FIFA World Cup 2026 | Group A | Thursday, 11 June 2026 Estadio Banorte (Azteca), Mexico City, Mexico | Referee: TBC
Raúl Jiménez scored his first-ever World Cup goal. He is 35 years old. In 2020 he fractured his skull in a collision at Arsenal. He lay on the pitch unconscious. They thought his career was over. Some thought it was worse than that.
Thursday night at the Azteca, in front of 87,000 people, on the biggest stage in football — he scored. He fell to his knees. He wept. The whole stadium wept with him.
That was the moment of the 2026 World Cup opener. Everything else — three red cards, Mexico’s dominant performance, South Africa’s stubborn second half — is context.
Mexico won 2-0.
Julián Quiñones got the first. Less than ten minutes in, Israel Reyes whipped a cross in from the right. Ronwen Williams tipped away a Jiménez header — a warning shot. Minutes later Quiñones latched onto another delivery and finished first time. 1-0. The Azteca shook. Mexico’s World Cup had started exactly as Javier Aguirre had drawn it up.
The red cards came in waves. The first fell to South Africa — a foul that the referee deemed serious enough for a straight red. South Africa down to ten men. Mexico then also received one — Montes getting sent off after clipping Mudau when through on goal outside the box, denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. A harsh but defensible call. Both teams down to ten men simultaneously. Three in total by the time the final whistle blew. Surprisingly, this is not the first World Cup game to see three straight reds. The last time it happened, South Africa were also involved — when they played Denmark in 1998, with the Bafana Bafana having one to Denmark’s two on that occasion.
With the game in this strange symmetry — ten v ten for long periods — Mexico still looked the better side. They had the home crowd. They had the quality. South Africa defended bravely but the Bafana Bafana were always fighting against the tide.
Jiménez sealed it in the second half. Quiñones was involved in the buildup — helping set up the move that led to the finish. The 35-year-old striker got on the end of it and scored. He was in tears on the pitch. It has been a great comeback for the 35-year-old who suffered a serious head injury in 2020 which threatened his career. Now he is a goalscorer at a World Cup on home soil.
The Azteca was delirious. That kind of noise — 87,000 in Mexico City — is something television cannot fully capture. The ground that hosted the 1970 and 1986 World Cup finals was doing it again, providing the backdrop for the most emotional individual story of the tournament’s first day.
For South Africa, this was their first World Cup since 2010 when they became the first host nation to fail to advance from the group stage. They drew 1-1 with Mexico in that same opener 16 years ago. Thursday they could not repeat it. The Bafana Bafana played with spirit — Ronwen Williams made his saves, the defensive line stayed organised — but two goals and red card chaos made it impossible to salvage anything.
Their group continues. South Korea and a playoff winner still to come. The tournament is long.
Almost eight years to the day after Mexico were named as joint hosts alongside the United States and Canada, they got the 2026 World Cup under way with a performance that answered the doubters. Mexico’s misery in World Cup opening games — they had failed to win any of their previous World Cup openers — was finally ended.
Aguirre, in his third stint as Mexico manager, was on the touchline for the 2010 opener too — that 1-1 draw in Johannesburg. Thursday he finally got the win. The home crowd gave him a standing ovation when the final whistle blew.
Group A standings after Matchday 1: Mexico 3 points. South Africa 0.
For live World Cup scores from every group, visit fawanews.org.uk. Full results, standings and fixtures at the official FIFA World Cup website.
Mexico 2-0 South Africa FIFA World Cup 2026, Group A | Thursday, 11 June 2026 Estadio Banorte (Azteca), Mexico City | Attendance: ~87,000
Goals: Julián Quiñones (Mexico, first half), Raúl Jiménez (Mexico, second half, assist: Quiñones) Red Cards: South Africa 1 (first half) | Mexico 1 — César Montes (denial of goalscoring opportunity) | Total: 3 red cards
Mexico (4-3-3): Ochoa; Reyes, Montes, Arteaga, Gallardo; Álvarez, Romo, Antuna; Quiñones, Jiménez, Lozano
South Africa (4-4-2): Williams; Mudau, defenders; midfielders; forwards
H2H: South Africa 1-1 Mexico (2010 World Cup) | South Africa 2-1 Mexico (2005 Gold Cup) Half-time: 1-0
