Mexico vs South Africa stats & report
- Full Time
- C. Montes92'
- 84'T. Zwane
- A. Vega on for J. Quiñones79'
- 77'O. Appollis on for A. Modiba
- 76'E. Makgopa on for I. Rayners
- A. González on for R. Jiménez76'
- E. Álvarez on for É. Lira76'
- 74'N. Sibisi
- R. Jiménez67'
- G. Mora on for Á. Fidalgo66'
- L. Chávez on for B. Gutiérrez66'
- 61'T. Zwane on for J. Adams
- 56'T. Mbatha on for L. Foster
- 49'Y. Sithole
- Half Time
- B. Gutiérrez23'
- 17'T. Mokoena
- J. Quiñones9'
-
1
Raúl Jiménez1 - 2Julián Quiñones1
- 1Julián Quiñones5
- 2Brian Gutiérrez4
- 3Raúl Jiménez4
- 1
Khuliso Mudau3 - 2Érik Lira2
- 3Mbekezeli Mbokazi1
Mexico kicked off the 2026 World Cup in style, comfortably beating South Africa in a 2-0 win for the tournament’s joint-hosts.
The brilliant Julian Quinones gave Javier Aguirre’s side the lead inside nine minutes after Yaya Sithole was caught on the ball and allowed Erik Lira to capitalise before playing his teammate in. Mexico looked comfortable from hereon out, exposing the sizeable gulf in quality; six of South Africa’s starting line-up play for Mamelodi Sundowns, their country’s equivalent of a super club.
Mexico probed a couple more times before the break, with Raul Jimenez forcing a strong save from Ronwen Williams before Quinones’ side-footed shot came back square off the face of the post.
Yaya Sithole’s evening went from bad to worse just five minutes into the second half when his unnecessary tactical foul on Brian Gutierrez left referee Wilton Sampaio with no other choice than to give him his marching orders. There were no real debates to be had as Sithole’s decision denied the Mexican a goalscoring opportunity and subsequently left his team in the lurch.
Gilberto Mora became the sixth-youngest player in World Cup history making an appearance at the tender age of 17 years and 240 days. Just a minute later, Raul Jimenez was in tears after scoring his first World Cup goal with a lovely run and header that convincingly beat Williams in goal.
The game’s real talking point emerged after the 80th-minute mark when South Africa were reduced to nine men in perplexing fashion with Themba Zwane’s red. This was the first World Cup game with multiple red cards since Portugal vs Netherlands in 2006 – a game that saw four sending offs.
Finally, Mexico captain Cesar Montes was dismissed for chopping down Khuliso Mudau, and the denial of a goalscoring opportunity. It was similarly divisive and just about epitomised what this particular game will be remembered for.
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