Marcelo Gonzales surveyed the energetic wall of green moving toward him as he headed toward the entrance of the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, considering who made up the soccer-shirted masses at the start of the World Cup.
“The real Mexico? No,” Mr. Gonzales, 26, said, chuckling at the sight of tens of thousands of his countrymen, many sporting box-fresh national team jerseys.
With the tournament kicking off on Thursday afternoon, the world got its first glimpse of the crowds populating what is by far the most expensive World Cup in the event’s near century of history.
Soaring entry prices have been among the biggest controversies to buffet the 48-team event, which Mexico is co-hosting with Canada and the United States. FIFA, the organizer, has justified the prices by saying it requires the income to meet its funding commitments to global soccer. The costs have set off not only fan anger but also legal action in the United States.
Mr. Gonzales and a friend had secured their tickets just three days earlier and, as far as they were concerned, gotten a relative bargain, buying them from a friend for $3,500 each.
Surveying the fan base that had started descending on the enormous concrete bowl of one of soccer’s most hallowed arenas, Mr. Gonzales estimated that a majority of those attending were from Mexico’s high society, including many politicians. “I’ve already seen like 10 of them,” he said.
It was against that backdrop — a tournament for the elite — that Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, decided months ago that she would not attend the inaugural game, a global moment putting Mexico at the center of the world. Ms. Sheinbaum gave her ticket, which would have seated her beside FIFA’s president, Gianni Infantino, to Yolett Cervantes Cuaquehua, a 21-year-old Indigenous amateur soccer player from Veracruz. Ms. Sheinbaum instead joined fans at a public viewing in the city.
The game took place amid weeks of protests from groups ranging from teachers’ unions complaining about pay and pensions to farmers to mothers of disappeared people. A small group outside the stadium clashed with riot police officers.
“Actually, I’m a bit sad because the situation in Mexico is not the best, and we have this huge event in our country, and it feels like having contrary feelings,” said Alfonso Asevez, 40, who was attending the game. “We are with the football, but the real situation of the country is not this match.”
Inside the stadium, fans were oblivious, happily chugging $20 beers as their team routed South Africa to open its World Cup with a victory.
Many of those attending were Americans of Mexican descent who had traveled to lend their support — and purchasing power — to the Mexican leg of the tournament.
Among them was Francisco Orozco, 51, who came from Los Angeles and spent almost $10,000 on two tickets. “The only people coming to see the game are people who have a lot of money or ask for credit to buy tickets,” he said, speculating that the high cost of tickets, between three and 10 times more than at the last World Cup, was aimed at attracting more affluent and well-behaved fans.
Mr. Infantino attended a news conference at the stadium a day earlier and was asked about FIFA’s pricing strategy, which has drawn scrutiny from attorneys general in New Jersey and New York and been rebuked by fan groups and politicians around the world.
“Every dollar that comes in goes back to the development of football,” said Mr. Infantino, who earns around $6 million a year as the head of FIFA, a Swiss nonprofit. “We have one competition every four years. The 47 other months out of the 48, we are investing this revenue in growth. Nobody else is doing that.”
But Mexico is North American soccer’s heartland — the sport dominates above any other and transcends every social class.
Ramon Barbosa, 37, attending the opener with his sister, did not need to dip into their savings. His tickets were a gift from a business partner.
“These are not the typical fans,” he said. “This is a privileged part of our country,” he added, saying many people at the game were drawn in by the scale of the event. The game was preceded by an elaborate opening ceremony that featured fireworks in the colors of the Mexican flag, a flyover by military jets and appearances by international stars including the pop star Shakira and the actress Salma Hayek.
Mexico has the second-highest number of millionaires in Latin America, after Brazil, but it also suffers from severe economic inequality. A report by the charity Oxfam, published in March, said that 1 percent of the population possessed 40 percent of the country’s wealth.
Omar Pernas, a 35-year-old who moved to Mexico from Spain eight years ago, said the pricing strategy was antithetical to soccer culture. “I think the World Cup is for everyone,” said Mr. Pernas, who works at Amazon and managed to secure free tickets from a client. “I think it’s not the way for everyone to enjoy it.”
