Mexico Beats South Africa 2-0 in World Cup Opener at Azteca: Three Red Cards, Raul Jimenez in Tears, Protesters Outside

Since the 2026 World Cup opened at Azteca Stadium on the evening of June 11, the match itself—Mexico 2, South Africa 0—has become the story, along with everything that happened around it.

Julian Quinones scored in the 9th minute, giving Mexico the fastest possible start in front of roughly 80,000 fans at the Azteca, according to BBC Sport. The match turned chaotic in terms of card management. Three players were sent off, a number that, according to BBC Sport's Dale Johnson, had not occurred in a single World Cup match in 20 years, since the 2006 tournament in Germany. South Africa's Yaya Sithole was dismissed for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity by fouling Mexico's Brian Gutierrez. South Africa's Themba Zwane received the second red card after a VAR review for violent conduct, a decision Johnson called "much more controversial." Zwane tussled with Roberto Alvarado, and the contact that led to the card was off-ball. Mexico's Cesar Montes was then sent off in stoppage time, leaving South Africa with two dismissals and Mexico with one across the match.

From South Africa's perspective, two of the three red cards were debatable. Losing two men before halftime made the scoreline somewhat unrepresentative of an even 11-versus-11 contest. Referee Wilton Sampaio and VAR official Nicolas Gallo of Colombia made aggressive calls that will face scrutiny throughout the tournament. BBC Sport noted that FIFA's head of referees, Pierluigi Collina, focused his pre-tournament briefing on timewasting and player behavior, not on issuing red cards. The tone set in this opener was not explicitly what FIFA asked for.

Jimenez

The match's defining image had nothing to do with controversy. Raul Jimenez, 35, connected on a header off Roberto Alvarado's cross in the 67th minute to seal the 2-0 result. Per BBC Sport, Jimenez had fractured his skull in a November 2020 on-pitch collision and came close to death. He spent years working back.

This was his first World Cup start. He had made six substitute appearances across three previous tournaments. The 46th goal of his international career moved him into a tie for second on Mexico's all-time scoring list, behind only Javier Hernandez (52 goals), per BBC Sport.

After scoring, Jimenez pointed to the sky in an apparent tribute to his father, Raul Jimenez Vega, who died in March. He was in tears before his teammates reached him. Former England defender Gary Neville, on ITV, called it "likely to be the greatest moment of his life from a football perspective." Ian Wright, also on ITV, said: "When he scores the goal as he runs off, you can see the realisation, and that is where the emotion comes."

Outside the stadium

BBC reported that sporadic violent clashes broke out near the Azteca before and during the match. Mexican officials said approximately 200 hooded individuals separated from two groups totaling around 800 protesters and confronted law enforcement. Nearby metro stations were temporarily shut down. The situation was described by officials as largely contained, and the stadium itself was not breached.

The protests were anti-government in nature, according to BBC's Will Grant. They were not World Cup-specific grievances in their origin, but the global stage made them tactically useful for organizers.

A USA Today columnist, cited by OutKick (Fox News), argued the United States had already "lost" the World Cup due to political tensions surrounding Trump and the tournament's geopolitical backdrop. The opening match drew a packed 80,000-person crowd, Shakira performed to the world, and Mexico won. That framing doesn't square with the facts on the ground.

The bigger backdrop

BBC's economics editor Faisal Islam laid out the genuine geopolitical strangeness of this tournament: the three co-hosts—the U.S., Canada, and Mexico—are simultaneously engaged in a USMCA renegotiation and a trade war with each other. Israel and Iran are at war, and Trump, who accepted a Peace Prize from FIFA according to BBC, spent part of the day threatening Iran with air strikes before appearing to reverse course as the opening ceremony began. There is a non-trivial bracket scenario in which the U.S. and Iran meet on the pitch.

Jimenez completed a move from Fulham back to Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier this week, per BBC Sport. He scored his first World Cup start goal for a co-host nation days after returning to his old English club.

The unresolved question heading into the rest of the group stage: whether Collina's officiating corps will maintain this level of card aggression, or whether Thursday's three dismissals were an anomaly. BBC Sport's Johnson noted that refereeing at the start of a tournament typically sets the tone, which means every team's disciplinary staff will be reviewing the Sithole and Zwane decisions before their first matches.