Mexico vs South Africa Live, FIFA World Cup: 3 red cards, 2 goals, & win for MEX

Well, the chances continued to come throughout the second half and finally, the floodgates opened in the 59th minute when Ladislav Krejci gave Czechia the lead. Korea came from behind though, with Hwang In-beom scoring the equaliser in the 67th minute and Oh hyeon-Gyu giving them the lead in the 80th minute. And thus officially ends the first match day of these World Cup finals - Korea and Mexico are the winners.

It's one of those games where we are left wondering just how in the world it is still 0-0 at half time. A number of chances at both end, particularly for Korea towards the end of the first half. Korea have more possession but Czechia have arguably been the better team, looking very comfortable sitting back and more incisive than their opponents on the counter.

The 2018 World Cup had four red cards. So did 2022. On Thursday night in Mexico City, the 2026 tournament nearly matched both in a single game. Three players were dismissed as Mexico beat South Africa 2-0 at the Azteca. Two for South Africa, one for Mexico. The most in any opening match in World Cup history.Pierluigi Collina, who has run FIFA's refereeing operation since 2017, is widely regarded as the greatest referee of all time. In 105 matches as an official, he averaged fewer than 0.15 red cards per game. He was famously reluctant to reach for his pocket. The man who barely showed reds as a referee is now presiding over a system that showed three in one night. That is either coincidence or the consequence of something deliberate. READ MORE

The second match of these World Cup finals between Korea and Czechia has kicked off. Korea in their traditional red and black, Czechia in all whites. If the battered and bruised Spurs fans were missing Son Heung-Min this season in the Premier League, you all may tune in now.

Mexico started their World Cup campaign by beating South Africa 2-0 at the Azteca Stadium. It enjoys a place in football history. Azteca Stadium and Diego Maradona have given each other footballing immortality.

So much so that when Maradona died over five years ago, thousands turned up at the Azteca.

It was here that Maradona scored the ‘Hand of God’ goal.

Read this dispatch from Mexico City from Sandip G, The Indian Express' man on the ground, on the Azteca Stadium

The FIFA World Cup began in Mexico City on Thursday night with a game that saw two goals and three red cards shown by referee Wilton Sampaio. For context, in the last World Cup in 2022, a total of four red cards were shown across 64 games. And in the first game of 2026, that count is already almost matched.

Read our day 1 recap from the FIFA World Cup

Raul Jimenez is the most loved Mexican footballer, the one the crowd spares of insults even on a bad day, the face that peers at you from a thousand billboards. In the World Cup’s opening against South Africa, every time his shot was blocked (at least thrice) or it evaded the target, the audience sighed in disbelief. And whenever he was fouled, the offender would get abused.

The moment of glory—it was inevitable that it arrived to cap off a memorable afternoon—finally came in the 67th minute, a powerful and precise header to the near post.

Read this dispatch from Mexico City from Sandip G, The Indian Express' man on the ground

THREE RED CARDS! TWO GOALS! ONE HELL OF A GAME! The FIFA World Cup 2026 starts with an action-packed clash.

Julian Quinones (9th minute) and Raul Jimenez (67') scored for the home side. While Cesar Montes (Mexico), Sphephelo Sithole (South Africa) and Themba Zwane (South Africa) got sent off.

Mexico face Korea Republic next in a Group A clash while South Africa face Czechia. Thanks to the win, El Tricolor have three points in the bag.

Meanwhile, here's a stat we missed: when he came on as a second half substitute, Gilberto Mora became the sixth-youngest player to make a World Cup appearance. Mora is 17 years and 240 days. Ahead of him are Pele (17 years and 235 days), Salomon Olembe (17 years and 185 days), Femi Opabunmi (17 years and 101 days), Samuel Eto’o (17 years and 99 days) and Norman Whiteside (17 years and 41 days).

This time for Mexico! Cesar Montes gets sent off for a rash tackles just outside the box on a South African player. We have a 10 vs 9 game now for the final five mintues of added time!

