Raul Jimenez fights back tears as three players sent off in eventful opener of World Cup feast

Mexico kicked off the 2026 World Cup in a red card-filled 2-0 victory over nine-man South Africa to cap off a memorable event in the country’s capital.

Performances from Shakira, Burna Boy, Danny Ocean and Tyla sent fans inside Mexico City Stadium into a frenzy pre-match.

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And tournament co-hosts Mexico proceeded to put on a show for the home faithful thanks to goals from Julian Quinones and Raul Jimenez.

Mexico made light work of their African opponents in what was a repeat of the 2010 World Cup opening clash.

That match ended in a 1-1 draw in Johannesburg, with Mexico this time proving to be a class above.

Mex appeal

It took just nine minutes for Javier Aguirre’s men to break the deadlock through Al Qadsiah striker Quinones.

Quinones, who was born in Colombia, showed his lethal prowess in front of goal which saw him win the Saudi Pro League Golden Boot with 33 strikes in the 2025/26 season.

Midfielder Yaya Sithole was robbed of possession on the edge of the box, with the ball eventually played through to Quinones, who rifled the ball through goalkeeper Ronwen Williams’ legs.

His strike is the earliest goal from an opening World Cup game since Philip Lahm’s sixth-minute stunner for Germany against Costa Rice in 2006.

And if it hadn’t been for Williams, Mexico could, and perhaps should have been, at least three goals to the good heading into the break.

Raul Jimenez – fresh from re-signing for Wolves – drew an early save from the Mamelodi Sundowns shot-stopper.

And the ex-Tottenham Hotspur youth player then expertly parried away a deft flick-on from Jimenez, which was heading into the bottom right corner.

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Quinones then struck the woodwork just before half time in what proved to be a one-sided affair in the opening period.

Things then went from bad to worse after the break for South Africa, who are competing in their their first World Cup in 16 years.

Sithole, guilty for Mexico’s early goal, was then issued a straight red card in the 50th minute for denying a goalscoring opportunity.

Brian Gutierrez latched onto a through ball and had too much pace for the Tondela man, before being bundled over on the edge of the penalty box.

Jimenez would fluff the resulting free-kick, but it wouldn’t take long for him to score his first ever World Cup goal.

The 35-year-old got on the end of Roberto Alvarado’s whipped-in delivery at the back post to fire a bullet header into the back of the net in the 67th minute.

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His goal moved into joint-second in Mexico’s all-time top scorer list alongside Jared Borgetti on 46 goals, with only Manchester United icon Javier Hernandez [52] scoring more.

And Jimenez was overcome with emotion as he wheeled away to the corner flag to celebrate, as his joyous teammates quickly surrounded him.

Then came the final sting in the tail for South Africa, as they were reduced to nine men in the 84th minute.

Following VAR intervention, Themba Zwane – their oldest player on the pitch at 36 – was sent off for a slap on Alvarado.

His red card means it is the first time since Portugal’s clash against the Netherlands in 2006 which has seen a side issued two red cards in the same World Cup match [both Portugal and Holland awarded two each].

The drama wasn’t over, as it was then Mexico’s turn to receive a straight red card as Cesar Montes was penalised in the second minute of stoppage time for bringing down Khuliso Mudau as South Africa looked to break.

Unsurprisingly, it is the most red cards even dished out in a World Cup opener – only behind the infamous ‘Battle of Nuremburg’ 20 years ago in terms of total dismissals in a single game.

But incredibly, Thursday’s match has seen 75 per cent of the red cards dished out in Qatar in 2022 – with that tournament seeing a mere four red cards issued across the whole edition.

Co-hosts Mexico now turn their attention to South Korea for their next match in Group A on June 19.

As for South Africa, they pit their wits against Czech Republic 24 hours earlier.

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