JOHANNESBURG: The first World Cup ever held in Africa has begun.

Before a jubilant, horn-blowing crowd at Soccer City, the spectacular stadium between Johannesburg and Soweto, a colorfully dressed cast of African dancers paraded onto the field to start the opening ceremony of the monthlong tournament.

Most of the fans were in the yellow jerseys of Bafana Bafana, the host country’s team, which plays Mexico following the pageantry.

The elation was tempered by news that Nelson Mandela, the revered anti-apartheid leader and former president, would not attend the ceremony. The 91-year-old Mandela is frail and decided not to come after his 13-year-old great-granddaughter was killed in a car crash on the way home from Thursday night’s World Cup concert.