Three red cards in a FIFA World Cup opener!

THEMBA ZWANE IS SENT OFF AND SOUTH AFRICA ARE DOWN TO NINE MEN.

Seven minutes (plus added time left to be played) and South Africa are two goals and two players down!

Themba Zwane swings an arm at Roberto Alvarado's face from the back when the Mexico player tried to block his run into the box with his body! Things spiralling from bad to worse for South Africa.

There was a VAR check which showed that Zwane laid an arm across the face of the Mexico player.

After 83 minutes, MEX 2-0 SA

Raul Jimenez.has been part of four Mexico squads at the global finals and this is his seventh World Cup match. But he finally scores his first FIFA World Cup goal for Mexico! And what a time to score. The home nation were getting anxious for the safety of a second goal, even though South Africa are down to 10 men and have posed no real threat in the game!

Mexico have their second goal in the 68th minute thanks to a header from Raul Jimenez.

What a spectacular goal. A superb pinpoint cross from the right flank comes flying in. And Jimenez beats his marker to find himself in its path. He nods the ball in and the Azteca is delirious again!

We have the second hydration break immediately afterwards.

Thanks to the red card, South Africa are being forced into making their first change!

Thalente MBATHA comes off the bench to replace Lyle FOSTER for South Africa.

Sphephelo Sithole is sent off!

Five minutes into the second half and South Africa are down to 10 men as Sphephelo Sithole earns a straight red for bringing down Gutierrez just outside the box. The card was given because Sithole was the last man in defence.

As if South Africa were not in deep trouble already. They will have to play 40 minutes of this game with 10 men. And more pressingly, they have to defend a freekick from the edge of the box!

... and Mexico have already had two shots, one straight at goal from the goalscorer Julian Quinones. Quinones saw the South Africa keeper Ronwen Williams out of his line and decided to try his luck. But Williams made it back in time and held on to the shot. Just before that there was any tame shot at South Africa goal.

After a pretty one-sided firts half, Mexico and South Africa players are walking back to the middle. Leaving aside the goals scored column, a true measure of just how dominant Mexico were in those 45 minutes comes from a single stat. 10 attempts on goal from Mexico compared to their rivals' two shots.

Brian Gutierrez almost scores Mexico's second goal! After South Africa lose possession in the midfield, the Mexicans counter-attack with pace and purpose on the left flank. And in the blink of an eye, Gutierrez finds himself facing the goal with the space to take a shot! he does, but the ball trickles wide!

And soon afterwards we have half-time!

HALF-TIME: MEX 1-0 SA

Mexico almost score a second goal five minutes before half-time as a throughball sneaks through and Raul Jimenez sneaks behind the South African defence, leaps in the air and gets a feather touch on the ball. But just when it looks like the ball will go in, a flying Ronwen Williams parries the ball out of harm's way!

Minute later, Mexico's goalscorer Julian Quinones taps the ball past the defneder in front of him and the ball beats Williams for a change, but hits the upright!

Not one, but twice Mexico almost doubled their lead in the span of one minute!

After 42 mins, MEX 1-0 SA

South Africa keeper Ronwen Williams called in again as Mexico break from the left flank and cross dangerously. Williams is alert though and cuts out the danger before any Mexican players can get to it.

Six attempts on goal for Mexico with two on target in 35 minutes. Zero attempts on goal from South Africa.

So in case you haven't kept track, FIFA has announced a mandatory hydration break in each half of every game at this World Cup. So we head into a three-minute break. South Africa need this break, even though they have gotten better in the game in the last few minutes.

Mexico have dominated the ball, with 56 per cent possession.

After 24 minutes: MEX 1-0 SA

Footballing royalty Roberto Baggio, Cafu and Roberto Carlos are in the house watching on from the stands. They seem to be liking the action in middle as we are sure you are too!

The goalscorer from Mexico, Julian Quinones, gets ambitious and lets out a vicious shot at the South African goal. But it flies just over the cross bar. that was a good shot to keep the South African keeper on his toes!

