Mexico beats Bafana Bafana 2-0 in chaotic World Cup opener

Mexico defeated South Africa 2-0 in a chaotic opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on Thursday, with three players sent off in a second half that descended into disorder.

Julián Quiñones opened the scoring in the ninth minute after capitalising on a costly error by South Africa midfielder Sphephelo Sithole, who lost the ball as Bafana Bafana attempted to play out from a goal kick. The goal was the earliest opening goal of a World Cup since Philipp Lahm scored for Germany against Costa Rica in the sixth minute in 2006.

Sithole compounded his misery early in the second half when referee Wilton Sampaio issued him a straight red card for pulling back a Mexican attacker who was clean through on goal. It was a stonewall sending off that left South Africa with ten men.

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Raúl Jiménez then doubled Mexico’s lead in the 67th minute, heading in a cross at the back post to make it 2-0. The 35-year-old striker was visibly emotional after scoring, having suffered a serious head injury in 2020 that threatened to end his career. It was his first ever World Cup goal, scored on home soil.

South Africa’s misery continued in the 84th minute when Themba Zwane was shown a straight red card following a VAR review, after he caught Roberto Alvarado with his forearm off the ball on the edge of the penalty area.

“What you can’t do then in that situation is lash out. That’s what he did with his left arm. He thumped Roberto Alvarado on the head with his forearm. That’s one of South Africa’s most experienced players losing his head. What a sorry, sorry state of affairs,” former England forward Chris Sutton said on BBC Radio 5 Live from the Azteca.

Mexico were also reduced to ten men in stoppage time when César Montes was shown a red card for denying a goalscoring opportunity, a decision that drew loud boos from the 80,824-strong crowd and divided pundits.

“That’s incredible,” said former Scotland striker Ally McCoist on ITV, while Sutton called the Montes sending off harsh. ITV Sport referee analyst Christina Unkel disagreed, saying it was “not a clear and obvious error to overturn the referee decision.”

The three straight red cards made it the first World Cup match to see such dismissals since South Africa faced Denmark in 1998.

Despite being reduced to nine men for the closing stages, South Africa had shown some brief fight after Sithole’s dismissal, with a long-range effort forcing Mexico goalkeeper Raúl Rangel into action. But the task ultimately proved too great.

For Mexico, it was a winning start to their Group A campaign as co-hosts of the tournament alongside the United States and Canada. The opening ceremony earlier in the day featured performances by Shakira, Andrea Bocelli and J Balvin.

The two countries last met in a World Cup opener in 2010, when the tournament was staged in South Africa. That match ended 1-1.