Mexico opened the World Cup with a commanding 2–0 win over nine-man South Africa as the tournament began at the iconic Estadio Azteca.
Julian Quiñones scored the competition’s first goal in the ninth minute, while veteran striker Raúl Jiménez later added a second to give the co-hosts a strong start in Group A.
South Africa struggled to settle into the match and ended the day with only nine players after Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane were both sent off. César Montes was also shown a late red card for Mexico following a VAR review.
The breakthrough came early when Sithole was dispossessed while attempting to play out from the back, allowing Quiñones to finish calmly past captain and goalkeeper Ronwen Williams. The stadium erupted as Mexico took control of the opening match in front of a home crowd at the Azteca, the first stadium to host games in three different World Cups.
Sithole’s difficult outing continued when he was dismissed in the 49th minute after fouling Brian Gutiérrez, who had broken through on goal. Zwane was later sent off in the 84th minute for an incident involving a raised arm on Uriel Antuna following a VAR check.
Despite the setbacks, Williams reflected afterward that the team learned valuable lessons about the level required at the tournament, noting they will continue to fight and improve. “If you make mistakes, they will punish you. They will hurt you at this level. I think the most important thing is that now we know what we’re up against, because we’re not used to this. We haven’t been part of the World Cup for a very long time. We went down, but we kept fighting. We didn’t give them anything towards the end. We had a few decent chances as well. We’ll keep fighting, we’ll keep going as a team, and we’ll be better.” The Bafana Bafana goalkeeper told the media.
South Africa next face Czechia in Atlanta on Thursday the 18th.