Not even 20 minutes gone and we have Mexico already threatening to double their lead!

So we have the first yellow of the game and of the FIFA World Cup as South Africa's Teboho Mokoena lunges into the Mexican No 9 to earn a yellow!

After 17 minutes: MEX 1-0 SA

The South African team is barely getting over from the first goal and their keeper Ronwen Williams is already called in to make one more save! The Mexicans are dancing circles around the South African defence right now!

After 15 minutes: MEX 1-0 SA

Relentless attacking from Mexico now. Wave after wave of attack. from both flanks. And eventually, South Africa collapse in the face of unyielding attacking from their opponents as Julian Quinones fires a shot into the bottom of the goal in the ninth minute!

"This place is shaking" says the commentator.

The home side are 1-0 ahead!

WHAT A CHANCE! After a run on the right flank, Raul Jimenez (Mexico) is fed the ball just outside the box and while still on the run, he lets it rip with a ferocious volley! Five minues in and already an effort on goal. The South African keeper Ronwen Williams doeswell to palm the ball out with his right hand!

After 5 minutes: MEX 0-0 SA

Mexico start us off by attacking in third gear. they're pressing the African side high up the pitch. South Africa ocasionally see the ball in the first three minutes, and lose it almost immediately.

After 3 minutes: MEX 0-0 SA

Here we go (finally). After a quick team photo, players are taking their starting positions on the pitch. the smoke from the fireworks clears.

Football is here! And in the stands it's raining sombreros as fans fling them in the air! What a scene.

Now we are being serenadad by the 'Himno Nacional Mexicano'. The Mexican national anthem, we learn through a quick internet search, is often referred to by its opening line, 'Mexicanos, al grito de guerra'.The lyrics to the anthem were penned by poet Francisco González Bocanegra in 1853. The music was composed by Catalan musician Jaime Nunó. It was officially adopted as the national anthem of Mexico in 1943. And it's being brought to life today by 80,000 loyal home fans at the Azteca.

As the anthem is sung, two helicopters take flight over the stadium, one of them with the Mexican flag flying.

Technically, it's another couple of songs. But these we don't mind. South Africa start us off with a beautiful rendition of a song that we just learnt is a hybrid anthem that combines two distinct songs: "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" (God Bless Africa) and "The Call of South Africa" (Die Stem van Suid-Afrika).

Mexico, who are the hosts, will go next.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino makes an appearance after the latest song is sung. He's holds up the trophy Lion King-style likes it's his gift to the world or something.

Finally, the players emerge. And it looks there is a football game after all tonight. Who would have thunk!

The flags for all the 48 nations are being brought out. The national anthems will follow and then we'll have kickoff!

(EDIT: Or so we thought, right now we have one more musical performance happening in the middle. Did they forget to schedule the football at a Football World Cup?)

All right, here we go! The first game of the FIFA World Cup is upon us with kick off only minutes away. Mexico are heavy favourites at home, with over 80000 fans behind them and the altitude helping them as well.

But football can be a trecherous game. So we will see after 90 minutes who actually prevails.

Mexico are co-hosting the World Cup this year and that's dangerous news. Why? because El Tricolour's best World Cup runs have come in their own backyard.

In 1970, Mexico bowed out in the quarter-finals following a 4-1 loss to Italy, while in 1986, they suffered penalty shoot-out heartbreak against West Germany in quarter-finals.

South Africa have a unique warm-up routine. here's what Bafana Bafana's entry into the stadium looks like:

Here we go! Since plenty of Indian fans have complained that they cannot hear the "voice of football" Peter Drury giving commentary at this World Cup, we asked an AI model to hype us up for the first game of the World Cup in his voice.

This is what we got:

Four long years of yearning, of quiet anticipation, dissolved in an instant! The globe tilts on its axis, and the world holds its collective breath.

