The early kick off the 2026 World Cup has seen South Korea and Mexico on three points at the top of Group A.
Mexico opened the 2026 World Cup with a 2-0 victory over nine-man South Africa in Thursday’s Group A clash at Mexico City Stadium.
Julian Quinones scored the earliest goal in a World Cup opener since 2006, capitalizing on a poor pass from South African goalkeeper Ronwen Williams and a heavy touch by Yaya Sithole, before finishing firmly after nine minutes.
Raul Jimenez, making his first World Cup start, had earlier forced a fine save and later added the second goal with a header from Roberto Alvarado’s cross in the 67th minute.
South Africa’s discipline collapsed as Sithole was sent off in the 49th minute for clipping Brian Gutierrez through on goal, and substitute Themba Zwane received a straight red after a VAR review for violent conduct in a tussle with Alvarado.
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In stoppage time, Mexico’s Cesar Montes was harshly sent off for fouling Khuliso Mudau, resulting in three red cards in the match the first such occurrence at a World Cup since 1998.
In other places,South Korea came from behind to beat Czechia 2-1 in their opening 2026 World Cup Group A match at Estadio Guadalajara.
Czechia took the lead in the 59th minute through Ladislav Krejci’s towering header from a long throw-in by Vladimir Coufal.
However, South Korea responded quickly as Lee Kang-in assisted Hwang In-beom, who produced a composed drag-back and finish to equalise eight minutes later. Substitute Oh Hyeon-gyu then turned Hwang’s centre into the bottom-left corner with 10 minutes remaining to secure the victory.
Czechia relied heavily on set-pieces Krejci’s goal was the first World Cup goal scored directly from a throw-in since 2018 but could not hold on despite strong goalkeeping from Matej Kovar.
The result sees South Korea join Mexico on three points at the top of Group A. Hwang became the third South Korean to record a goal and an assist in a single World Cup match, while Oh became the eighth to score on his debut World Cup appearance.
