FIFA and local organisers of the World Cup have launched an investigation into some minor glitches experienced during the first day of competition.

The 2010 edition of the finals began in Johannesburg yesterday with hosts South Africa and Mexico playing to a 1-1 draw, but there were several empty seats during the opening ceremony at Soccer City, while traffic problems around the stadium were also evident.

Both were unsurprisingly linked - the issue of transportation leaving the stadium just over half-full by the time South African Air Force fighter jets flew over the stadium to mark the start of proceedings.

"We are very happy with how things went on day one with the first two matches," said Local Organising Committee (LOC) chief communications officer Rich Mkhondo.

"There were some challenges when it came to transportation. We are aware of those challenges and are working on them with our partners in the city."

But Mkhondo felt that part of the problem came from the public's lack of trust in the country's transport system.

South Africa has never had a proper functioning transportation network, meaning most spectators coming to the stadium in their own vehicles.

And the LOC has made a plea to change that attitude.

Mkhondo added: "The transportation challenges are caused by people.

"I would like to say the change of people's willingness to use public transportation will help us a great deal."

In response to a question about the empty seats in the stadium, FIFA spokesperson Nicolas Maingot, said: "I think to be fair, there were not many empty seats, there was an attendance of 84,000 people.

"There was one block, which looked empty. Our people in charge of ticketing are looking into it."