Mexico finally exorcised one of football’s strangest curses on Thursday night, beating South Africa 2-0 at a thunderous Estadio Azteca to win a World Cup opening match for the first time in the nation’s history. In seven previous appearances as a tournament opener, El Tri had managed five defeats and two draws. In front of more than 80,000 supporters in Mexico City, that record lasted barely eight minutes.
Julián Quiñones provided the breakthrough, driving a low shot through the legs of South Africa goalkeeper Ronwen Williams for the earliest goal in a World Cup opening match since Philipp Lahm’s strike against Costa Rica in 2006. The Azteca, hosting its third World Cup — a feat no other stadium on earth can claim — erupted in a way that suggested two decades of opening-night frustration being released at once.
Julián Quiñones celebrates Mexico’s opening goal at Estadio Azteca. Photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images (embedded under Getty Images’ editorial embed programme).
The match turned ill-tempered after the interval. South Africa’s Sphephelo Sithole was shown a straight red card early in the second half for cutting down Brian Gutiérrez on the edge of the box with the midfielder through on goal, and substitute Themba Zwane followed him down the tunnel after a VAR review caught him striking Roberto Alvarado in the face. Mexico’s César Montes completed an unwanted piece of history in stoppage time, his dismissal making this the first World Cup opener to produce three red cards.
Between the cards, Raúl Jiménez settled the result, heading in from close range midway through the second half for his 46th international goal — and, remarkably, his first at a World Cup across three appearances at the tournament. The veteran striker’s celebration, equal parts relief and release, told the story of a career that has survived a fractured skull to reach this stage.
There was history at the other end of the age scale too. Gilberto Mora, at 17, became the youngest player ever to represent Mexico at a World Cup, a debut that fans inside the Azteca will be recounting for as long as the teenager’s career now runs. “It was an experience unlike any other — the pinnacle of something I had been hoping for,” defender Israel Reyes said after the final whistle.
For South Africa, the night unravelled in a way no plan could survive: a goal conceded inside ten minutes, an hour spent chasing the game and the final half hour played two men short. Bafana Bafana now face an uphill battle in Group A, while Mexico — host, winner and history-maker on night one — could hardly have scripted a better start to the biggest World Cup ever staged.
