Mexico ignited their World Cup party with a dominant 2-0 victory over nine-man South Africa on Thursday (June 11, 2026) as the biggest ever edition of the global footballing showpiece kicked off at the iconic Estadio Azteca.

Julian Quinones scored the opening goal of the tournament and veteran striker Raul Jimenez added a second as the co-hosts’ bid for qualification from Group A got off to smooth start.

South Africa meanwhile never looked like spoiling the opening day fiesta, and finished with only nine men after Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane were sent off.

The Mexican-colored red, green and white smoke from pre-game fireworks had barely dissipated before Quinones fired the hosts into the lead on nine minutes, drilling a low shot through the legs of South Africa’s goalkeeper and captain Ronwen Williams.

A deafening roar cascaded down from the stands of the Azteca, the footballing cathedral that became the only stadium to host games at three different World Cups.

South Africa coach Hugo Broos had warned his players to be ready for the intimidating atmosphere created by a capacity 80,824 crowd at the imposing concrete arena.

But South Africa’s players looked to have a bad case of stage fright as Mexico’s fans greeted each completed pass with a raucous chorus of “Ole!” in the opening minutes.

Sithole seemed particularly affected, being caught in possession trying to play out of the back for Quinones’ opening goal.

Sithole’s miserable afternoon ended with a 49th minute dismissal after bundling over Mexico’s Brian Gutierrez when clean through on goal.

Mexico rammed home their advantage in the 67th minute, with a fine counter attack culminating in Roberto Alvarado crossing for Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Jimenez to nod home at the far post.

It got worse for South Africa in the 84th minute when Zwane was dismissed after a VAR review for flinging an arm into the face of Alvarado.

There was still time for late drama when Mexican defender Cesar Montes was shown a red card for a clumsy challenge on Khulisa Mudau on the edge of the penalty area.

Javier Aguirre knows exactly what awaits his Mexico side when it hosts the World Cup opener against South Africa on Thursday (June 11, 2026) in Mexico City to kick off Group A.

Forty ​years and one week ago, Aguirre played all 90 minutes of host Mexico’s impressive 2-1 victory ‌over Belgium to open El Tri’s 1986 World Cup campaign, a match decided ​by a 39th-minute goal from legendary Mexico striker Hugo Sanchez.

Now in his ⁠third stint as the manager of the national team he once played for, Aguirre has tried to instil a family ethos, in part because he knows what they’re about to go through will ‌be unparalleled in the rest of their playing careers.

“There’s nothing like playing in your home country,” Aguirre said in Spanish at Wednesday’s (June 10, 2026) pre-match news conference.

“There are ‌a lot of people here who were not born yet the last time we ‌had ⁠a World Cup here, and this is what I have told to ⁠them time and again.” “I think the message has trickled down, and I have convinced them, and they have used the word family organically. So this tells me that they feel very comfortable. It’s a very strong ​word.”

Aguirre took over the program again ‌after repeated losses to the United States and others in continental competitions early in the 2026 World Cup cycle, and his return has coincided with a return to continental supremacy.

El Tri swept the 2025 CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football) Nations League and CONCACAF Gold Cup titles, defeating ‌Panama in the former final and the U.S.A. in the latter.

Striker Raul ​Jimenez, who took years to recover his full form after a scary head injury suffered playing for Wolverhampton Wanderers in November 2020 scored six times ⁠across four matches between the semifinals and finals of those competitions. The hope is that those experiences give El Tri the same feeling that Aguirre said they carried onto the Estadio Azteca ‌pitch 40 years ago.

“I remember how confident we were when we went on the field,” he recalled. “We felt that the game was not going to go wrong.”

Full circle for South Africa

It’s also a full-circle moment for South Africa. When it became the first African nation to host a World Cup in 2010, South Africa opened with a 1-1 draw against Mexico in Johannesburg. It failed to qualify for the next three World Cups before surprising much of the world ‌by besting Nigeria in Group C of Africa’s qualifying setup. Even so, they enter as the decided ​group underdogs.

“We don’t have pressure,” said Bafana Bafana midfielder Teboho Mokoena. “The pressure is on Mexico, the host. So for us as a team, we know ⁠what is expected of us, and we know how much we’ve prepared for this game ⁠and this tournament. So of course, we’re just looking forward to the game tomorrow.”

South Korea vs. Czech Republic

In the other Group A encounter ‌on Thursday (June 11, 2026) night, South Korean attacker Son Heung-min will appear in his fourth World Cup and try to help his nation advance from the group stage in consecutive ​tournaments for the first time. They face a Czech side led by Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick, who scored five qualifying goals.