Staff Reporter
THE FIFA World Cup 2026 got underway in spectacular fashion in Mexico City on Thursday, with co-hosts Mexico defeating South Africa 2-0 in the opening match after a vibrant opening ceremony celebrating Mexican culture, while Korea Republic came from behind to beat Czechia 2-1 in the day’s second Group A encounter.
The tournament officially began with a colourful Opening Ceremony at Mexico City Stadium, featuring music, dance, fireworks and performances by several international artists. The event celebrated Mexican culture through the traditional art of papel picado and marked the first of three opening ceremonies planned across the tournament’s host nations — Mexico, Canada and the United States.
Global music stars including Shakira, Burna Boy, Alejandro Fernández, Belinda, Danny Ocean, J Balvin, Lila Downs, Los Ángeles Azules, Maná and Tyla featured in the celebrations, while popular LABUBU characters from entertainment brand POP MART also made a surprise appearance.
The ceremony concluded with a parade of participating nations’ flags and a fireworks display before attention shifted to the tournament’s opening match.
Mexico made a winning start to their World Cup campaign with a convincing 2-0 victory over South Africa in front of a passionate home crowd.
Julian Quinones etched his name into the tournament’s history books by scoring the first goal of the 2026 World Cup in the ninth minute after capitalising on a South African defensive error and slotting the ball through goalkeeper Ronwen Williams’ legs.
Mexico continued to dominate proceedings and could have extended their lead before halftime, with Williams producing several important saves to keep Bafana Bafana in the contest.
South Africa’s hopes suffered a major setback early in the second half when midfielder Sphephelo Sithole was sent off after bringing down Raul Jimenez as he raced through on goal.
The numerical advantage soon paid off for Mexico. Quinones combined well with Jimenez before Roberto Alvarado delivered a dangerous cross that was headed home by Jimenez in the 67th minute to seal the victory.
The match ended with further disciplinary drama as South Africa substitute Themba Zwane and Mexico defender Cesar Montes were both shown red cards late in the game.
In the second Group A fixture, Korea Republic recovered from a goal down to defeat Czechia 2-1 in Guadalajara.
Despite dominating much of the opening hour, the Koreans fell behind in the 59th minute when Czech captain Ladislav Krejci powered home a header from a long throw.
The lead lasted only eight minutes as Hwang In-beom produced a composed finish after being released by Lee Kang-in.
Korea completed the turnaround in the 80th minute when Oh Hyeongyu converted Hwang’s low cross to secure all three points.
The result gave Korea Republic a winning start to their campaign and continued their impressive recent record against European opposition at World Cups.
Source: FIFA
Today’s match
Friday, 12 June 2026
Canada vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (21:00 Namibia time) – Group B, Toronto Stadium
Weekend fixtures
Saturday, 13 June 2026
USA vs Paraguay (03:00 Namibia time) – Group D, Los Angeles Stadium
Qatar vs Switzerland (21:00 Namibia time) – Group B, San Francisco Bay Area Stadium
Sunday, 14 June 2026
Brazil vs Morocco (00:00 Namibia time) – Group C, New York/New Jersey Stadium
Haiti vs Scotland (03:00 Namibia time) – Group C, Boston Stadium
Australia vs Türkiye (06:00 Namibia time) – Group D, BC Place Vancouver
Germany vs Curaçao (19:00 Namibia time) – Group E, Houston Stadium
Netherlands vs Japan (22:00 Namibia time) – Group F, Dallas Stadium.
