The kickoff for the biggest football tournament on the planet takes place this Thursday (11), bringing historic changes for fans. The main novelty is the jump from 32 to 48 teams competing for the cup, in addition to the unprecedented nature of having the United States, Mexico and Canada sharing the organization of the event, which resulted in the creation of three different inaugural parties to celebrate the sport.
As a warm-up for the marathon of matches, football’s governing body promoted a preliminary celebration on Wednesday (10), connecting the three North American territories with live shows to mark the last hours before the ball rolls.
Details of the inaugural party in Mexican territory
The first big show starts at 2:30 pm in the Brasília time zone, 90 minutes before the opening whistle of the clash between the home team and the South African team. The chosen stage is the legendary Azteca Stadium, located in the Mexican capital, which has now reached the historic milestone of hosting the opening of a World Cup for the third time.
The list of musicians scheduled to entertain the audience in the stands includes big names in Latin music, including Maná, J Balvin, Belinda, Alejandro Fernández, Danny Ocean, Lila Downs, Los Ángeles Azules and Tyla. The highlight of the presentation will be the responsibility of singer Shakira and rapper Burna Boy, in charge of singing the competition’s official soundtrack.
Brazilian fans will be able to follow all the visual and musical details of this first stage on the TV Globo screen and through the ge portal, which starts live coverage at 2:20 pm.
Musical program for the Canadians’ debut
The second stage of the celebrations only takes place on Friday, focusing on fans from the north of the continent. The BMO Field stadium, located in the city of Toronto, will host its own event an hour and a half before the duel between the Canadian national team and the Bosnia and Herzegovina team, which is scheduled to start at 4pm Brasília time.
The line-up focused on local and international talent will feature performances by Michael Bublé, Alanis Morissette, Alessia Cara, Jessie Reyez, Elyanna, Nora Fatehi, Vegedream, Sanjoy and William Prince.
Attractions confirmed for the event in the United States
Maintaining the 90-minute advance rule, the party on American soil will prepare the atmosphere for the local team’s match against the Paraguayan squad, which is scheduled to start at 10pm according to Brasília’s clock. The entire sound and lighting structure was assembled at the modern SoFi Stadium, in the Los Angeles region.
The closing of this trio of openings will have a strong pop and urban presence, with shows by star Katy Perry, rapper Future, Lisa, Rema and Tyla, as well as featuring the special participation of Brazilian singer Anitta.
Complete group stage calendar for the Brazilian team
See below the exact dates, times and locations of the five-time champion team’s first matches in the tournament:
- Brazil against Morocco — First game: June 13th (Saturday), with the ball rolling at 7pm Brasília time (6pm local time), directly from the MetLife Stadium, located on the border between New York and New Jersey, in the United States.
- Brazil against Haiti — Second game: June 19th (Friday), at 9:30 pm Brasília time (8:30 pm local time), on the lawn of the Lincoln Financial Field Stadium, in the city of Philadelphia, in the United States.
- Scotland against Brazil — Third game: June 24th (Wednesday), at 7pm Brasília time (6pm local time), inside the Hard Rock Stadium, in the Miami region, in the United States.
If they confirm their favoritism and finish the first phase at the top of their bracket, the Canarian squad will compete in the round of 16 with the country in second place in Group F, made up of Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden and Tunisia. In this first place classification scenario, the national delegation will not need to travel to neighboring countries and will play all knockout matches within United States territory.