Why Donald Trump will miss USA's first World Cup match after opening ceremony absence

Donald Trump will not be in attendance as the USA begin their World Cup campaign against Paraguay after skipping the opening ceremony.

On Wednesday evening, World Cup hosts Mexico got the tournament off to a perfect, albeit dramatic, start with a 2-0 win over South Africa at the iconic Estadio Azteca.

Mexico will host 13 matches across the tournament this summer, with co-hosts Canada also hosting 13 while the USA will hold the majority of the 104 matches, hosting 78, including the final set to take place on July 19 at New York's MetLife Stadium.

Canada face Bosnia and Herzegovina in their opening fixture set to take place at the Toronto Stadium on Friday evening ahead of other Group B fixtures against Qatar and Switzerland.

Meanwhile the United States start their World Cup campaign as they welcome Paraguay to the Los Angeles Stadium in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Paraguay president Santiago Pena will be making the journey to California to watch the fixture, but US president Trump is not expected to be in attendance at the match.

Instead, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will represent the official U.S. delegation to the match, with Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy and Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin also attending.

The decision comes after Trump also decided not to attend the first opening ceremony held at the Estadio Azteca on Wednesday in which Shakira and Burna Boy headlined, performing the official tournament song, 'Dai Dai'.

Why isn't Trump attending USA v Paraguay?

Although much of the US is focusing on the World Cup getting underway this week, Trump has his focus on another sporting event as UFC Freedom 250 is set to take place at the White House on Sunday evening.

The historic event has seen an official UFC octagon built on the South Lawn to celebrate 250 years of independence for the US and Trump’s 80^th birthday.

For years Trump has become strongly associated with the UFC, hosting events at his Atlantic City casinos during the MMA organisation's early days and later attending several of the biggest shows in recent years.

Trump also enjoys a close personal relationship with UFC president and CEO Dana White, who has spoken at Trump rallies on several occasions.

Ahead of the UFC White House event Trump reportedly has several duties that means that he is unable to leave the capital to enjoy the football on Saturday.

READ MORE: Fans of World Cup nation banned from entering US for World Cup

But he isn't the only political leader to miss their countries opening match as Mexico president Claudia Sheinbaum also decided not to attend her nation’s win over South Africa, but for a very different reason.

Instead, Sheinbaum decided to give away her ticket to the match to a fan, having promised to do so ahead of the World Cup starting.

"They are the pride of Mexico. They will not represent the president, or the head of government, they will represent Mexico," Sheinbaum said during a news conference after handing her ticket to a fan.

Who is fighting on the UFC White House Card

Lightweight champion Ilia Topuria will defend his belt against interim champion Justin Gaethje in the main event of the UFC's White House card, with the pair coming to blows in the weeks building up to the fight.

In the co-main event, former middleweight and light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira will look to make history and become the first-ever three weight champion in the co-main event as he faces Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title.

Former bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley, popular American fighters like Michael Chandler and Derrick Lewis and the controversial Josh Hokit are among the other fighters featuring on the card.