MEXICO CITY (AFP) — Mexico beat South Africa, 2-0, in a drama-filled opening match of the World Cup at the Estadio Azteca Thursday, kicking off the biggest ever edition of the global football extravaganza.

Julian Quinones scored the opening goal of the tournament after nine minutes and 35-year-old striker Raul Jimenez headed in Mexico’s second goal at the Azteca, which became the first stadium in the world to host games at three World Cups.

Three players were sent off — two from South Africa and one from Mexico — in front of a capacity crowd of 80,000 spectators.

South Africa had Sphephelo Sithole dismissed for denying a goalscoring opportunity before Themba Zwane was shown a red card for a slap. Mexico’s Cesar Montes was sent off late in the game, for a foul.

Mexico coach Javier Aguirre revealed his players had overcome severe first-day nerves.

“When you’re starting out the World Cup, of course your legs will shake,” Aguirre said.

“Never in 25 years had anyone had any cramps but three of them had cramps today.”

“We were in awe when we saw the stadium and they got a little bit of stage fright. But we never suffered.”

Mexico’s victory launched a 48-team tournament also hosted by the United States and Canada that will last nearly six weeks, culminating in the final in New Jersey on 19 July.

Before kickoff, Colombian superstar Shakira and Nigerian singer Burna Boy performed “Dai Dai”, the official song of the tournament and Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli rounded off the opening ceremony.

There was a festive atmosphere inside the stadium, but outside dozens of protesters clashed with police.

Groups of teachers, relatives of Mexicans who have gone missing, and student activists gathered outside the stadium.

Some protesters broke through barriers and traded blows with police officers guarding the stadium’s perimeter moments after Mexico scored their opening goal.

Tens of thousands of fans crammed into a fan zone in central Mexico City to watch the game, which was also enthusiastically followed by a large crowd of fans from California’s Mexican community on giant screens at the Coliseum in Los Angeles.

South Korea got their World Cup campaign off to a winning start by beating the Czech Republic, 2-1, in the opening day’s second game.

Until the 80th-minute mark, it seemed that the Czechs would punish the Koreans’ wastefulness in front of goal, but substitute Oh Hyeon-gyu notched the decisive goal in a Guadalajara stadium that was far from full.

South Korea face Mexico in Guadalajara on 18 June in their next Group A fixture while the Czechs play the South Africans in Atlanta on the same day.

The start of the action on the pitch will have come as a welcome relief to football’s world governing body FIFA, which has faced stinging criticism over the eye-watering cost of tickets.

In addition, Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has seen a top referee, Iranian team officials and fans refused entry to the United States.

On the eve of the tournament, FIFA president Gianni Infantino defended the organization and brushed off criticism over visa issues.

Infantino insisted that tickets — which in some cases have topped $30,000 — had been priced appropriately.

“Our average price which is below 500 dollars is again the lowest of the American sports on average,” he said.