{"id":2322,"date":"2026-06-13T08:33:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T08:33:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=2322"},"modified":"2026-06-13T08:33:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T08:33:33","slug":"mexico-gets-off-to-roaring-world-cup-start-with-a-2-0-win-over-south-africa-in-the-opening-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=2322","title":{"rendered":"Mexico gets off to roaring World Cup start with a 2-0 win over South Africa in the opening match"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

MEXICO CITY (AP) \u2014 Mexico made an immediate impression on the largest World Cup in history, giving the roaring home crowd at the iconic Azteca Stadium a huge jolt of excitement four years after a major disappointment.<\/p>\n

Read more FIFA World Cup 2026 Group A: Mexico and South Korea each get 3 points after openers<\/a><\/p>\n

Mexico’s players understood the intense pressure and high expectations they were facing on Thursday in the opening match of the first 48-team World Cup tournament. But they embraced their role and got off to a winning start by beating South Africa 2-0 in a match that also produced three red cards.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made an effort to explain to them what a World Cup and an opening match on home soil meant, but they are young and had to experience it for themselves,” said Mexico coach Javier Aguirre, who played for his team the last time Mexico hosted the tournament in 1986. “I can no longer talk about having played in a home World Cup, because they already know what it\u2019s like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Juli\u00e1n Qui\u00f1ones and Ra\u00fal Jim\u00e9nez scored the goals for Mexico, which is co-hosting the 2026 tournament with Canada and the United States.<\/p>\n

The Mexicans rebounded from the massive disappointment of being eliminated after the group stage four years ago in Qatar. That followed seven straight trips to the round the 16 \u2014 an achievement that became more of a curse for failing to reach the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n

But there is hope this year. Mexico has reached the quarterfinals twice in its history, and both times it was the host country \u2014 in 1970 and 1986. Aguirre was on that team in 1986.<\/p>\n

In front of a capacity crowd of 80,824, Mexico got working fast and took the lead in the ninth minute when Qui\u00f1ones scored. Jim\u00e9nez added the second goal on a header in 66th \u2014 his 46th for Mexico but first in three World Cup tournaments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t play well in the first half, but we could have gone into the break leading 3\u20130 and no one would have complained \u2014 we were far superior,\u201d Aguirre said. \u201cIn the second half, it felt like we relaxed a bit, but starting with a win is good, and we can certainly improve.\u201d<\/p>\n

With his goal, Jim\u00e9nez moved into a tie with Jared Borgetti for second place in scoring for Mexico’s national team. He is six goals shy of leader Javier \u201cChicharito\u201d Hern\u00e1ndez.<\/p>\n

Read more FIFA World Cup 2026 Group D: United States beats Paraguay 4-1 to get 3 points<\/a><\/p>\n

Jim\u00e9nez wears a protective headguard because he was seriously injured in November 2020 while playing for Wolverhampton Wanderers in a Premier League match against Arsenal. He fractured his skull and had to have surgery. He was out for eight months and returned in July 2021.<\/p>\n

South Africa players Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane were both given red cards, forcing the team to finish the match with only nine players. Mexico defender C\u00e9sar Montes was then given a red card in injury time.<\/p>\n

It was the first time there were three red cards given in the opening match of a World Cup tournament. And it\u2019s the most in a World Cup game since four were handed out when Portugal played the Netherlands at the 2006 tournament in Germany.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis level is much higher than whatever level we played before. We played a good team, and we played a good game. I saw a desperate Mexico,\u201d South Africa coach Hugo Broos said. \u201cWe must improve in the next days. We\u2019ll get over the disappointment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Qui\u00f1ones, a 29-year-old forward who was born in Colombia, was the top scorer in the Saudi league this season. He was one of six starting players who made their World Cup debut for El Tri.<\/p>\n