The grand theatre of the Azteca awaits. El Tri against Bafana Bafana. A collision of continents, a tapestry of dreams. Before the first whistle, the heavens will sing as Bocelli, Fernández, and Maná provide the symphony to our obsession.

The greatest show on Earth is born anew. Walk with us through every beat, every heartbreak, every crescendo.

Finally, here comes Shakira with her recently World Cup chartbuster Dai Dai.

In case you have not heard it (and we cannot fathom why you wouldn't have), here's what the song's like:

As you would expect, the Opening Ceremony so far has been a riot of colours with local performers like Alejandro Fernández and Maná taking centre stage and belting out what seem to be local favourites since the crowd seems to be joining in.

The Opening Ceremony starts at the Azteca! And the FIFA World Cup 2026 is officially begun!

We have a performance that reiterates FIFA's message that football unites us all. (Well, since Mexico are hosting this Opening Ceremony, this message might be fine. But their neighbours USA have different ideas, as witnessed by their banishing of the Somalian referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan.)

Meanwhile, the lead performer at the first performance says: “We are a nation of diversity, heritage and pride.”

Best World Cup: Quarter-finals (1970 and 1986)
Last World Cup: Qatar 2022 (group stage)
World Cup appearances: 18 (1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1978, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026)
Overall World Cup record: P60 W17 D15 L28 F62 A101

Best World Cup: Group stage (1998, 2002, 2010)
Last World Cup: 2010 (Group stage)
First World Cup: 1998 (Group stage)
World Cup appearances: 4 (1998, 2002, 2010, 2026)
Overall World Cup record: P9 W2 D4 L3 F11 A16

This is Javier Aguirre’s third stint as the Mexico national team’s head coach. He first led his country at the 2002 FIFA World Cup South Korea and Japan. He was reinstated for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Both times, Mexico crashed out in the Round of 16. Can this be a case of third time lucky for Aguirre?

A FIFA World Cup without Shakira is almost inconceiveable at this point, no? So the popstar will be performing at the opening ceremony along with Andrea Bocelli and homegrown talent like Alejandro Fernández and Maná.

Sandip G, The Indian Express' man on the ground in Mexico City sends these photographs that showcase the heavy police presence at the venue beside the festive atmosphere outside the venue. It promoses to be a riot of colours.

ABOVE: Fans outside the Azteca Stadium at Mexico City before the FIFA World Cup opener between Mexico and South Africa. (Express Photo by Sandip G)

Group A: Mexico, South Africa, Republic of Korea, Czechia
Group B: Canada, Switzerland, Qatar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Scotland, Haiti
Group D: USA, Paraguay, Australia, Turkey
Group E: Germany, Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Curaçao
Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Tunisia
Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand
Group H: Spain, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde
Group I: France, Senegal, Norway, Iraq
Group J: Argentina, Austria, Algeria, Jordan
Group K: Portugal, Colombia, DR Congo, Uzbekistan
Group L: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama

After a wait of four years, it’s here! The FIFA World Cup of 2026 promises to be bigger than ever and a lot messier too as we have witnessed already. It’s the time that football fans briefly change affiliations. Arsenal and Manchester United fans could find themselves uniting in their love for the England national team. Someone sitting in India could find common cause with a Brazilian in the beautiful flair in the way the Brazilian football team plays.

But if you have never watched a FIFA World Cup (and are being forced to do so out of peer pressure), worry not. We have you covered. With our beginner’s guide to the FIFA World Cup, here’s how you can sound much savvier about the spectacle.

According to The New York Times, the cheapest tickets for the World Cup are Category 3 seats, which cost anywhere from $140 to $1,410 in the group stage. If you want to go to the final, the price goes up to nearly $33,000 (just over Rs 31 lakh).

This will the biggest World Cup in history with 48 teams instead of the traditional 32. The expansion also means more number of matches with 104 games with 12 groups. The top 2 teams of each group advances to the round of 32 alongwith the 8 best third-placed teams. From the R32, it's knockouts till 2 teams are left standing for the final.

