Mexico 2 (Quiñones, Jiménez) – South Africa 0
Bibhash Lodh, BS News Agency: Pelé won the World Cup at Mexico’s iconic Azteca Stadium in 1970. In 1986, another football wizard, Maradona, captivated the world at the same venue. And on that very pitch, in front of a packed home crowd, Mexico secured a sweet victory over South Africa in the opening match of the FIFA 2026 World Cup. This marks the third time Mexico has had the opportunity to play the opening match while also serving as a World Cup host. They had previously faced South Africa in the opening game of the 2010 World Cup, but failed to win as the match ended in a 1-1 draw. However, on Thursday, Mexico got their campaign off to a flying start by defeating South Africa, thanks to a goal from Quiñones.
Shakira had set a wonderful tone for the start of the World Cup with her song "Dai Dai" at the Azteca Stadium. Carrying that momentum forward, the Mexican players dominated South Africa throughout the match. Mexico coach Javier Aguirre applied pressure from the start with an attacking 4-1-2-3 formation. Conversely, South Africa coach Hugo Broos aimed to keep the defense tight with a 5-4-1 setup and rely on counter-attacks. However, that plan was thwarted early on by a blunder from South African goalkeeper Williams. In the ninth minute, Williams failed to accurately pass the ball to a teammate—a defender stationed at the edge of the box—causing the ball to slip slightly away from the defender's feet. Mexico's Erick Lira fully capitalized on the opportunity; he collected the ball and passed it to his teammate, Julián Quiñones. Quiñones beat goalkeeper Williams with a powerful, low-rolling shot—ironic, given that Williams had previously saved his team from conceding by brilliantly stopping a shot from Jiménez.
Towards the end of the first half, Quiñones nearly scored a second goal for Mexico, but his shot rebounded off the post. Additionally, an effort by Gutiérrez narrowly missed the target. However, South Africa's Sithole invited trouble for his team by fouling Gutiérrez; the referee showed him a red card, forcing South Africa to play with ten men from the 50th minute onwards. They were already struggling to contain Mexico's attacks with a full squad; playing a man down made avoiding defeat an impossible task. Indeed, they failed to do so, as Mexico scored their second goal in the 67th minute. Raúl Jiménez headed home spectacularly from a precise cross by Roberto Alvarado to make it 2–0.
Mexico kept South Africa under pressure for the remainder of the match. South Africa's woes deepened in the 84th minute when Thembozwane was shown the match's second red card for striking Alvarado in the face; the Brazilian referee issued the marching orders after consulting VAR. With a loss in their opening match and two red cards incurred, any chance of a comeback in this game vanished; furthermore, it is difficult to see how South Africa can bounce back in future matches, as their play lacked rhythm, coordination, or structural cohesion. Advancing to the knockout stage will be a difficult challenge for South Africa based on this performance.
On the other hand, while Mexico boosted their chances of reaching the knockout stage by winning their World Cup opener amidst the "Mexican waves" of a packed stadium, the celebration was slightly soured in the 92nd minute when Montes received a red card for an unnecessary foul. A notable moment of the match was the debut of 17-year-old Gilberto Mora, who came onto the pitch wearing the Mexico jersey as a substitute for Álvaro Fidalgo. One must praise Mexico coach Javier Aguirre for giving 17-year-old Mora the opportunity to play on such a grand stage as the World Cup.