2026 World Cup: Mexico Celebrates Early; South Africa Is Out of the Running
The 2026 World Cup kicks off with Mexico’s victory over South Africa. In front of the crowd at the historic Azteca Stadium in Mexico City—one of the tournament’s host venues alongside Canada and the United States—El Tricolor defeated Bafana Bafana 2-0 thanks to goals by Quiñones in the 9th minute and Jiménez in the 67th minute. The Africans finished the match with nine men following the red cards shown to Sithole (49′) and Zwane (84′), while Mexico’s Montes was also sent off in stoppage time (92′). With this result, Mexico earned its first three points in Group A, which also includes the Czech Republic and South Korea.
The Azteca Stadium thus officially kicked off the 2026 World Cup, hosting the match between Mexico and South Africa, just as it did sixteen years earlier in the opening game of the 2010 World Cup. After the opening ceremony, the hosts started with great intensity and came close to taking the lead as early as the 5th minute through Raúl Jiménez, who was denied by a superb save from Williams. The South African goalkeeper, however, could do nothing four minutes later to stop Quiñones’ low right-footed shot, which slipped under his legs, making him the first scorer of the World Cup.
Mexico continued to control the match and came close to doubling their lead before halftime, again through Quiñones, whose attempt struck the post. For South Africa, the situation became even more complicated early in the second half: in the 49th minute, Sithole was sent off for a last-man foul on Gutiérrez, who was bearing down on the goal.
With the numerical advantage, El Tricolor increased the pressure and secured the lead in the 67th minute. Under the watchful eye of Roberto Baggio, present in the VIP box, Jiménez rose highest to meet Alvarado’s cross and made it 2-0. The striker, who had recently returned to Wolverhampton, let his emotions show after the goal, which brought his tally to 47 goals for the Mexican national team: only Javier “Chicharito” Hernández has done better, with 52.
In the closing minutes, South Africa definitively lost control of the match. In the 84th minute, Zwane was sent off for violent conduct following a VAR review, leaving his team down to nine men. In stoppage time, Montes also received a red card for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity, a decision that raised more than a few eyebrows.
The final whistle thus sealed Mexico’s 2-0 victory, marking the perfect start to their World Cup campaign. Among the Italians involved, Genoa defender Johan Vásquez played the full 90 minutes, while Milan forward Santiago Giménez watched the entire match from the bench.
