Mexico City. In the opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Mexico gave a strong performance in front of the home crowd and made a winning start to the campaign by defeating South Africa 2-0. The match played at the Estadio Azteca on Thursday was full of incidents in the second half and a total of three players were shown red cards.
Mexico adopted an aggressive approach from the beginning of the match and the first goal of the World Cup 2026 was seen in the ninth minute. Taking advantage of South Africa’s defensive mistake, Julian Quinones created history by scoring the ball from close range. After this goal, the Azteca Stadium echoed with the enthusiasm of the spectators.
South Africa’s troubles increased further at the beginning of the second half. In the 49th minute, Yaya Sithole was shown a straight red card and sent off the field. He attempted to block Brian Gutierrez in scoring position, which the referee deemed to have prevented a clear goal chance. Mexico doubled the lead in the 67th minute, taking advantage of their numerical advantage. Experienced striker Raul Jimenez scored a brilliant goal to put the team in a strong 2-0 position.
South Africa’s situation worsened when Themba Zwane also received a red card in the closing stages of the match and the team was reduced to nine players. However, Mexico also suffered a blow in the final moments of the match when César Montes was sent off after being shown a red card after 90 minutes. Mexico made a great start to the World Cup campaign with this win and made its intentions clear on home soil.
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