South Africa Mexico WCup Soccer
South Africa's Iqraam Rayners, left, controls the ball against Mexico's Alvaro Fidalgo during the first half in the World Cup Group A soccer match between Mexico and South Africa in Mexico City, Thursday, June 11, 2026.
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Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez helped Mexico make an exuberant start to the World Cup by scoring a goal each in a 2-0 win over South Africa in the opening match of the tournament. With a capacity crowd of 80,824 watching at the iconic Azteca Stadium, co-host Mexico started the largest World Cup tournament in history by getting goals in each half while three red cards were shown — two for South Africa and one for Mexico. Quiñones gave Mexico the lead in the ninth minute. Jiménez added the second goal on a header in 66th.
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