The largest World Cup in tour­na­ment his­to­ry kicked off Thurs­day with co-host Mex­i­co tak­ing on South Africa in the open­ing match.

Amid es­ca­lat­ing protests and so­cial ten­sions in Mex­i­co’s cap­i­tal, more than 80,000 fans made their way to Mex­i­co City Sta­di­um — bet­ter known as Azteca Sta­di­um. It got a much-need­ed facelift ahead of the 48-team tour­na­ment that Mex­i­co is co-host­ing along­side the Unit­ed States and Cana­da.

The icon­ic venue will be the first sta­di­um to host three World Cup open­ers — af­ter do­ing so at the 1970 and 1986 tour­na­ments.