Mexico now has three points in Group A and will next play South Korea next Thursday in Guadalajara. South Africa will play the Czech Republic on the same day in Atlanta.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be important (to win the group), but right now the only thing we\u2019re thinking about is the match against Korea \u2014 being better than them and trying to win,\u201d Aguirre said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to take it step by step and see what the future holds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more FIFA World Cup 2026: Amerant Bank Arena hosts watch party for United States opener against Paraguay<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP World Cup coverage: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/fifa-world-cup<\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MEXICO CITY (AP) \u2014 Mexico made an immediate impression on the largest World Cup in history, giving the roaring home crowd at the iconic Azteca Stadium a huge jolt of excitement four years after a major disappointment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nMexico gets off to roaring World Cup start with a 2-0 win over South Africa in the opening match - South Florida Moving Guides<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=2322\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mexico gets off to roaring World Cup start with a 2-0 win over South Africa in the opening match - South Florida Moving Guides\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MEXICO CITY (AP) \u2014 Mexico made an immediate impression on the largest World Cup in history, giving the roaring home crowd at the iconic Azteca Stadium a huge jolt of excitement four years after a major disappointment.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=2322\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Florida Moving Guides\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-13T08:33:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=2322#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=2322\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/20969a46eb23057893f2f0726e65003e\"},\"headline\":\"Mexico gets off to roaring World Cup start with a 2-0 win over South Africa in the opening match\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-13T08:33:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=2322\"},\"wordCount\":751,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=2322#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/c66a2101ecc6070a70661ca3c378306a.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=2322#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=2322\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=2322\",\"name\":\"Mexico gets off to roaring World Cup start with a 2-0 win over South Africa in the opening match - South Florida Moving Guides\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=2322#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=2322#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/c66a2101ecc6070a70661ca3c378306a.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-13T08:33:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/20969a46eb23057893f2f0726e65003e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=2322#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=2322\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=2322#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/c66a2101ecc6070a70661ca3c378306a.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/c66a2101ecc6070a70661ca3c378306a.avif\",\"width\":700,\"height\":467},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?p=2322#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mexico gets off to roaring World Cup start with a 2-0 win over South Africa in the opening match\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"South Florida Moving Guides\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/20969a46eb23057893f2f0726e65003e\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/southfloridamovingguides.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mexico gets off to roaring World Cup start with a 2-0 win over South Africa in the opening match - South Florida Moving Guides","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=2322","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mexico gets off to roaring World Cup start with a 2-0 win over South Africa in the opening match - South Florida Moving Guides","og_description":"MEXICO CITY (AP) \u2014 Mexico made an immediate impression on the largest World Cup in history, giving the roaring home crowd at the iconic Azteca Stadium a huge jolt of excitement four years after a major disappointment.","og_url":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=2322","og_site_name":"South Florida Moving Guides","article_published_time":"2026-06-13T08:33:33+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=2322#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=2322"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/#\/schema\/person\/20969a46eb23057893f2f0726e65003e"},"headline":"Mexico gets off to roaring World Cup start with a 2-0 win over South Africa in the opening match","datePublished":"2026-06-13T08:33:33+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=2322"},"wordCount":751,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=2322#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/c66a2101ecc6070a70661ca3c378306a.avif","articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=2322#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=2322","url":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=2322","name":"Mexico gets off to roaring World Cup start with a 2-0 win over South Africa in the opening match - South Florida Moving Guides","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=2322#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=2322#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/c66a2101ecc6070a70661ca3c378306a.avif","datePublished":"2026-06-13T08:33:33+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/#\/schema\/person\/20969a46eb23057893f2f0726e65003e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=2322#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=2322"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=2322#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/c66a2101ecc6070a70661ca3c378306a.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/c66a2101ecc6070a70661ca3c378306a.avif","width":700,"height":467},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=2322#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mexico gets off to roaring World Cup start with a 2-0 win over South Africa in the opening match"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/","name":"South Florida Moving Guides","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/#\/schema\/person\/20969a46eb23057893f2f0726e65003e","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com"],"url":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}