The Notorious Cup
Mexico Vs South Africa. An emotional start to the tournament.
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association World Cup has officially kicked off in the Mexico City Stadium (Estadio Azteca), with the host nation Mexico, facing off against South Africa in the tournament’s opening match.
Mexico started off strongly as naturalized Mexican forward Julián Quiñones scored in the 8th minute after teammate Érik Lira slide-tackled the ball away from South African midfielder Yaya Sithole. Quiñones capitalized on the play and scored the first goal in the tournament.
In the 16th minute, the first yellow card was issued to South African midfielder Teboho Mokoena after tripping Mexican midfielder Álvaro Fidalgo. Just minutes before the hydration break, Mexican midfielder Brian Gutiérrez received a yellow card after mistiming a slide tackle and tripping Mokoena in the 23rd minute.
After halftime, in the 50th minute, a red card was shown to Sithole, who was ejected for tripping Gutiérrez outside of South Africa’s penalty area. The ejection forced South Africa to play with 10 players instead of the full 11.
After several substitutions by both teams, Mexico scored a second goal in the 67th minute when striker Raúl Jiménez headed a ball into the goal off an assist from Roberto Alvarado.
South Africa received its second yellow card when defender Nkosinathi Sibisi shoved Quiñonoes in the throat.
Toward the final minutes of the match, the video assistant referee (VAR) reviewed an incident involving South African midfielder Themba Zwane, who showed aggression towards Alvarado and was ejected. South Africa was reduced to nine players.
Mexico also received a red card in the 90th minute plus stoppage time. Defender César Montes was ejected after tripping South African defender Khuliso Mudau outside of Mexico’s penalty box.
Mexico ended the game winning 2-0 and moved into first place in Group A.
South Korea Vs Czechia. A calm way to end the day.
The second World Cup match kicked off at the Guadalajara Stadium, known as Estadio Akron, with Czechia facing South Korea.
After a scoreless first half, Czech defender Ladislav Krejčí scored in the 59th minute with a header after a throw-in from midfielder Vladimír Coufal. South Korea responded with a goal in the 67th minute when midfielder Hwang In-beom scored off an assist by striker Lee Kang-in following a cross into the midfield.
Czech midfielder Tomáš Souček scored a goal in the 78th minute, but the goal was disallowed because he was offside. Two minutes later, striker Oh Hyeon-gyu scored South Korea’s second goal.
In the final minute of the match, South Korea's midfielder Lee Gi-hyuk ran through Czech defender Krejčí.
South Korea came out victorious, defeating Czechia 2-1 in the final match of the World Cup’s opening day.
The FIFA World Cup runs through July 19, 2026, when the final will be played.