Mexico beats South Africa in the opening of the World Cup and breaks taboo

The 2026 World Cup started with a Mexican celebration. In front of 80,824 fans, Mexico beat South Africa 2-0 this Thursday (11), at the Azteca Stadium, in Mexico City, in the opening match of the first edition of the tournament played with 48 teams.

Julián Quiñones, eight minutes into the first half, and Raúl Jiménez, 21 minutes into the second, scored the goals for the team led by Javier Aguirre. The South African team, back in the World Cup after 16 years, ended the match with two players less, after the expulsions of Sithole and Zwane.

With the result, Mexico won a World Cup opening game for the first time. The team, which is opening the World Cup for the sixth time, had not won on any of the five previous occasions: there were defeats to France (1930), Brazil (1950) and Sweden (1958), as well as draws with the Soviet Union (1970) and South Africa itself (2010).

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First goal came from an error in the ball's release
Mexico imposed its rhythm from the opening whistle, pushed by the fans, who shouted "olé" at every exchange of passes and booed South Africa whenever the visitors had the ball.

The pressure turned into an early goal. In the eighth minute, Sithole made a mistake with the ball, Erik Lira disarmed and left Quiñones in a position to finish. The striker shot low from inside the box and opened the scoring, securing the first goal of the 2026 World Cup.

Mexican dominance was reflected in the numbers: in the 35th minute, there were six shots compared to none from South Africa, who only risked the first shot in the 37th minute, when Foster headed wide.

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Mexico still created the best chances until halftime. At 41, Quiñones hit the left post, and goalkeeper Williams saved Raúl Jiménez's touch afterwards. In stoppage time, Brian Gutiérrez, free in the area after a pass from Quiñones, shot short and wasted the opportunity to expand.

Expulsion paved the way for the second goal
The South African situation became complicated just four minutes into the final stage. Gutiérrez was launched, carried to the edge of the area and was fouled by Sithole in the half-moon. Brazilian referee Wilton Pereira Sampaio issued a red card directly to the steering wheel, for interrupting a clear scoring chance.

With an extra player, Mexico expanded in the 21st minute. Quiñones played Alvarado on the right side, the number 25 crossed at the second post, and Raúl Jiménez headed it down, with no chance for the goalkeeper: 2 to 0.

At 36, refereeing entered the scene again. After a VAR review, Wilton Pereira Sampaio sent off Zwane for aggression, for hitting Alvarado in the face, and South Africa ended the game with nine players on the field. However, 10 minutes later, Mexico's César Montes was also sent off.

Brazilian on the field, 2010 repeat and Group A sequence
The inaugural match of the World Cup was led by Brazilians. Wilton Pereira Sampaio refereed the match, with Bruno Pires and Bruno Boschilia as assistants. VAR was handled by Colombian Nicolas Gallo.

The duel repeated the opening match of the 2010 World Cup, played in Johannesburg also on June 11. On that occasion, the teams tied 1-1, with goals from Tshabalala and Rafa Márquez, now Aguirre's assistant coach in Mexico.

Continuing the first day of the 2026 World Cup, South Korea and the Czech Republic face each other at 11pm (Brasília time), at the Akron Stadium, in Guadalajara, Mexico, also in the first round of Group A.

See the ranking of the most valuable squads of the World Cup

Source: CNN