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.
‎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.
