The 2026 World Cup opened in the most dramatic way, with Mexico and South Africa seeing three red cards.
The World Cup is officially open, and it opened in the most dramatic way. Co-hosts Mexico opened the World Cup with a rematch of the 2010 World Cup as they faced South Africa.
As far as opening games go, this one escalated really quickly. South Africa started with five at the back, hoping to keep Mexico at bay for as long as possible, but the deadlock was broken in just nine minutes.
Williams made a pass to Sithole, who fumbled and lost it to Lira. Lira passed the ball to Quinones, who cut inside and shot the ball through Williams’ legs to give Mexico the lead.
Julián Quiñones has written his name into history. ✍️#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/mL58wS6WJC
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 11, 2026
Struggling to get out of their box, South Africa could’ve been two behind as Quinones’ shot from outside the box missed by a little. South Africa recorded their first shot on target in the 37th minute, and it showed how poor they were.
Mexico could’ve been three goals up by half-time if Quinones and Gutierrez had converted their chances.
The second half even brought worse fortunes for South Africa as they were down to 10 men just five minutes after the restart. Sithole, who was responsible for the error leading to the first goal, was once again the culprit.
With the numerical advantage, Mexico kept on piling the pressure, and in the 67th minute, Jimenez headed in from close range to make it 2-0.
Co-hosts off to a winning start! 🇲🇽#FIFAWorldCup
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 11, 2026
As the game was dwindling to its end, South Africa were hit with another blow as Zwane was red-carded for a flagrant foul on his marker. Mexico also joined in the party as their captain, Cesar Montes, was shown a red card for a reckless foul to stop a South African attack.
That red card now makes it the first time in World Cup history that an opening game has seen three red cards. Mexico’s red was of no help to South Africa as they could barely muster any chances and could only hope for the full time to put them out of their misery.
