Mexico kicked off the 2026 World Cup in type, defeating South Africa 2-0 in a dramatic opening match at a packed Mexico Metropolis Stadium.
Julian Quinones etched his title into match historical past by scoring the primary objective of the competitors, whereas Raul Jimenez added an emotional second-half strike to safe all three factors for the hosts.
Nonetheless, the end result was overshadowed by a chaotic finale that produced three crimson playing cards, leaving South Africa with 9 males and Mexico ending the match with 10.
The ambiance contained in the stadium was electrical lengthy earlier than kick-off, and Mexico fed off that power from the opening whistle.
Javier Aguirre’s facet dominated possession early on and virtually discovered the breakthrough inside 5 minutes. Jimenez was afforded far an excessive amount of area contained in the penalty space and met a harmful cross first time, however Ronwen Williams reacted fantastically to push the hassle away and maintain the scores stage.
Mexico’s stress continued to construct and the breakthrough arrived within the ninth minute because of a pricey South African mistake. A easy cross from Williams into Sphephelo Sithole invited bother, and Erik Lira pounced to win possession on the sting of the field.
The free ball fell completely for Quinones, who calmly slotted by the goalkeeper’s legs to attain the primary objective of the World Cup and ship the house crowd into celebration.
Mexico push on after opener
The early setback left South Africa rattled and Mexico regarded able to including a second. Roberto Alvarado repeatedly discovered area down the correct flank, whereas Brian Gutierrez and Alvaro Fidalgo dictated play in midfield.
Regardless of Mexico’s dominance, they had been unable to totally capitalise earlier than the break. Quinones remained the largest menace and practically doubled his tally when his low drive struck the foot of the put up after a scramble inside the realm.
Moments later, Jimenez was denied once more by one other wonderful Williams save after latching onto a clipped cross into the field.
South Africa step by step improved because the half wore on and at last registered their first shot heading in the right direction by Siyabonga Mbokazi, whose curling effort was comfortably gathered by Raul Rangel.
Second-half sparks
The second half exploded into life virtually instantly. Simply moments after the restart, Williams’ distribution as soon as once more brought on issues when a free cross was intercepted on the sting of the realm. South Africa escaped on that event, however the warning indicators had been there.
Three minutes later, catastrophe struck for Hugo Broos’ facet. Gutierrez raced clear on objective after one other Mexican assault and Sithole desperately clipped his heels simply outdoors the penalty space.
The problem denied an apparent goalscoring alternative, leaving the referee with little alternative however to provide the primary crimson card of the match.
The second objective got here within the 67th minute. Quinones confirmed wonderful composure to retain possession earlier than releasing Alvarado down the correct. The winger delivered a pinpoint cross into the centre, the place Jimenez rose highest to information a strong header past Williams.
South Africa’s frustrations started to boil over as the sport entered its closing phases. First, substitute Themba Zwane was proven a straight crimson card following a VAR assessment. Initially ignored by the referee, replays confirmed the midfielder catching Alvarado within the face whereas making an attempt to shrug him away.
Pink playing cards galore
The chaos continued deep into stoppage time. South Africa briefly threatened on the counterattack regardless of being two gamers down, however Cesar Montes cynically introduced down Khuliso Mudau simply outdoors the penalty space with the guests breaking ahead in numbers.
The foul denied a transparent goalscoring alternative and resulted in a 3rd crimson card of the night, leaving Mexico to complete with 10 males as nicely.
Even with the late dismissal, there was by no means any hazard of Mexico surrendering their lead. Aguirre’s facet managed possession by the ultimate minutes and comfortably noticed out the remaining time earlier than the referee introduced an eventful World Cup opener to a detailed.
