TICKET FURY
Yet Infantino's breezy assurances have run into hurricane-force headwinds of scepticism during a build-up dogged by concerns over affordability, politics and conflict in the Middle East.
The skyrocketing cost of tickets has triggered a global backlash which has left Fifa and Infantino struggling to mount a convincing public relations defence.
The most expensive ticket for the 2022 World Cup final in Doha cost around $1,600 at face value; in 2026 the most expensive face value final ticket being sold by Fifa is an eye-watering $32,970.
That kind of stratospheric inflation has been prevalent across the tournament's 104 matches, where seats for many games remain available on secondary re-sale markets despite huge demand.
Even Infantino's staunch ally, Donald Trump, has balked at the cost, reacting with surprise when told of the $1,000 price tag for tickets to the USA's opening game with Paraguay in Los Angeles on Friday — the first game on US soil.
'I wouldn't pay it either, to be honest with you,' the US president told the New York Post last month.
Mexico's President, Claudia Sheinbaum, who is grappling with teacher protests in Mexico City that threaten to disrupt Thursday's opener, has meanwhile said she will not attend any games in Mexico. — AFP