The History Of Mexico's Opening-Day World Cup Curse

Mexico usually hits a wall when it plays on the opening day of the World Cup.

Of the seven previous occurrences, El Tri's record is five losses and two draws. Mexico gets another shot Thursday when it hosts South Africa to kick off the 48-team tournament.

"We must break that trend," coach Javier Aguirre told a news conference Wednesday at the Azteca stadium.

"I did not know about that," he said of the winless sequence, "but I’ll mention it to the guys. It’s a good reason to tell them we need to go out there and win the match. Let’s hope we break that trend tomorrow."

Thursday's game is a rematch of the 2010 World Cup opener in South Africa. That game ended in a 1-1 draw at Johannesburg.

Aguirre, who is in his third stint as Mexico manager, has the team playing its best football in years and riding a seven-game unbeaten streak. El Tri’s last loss was against Paraguay in November.

"It could be a great day for us; come what may, it will be a celebration that endures for decades," said Aguirre, who played for Mexico at the 1986 World Cup on home soil — when the Mexican squad didn't contest the tournament opener but did reach the quarterfinals.

"I hope we get off on the right foot, just as we did back then," he added. "The players know it: tomorrow could be a historic day for many of them, as it is unlikely these guys will ever experience a World Cup on home soil again."

Mexico lost its opening-day games in 1930, 1950, 1954, 1958 and 1962 and had draws in 1970 — at home — and 2010.

(Photo by PEDRO UGARTE / AFP via Getty Images)

Some of those tournaments had games kicking off simultaneously on opening day, such as Uruguay in 1930 when France beat Mexico 4–1 while the United States defeated Belgium 3–0.

At the 1986 World Cup,