Two miles from the Azteca Stadium, in Coyoacan’s Cafe Cruco, Jose Alvarez, the cafe owner, throws in a trivia: “Do you know what is in Azteca’s tummy?” Then, he informs with a proud smile: “It’s water, a large spring that almost touches the other world.” But, with a raised eyebrow, he adds: “When there is a match, we face water shortage, because the stadium has a thousand restrooms!”

He is not far wrong about the dimensions. The Azteca sits like a giant concrete sombrero, the traditional Mexican hat, in the Saint Ursula Coapa neighbourhood, over parts of a volcano that gushed its last fumes in the fourth century.

The narrow roads with murals of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata with his bristling moustache are cordoned off, mainly to ease traffic for players, and partly to keep off the teachers demanding a 100 per cent pay rise and truck drivers protesting kidnappings on the highways.

Read this dispatch from Sandip G, The Indian Express' man on the ground for the FIFA World Cup

Mexico, who are one of the co-hosts of the World Cup, have won five and drawn two of their seven World Cup matches in Mexico City, scoring nine goals and conceding just two in the process.

They beat Belgium there twice – 1-0 in 1970 and 2-1 in 1986 – and Bulgaria 2-0 to reach the latter edition’s quarter-finals.

Also helping the home team is the fact that games in Mexico will be played at high elevation. The Azteca stadium in Mexico City is at roughly 7,300 feet while Guadalajara sits at 5,138 feet, meaning visiting teams will have to make a significant adjustment to the altitude.

Mexico’s World Cup 2026 fixtures and group

11 June: Mexico v South Africa - Mexico City Stadium
18 June: Mexico v Korea Republic - Estadio Guadalajara
24 June: Czechia v Mexico - Mexico City Stadium

South Africa’s World Cup 2026 fixtures and group

11 June: Mexico v South Africa - Mexico City Stadium
18 June: Czechia v South Africa - Atlanta Stadium
24 June: South Africa v Korea Republic - Estadio Monterrey

South Africa are nicknamed Bafana Bafana. South Africa are playing in their fourth World Cup in history (and their first appearance since hosting the tournament in 2010).

Top players for South Africa: South Africa are propelled by a young core of players like Thalente Mbatha, Oswin Appollis and Evidence Makgopa, all of whom played a major role in their World Cup qualification.

Coach: Hugo Broos, a Belgian tactician who has been in charge of South Africa since May 2021. Broos took the side to a creditable third-place finish at the 2023 AFCON.

Mexico are nicknamed El Tricolour. They come into the World Cup carrying the scars from the previous edition in Qatar where they could not make it out the group stages for the first time since 1978. This is Mexico's 18th World Cup campaign.

Top players for Mexico: El Tricolour will be led by veteran Raúl Jiménez and 17-year-old midfielder Gilberto Mora. Goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa will be competing in the World Cup for a record sixth time.

Coach: Javier Aguirre, who was a player at the 1986 World Cup, when Mexico had hosted the event.

Mexico possible starting XI: Rangel; Gallardo, Vasquez, Montes, Reyes; Gutierrez, Lira, Fidalgo; Quinones, Alvarado, Jimenez

South Africa possible starting XI: Williams; Mudau, Okon, Mbokazi, Modiba; Mokoena, Sithole, Mbatha; Moremi, Foster, Appollis

At the Opening Ceremony for the FIFA World Cup will have star-studded performances from Andrea Bocelli and homegrown talent like Alejandro Fernández and Maná.

And after that we will have the firts game of the World Cup: a group A clash between co-hosts Mexico and South Africa. The game will kickstart a football festival that will have 104 games between an unprecedented 48 nations. Coincidentally, the Mexico-SOuth Africa clash is a repeat of the opening game of the 2010 World Cup, when South Africa were the host nation.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Opening Ceremony of the FIFA World Cup 2026 and the opener between Mexico and South Africa. It promises to be a thriller.