Mexico beats South Africa 2-0 in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Opener at the Stadio Azteca

Mexico began their World Cup campaign by defeating South Africa 2-0 in the tournament opener on home soil in the Stadio Azteca in front of a joyous, packed stadium. 

Before the main event, famous international artists took the stage along with famous Mexican artists during the opening ceremony, which heavily celebrated Mexican culture with its display. Shakira and Burna Boy performed “Dai Dai” which is an official 2026 World Cup song meanwhile popular Mexican rock pop band from the 1980s, Mana, performed their 1992 song “Oye Mi Amor.” J Balvin and Danny Ocean also performed their official 2026 World Cup song with “Partidazo.” Also, Grammy award winner, Alejandro Fernandez, sang the Mexican national anthem. 

Before kickoff, for the first time FIFA introduced a new pre-match national anthem protocol in which all 26 squad players from both teams and match officials gathered at the center circle of the pitch for the national anthems. This new protocol also includes extra large country flag banners that cover a massive portion of the pitch. Still, pre-match handshakes and team photos remain the same. According to FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, this new pre-match national anthem protocol is designed to create a “moment of unity, pride, and emotion.” 

So the first of 104 World Cup games kicked off in the Stadio Azeteca in Mexico City, Mexico, and the excitement started early.  The first goal scoring chance of the tournament came from Mexico with a cross hit by Israel Reyes from the upper right flank that reached Raul Jimenez at the top of the 18 yard box. Jimenez got a good low bouncing shot on target but South African goalkeeper, Ronwen Williams, made the save.

It wouldn’t take Mexico long to score though. After eight minutes played, pressure from Erik Lira made South African centerback, Sphephelo Sithole, to take a bad first touch and lose possession of the ball right outside the top of the box. The ball was recovered by Julian Quinones who took two small touches towards the top center of the box and hit a low driven shot with his right foot which passed Ronwon Williams through the legs and ended up in the back of the net to score the first goal of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. 

Quinones gave Mexico the lead after an impressive season in the Saudi Pro league with Al Qadish. Quinones was the top goalscorer in the league with 33 goals in 31 games over other top strikers like Cristiano Ronaldo, Ivan Toney, Karim Benzama, and Joao Felix. 

At the 16 minute mark, Tebono Mokoena received the first yellow card of the tournament after a challenge on Mexico’s Alvaro Fidalgo. Six minutes later Brian Gutierrez from Mexico received a yellow card after a challenge on Tebono Mokoena but replay showed that Gutierrez barely touched Mokoena and that the player’s reaction was delayed. The yellow card remained though.

Mexico’s Jesus Gallardo was able to put in a low driven cross from inside the box but Williams stopped the ball from reaching anyone in the box at the 35 minute mark.

A couple minutes before halftime Mexico got another cross into the box which Williams had to make a save for. A couple seconds later, Quinones got another low driven shot off which hit the right post from inside the box.

South Africa didn’t get their first shot on target until the 44th minute when Mbekezeli Mbokazi shot from about 40 yards out from the goal.

Mexico got one last chance at a goal during added time but Brian Gutierrez miss hit the ball inside the box.

Straight out of halftime, a bad pass from Williams allowed Lira to intercept it. Lira dribbled to the left side of the box and tried to put in a cross but it was blocked and cleared out by Ime Okon. Brian Gutierrez then controlled the cleared ball with his chest and hit a volley from outside the box that went over the bar. Quinones also attempted another shot, this time from very far out trying to catch Williams by surprise but the South African goalkeeper was ready for it.

The first red card of the tournament came at the 49th minute when Brian Gutierrez was through on goal but was fouled and tripped up from the back by Sithole. This gave Mexico a freekick right outside the top of the 18 yard box where the foul occurred. Raul Jimenez took the freekick and attempted to shoot at the left side of the goal but got blocked by the wall. 

Eights minutes later Mexico got another freekick after a foul on Lira but it possessed no goal scoring threat. 

Twenty minutes into the second half, Gilberto Mora made history as the youngest player to appear for Mexico at the World Cup at 17 years and 240 days old after being subbed on for Brian Gutierrez.

Then Roberto Alvarado made a cross from the right corner of the box towards Jimenez who was able to run into the cross and score his first ever goal at a FIFA World Cup with a header to give Mexico a 2-0 lead. This was a very emotional moment for Raul Jimenez, the kind of moment that makes the World Cup special. Jimenez lost his father, Raul Jimenez Vega, to pancreatic cancer during March of this year. Jimenez celebrated the goal by pointing to the sky and honoring his father as the fans in the stadium cheered for him.

Another South African received a yellow card with Nkosinathi Sibisi getting booked after a challenge on Quinones.

After the 80th minute, South Africa’s Themba Zwane committed a foul and smacked Mexico’s Roberto Alvarado in the head which resulted in Wilton Sampaio, the referee of the game, heading to VAR and eventually give a red card to Zawane. 

Two red cards in a game was surprising but there was still one more left with Cesar Montes getting sent off in the added time for a tackle against Melusi Buthelezi on a counter attack. In the 2022 World Cup, four red cards were given across 64 games. Now in the 2026 World Cup, three red cards have been given in just one game with 103 remaining. 

Over 80,000 fans attended the opening game of the World Cup at the Stadio Azteca to watch Mexico’s 2-0 victory over South Africa. Reports are also saying that the game attracted 1.42 billion global viewers–the most watched WC opener of all time.

Mexico were able to start their World Cup campaign by getting all three points which was expected but next up is a difficult South Korea team who made a second half 2-1 comeback against Chezica to win their first game as well. They will face off on Thursday at Guadalajara Stadium in Mexico. This match up will surely be the decider for who will end up in first place for Group A.