Mexican Fiesta: El Tri delivers in its World Cup debut against a toothless South Africa | OneFootball

In front of 80,824 fans at Estadio Ciudad de México, Mexico’s national team made home-field advantage count, opening its 2026 World Cup campaign with a comfortable 2-0 victory over South Africa in the tournament’s opening match.

Javier Aguirre’s side lived up to expectations and, despite long stretches of sluggish play and a noticeable lack of creativity, was still far superior to a Bafana Bafana team that offered little over the course of 90 minutes. Goals from Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez sealed a straightforward win for El Tri.

Early Start & Opening Festivities

The festivities began well before kickoff. At 11:40 a.m., the 2026 World Cup opening ceremony got underway with performances from Shakira, Belinda, Los Ángeles Azules, Maná, Danny Ocean and Burna Boy.

Maná was the first act to take the stage, getting the crowd singing along to one of their classics. Danny Ocean followed, before Belinda and Los Ángeles Azules kept the atmosphere rolling. Later came one of the ceremony’s surprises: J Balvin, whose appearance had not been announced beforehand, performed three songs for the crowd of more than 80,000 spectators.

The show concluded with Shakira and Burna Boy performing “Dai Dai,” the official song of the 2026 World Cup, officially kicking off football’s biggest celebration. In total, the ceremony lasted roughly 20 minutes.

Once the show ended Alejandro Fernández performed the Mexican national anthem. This moment also featured a World Cup first. For the first time in tournament history, all 26 players from each squad walked onto the pitch for the national anthems. According to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, the idea emerged from a conversation with Italian legend Alessandro Del Piero, with the goal of giving every squad member a moment in the spotlight before kickoff.

Match Report

As for the football itself, Hugo Broos’ side did little to help turn the occasion into a spectacle. South Africa finished the match with two red cards and spent most of the afternoon trying to survive Mexico’s attacks, showing little ambition going forward.

The hosts nearly struck in the fourth minute when Raúl Jiménez unleashed a powerful effort that forced a sharp save from Ronwen Williams.

Mexico’s relentless pressure paid off shortly after. In the eighth minute, Erik Lira won possession high up the pitch and the move ended with Julián Quiñones sliding the ball through Williams’ legs to score Mexico’s first goal of the tournament.

The pressure continued. In the 38th minute, Williams once again came to South Africa’s rescue by cutting out a dangerous Álvaro Fidalgo cross intended for Jiménez.

A minute later, Quiñones nearly grabbed his second goal of the afternoon, only to see his effort crash off the post.

South Africa offered virtually nothing in the opening half, appearing more concerned with avoiding embarrassment than finding an equalizer.

Second Half – Subs Up the Tempo

The second half began with another setback for the visitors. In the 49th minute, Yaya Sithole was sent off after shoving Brian Gutiérrez from behind, leaving South Africa down to ten men.

Even with the numerical advantage, Mexico drifted into another spell of slow and uninspiring football. Looking to inject life into his side, Aguirre turned to his bench in the 64th minute, introducing Luis Chávez and Gilberto Mora, the youngest player at the World Cup. Brian Gutiérrez and Álvaro Fidalgo made way.

The changes paid immediate dividends.

Just two minutes later, Roberto Alvarado delivered the assist and Raúl Jiménez calmly finished to make it 2-0, scoring the first World Cup goal of his career.

Down a man and trailing by two goals, South Africa looked completely spent, disorganized and seemingly out of ideas. Not that there had been many ideas to begin with.

In the 75th minute, Armando González and captain Edson Álvarez entered the match in place of Jiménez and Lira. The Chivas forward received a warm ovation as he made his World Cup debut, a reward for one of Mexican football’s most talked-about breakthrough stories.

Red Card Flurry

Things somehow got even worse for South Africa in the 83rd minute when Themba Zwane received a red card, reducing the visitors to nine players.

Mexico also finished the match a man down after César Montes was sent off in stoppage time, meaning Aguirre will be without one of his starting center-backs for the next match.

With no late drama to worry about, Mexico comfortably saw out the result, collecting its first three points of the tournament and sending the home crowd into celebration mode in a stadium once again hosting a World Cup opener.

Next up for El Tri is South Korea on June 18 at Estadio Guadalajara, where Mexico will look to secure its place in the Round of 32.