Phil Egan

Rugby.

Hello and welcome along to today's World Cup Daily, I'm Phil Egan.

Coming up, the tournament finally gets underway with one of the co-hosts, Mexico, taking on South Africa at the Azteca Stadium.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino calls for people to chill and relax.

after Somali referee Omar Attan was denied entry to the US, and England finished their preparations for the tournament in a weather-affected clash against Costa Rica in Orlando.

But first tonight, it's the first of 104 games at the biggest ever World Cup across three countries.

Mexico, who hosted the World Cup in 1970 and 1986, kick off the tournament at the Azteca Stadium in the south of Mexico City.

They play South Africa in a repeat of the opening game of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, which ended in a one-all draw.

The second game in Group A will kick off in the early hours of the morning.

South Korea take on Ireland's conquerors Czech Republic in Guadalajara.

That one gets underway at 3 a.m.

A White House official claims Somali referee Omar Artan was denied entry to the U.S.

due to an association with the suspected members of terror organizations.

He was interviewed for 11 hours on arrival in Miami before he was made to leave the country.

Artan says he was questioned over links to militant group Al-Shabaab, but he says he knows nothing about them.

Meanwhile, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has told people to chill about the controversial topics that have dominated the build-up to this tournament.

He says it's unfortunate that our town was denied entry.

Others have faced issues with visas.

Ticket prices continue to cause much debate.

Infantino says there's only so much FIFA can do.