{"id":11569,"date":"2026-06-12T11:06:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T15:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/?p=11569"},"modified":"2026-06-12T11:06:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T15:06:19","slug":"mexico-defeats-south-africa-2-0-in-opening-match-of-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/mexico-defeats-south-africa-2-0-in-opening-match-of-world-cup-2026-12062026\/","title":{"rendered":"Mexico Defeats South Africa 2-0 in Opening Match of World Cup 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Mexican national team obtained a crucial 2-0 victory against South Africa <\/strong>in the inaugural match of the highly anticipated World Cup 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The historic sports event took place at the packed Mexico\u2019s City Stadium (known as Azteca Stadium), where the home squad secured its first three points of the international tournament in front of thousands of passionate local spectators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED: <\/em><\/strong><\/a>FIFA Bans Haiti\u2019s Jersey Featuring Independence Symbols<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The local squad opened the scoreboard during the very first minutes of the match, setting an aggressive offensive tone. In the 9th minute, forward Juli\u00e1n Qui\u00f1ones scored the first goal<\/strong> of this edition of the World Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The striker executed a low right-footed shot that successfully bypassed the South African goalkeeper, Ronwen Williams, establishing an early and decisive advantage for the Mexican team. This early goal electrified the stadium and allowed the host nation to control the tactical flow of the first half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the second half of the game, the home team managed to consolidate its lead. In the 67th minute, veteran striker Ra\u00fal Jim\u00e9nez extended the goal difference <\/strong>after connecting with a precise header inside the six-yard box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This second goal guaranteed a definitive triumph for the Mexican team, bringing calmness to the technical staff and ensuring a stable development for the remaining minutes of the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three Players Dismissed<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The flow of the inaugural game was heavily influenced by several strict disciplinary decisions by the referee, resulting in a total of three red cards throughout the 90 minutes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South African midfielder Sphephelo Sithole received the first direct red card of the international tournament after committing a dangerous foul against Mexican midfielder Brian Guti\u00e9rrez just outside the penalty area, stopping a clear goalscoring opportunity as the last defender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South African veteran Themba Zwane was also sent off the pitch by the referee after hitting Mexican midfielder Roberto Alvarado in the face during an off-the-ball dispute. These two expulsions left the visiting team with only nine active players on the pitch, severely limiting their offensive capabilities and tactical options for the remainder of the encounter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The host nation was not exempt from the referee\u2019s strict disciplinary measures. Mexican defender C\u00e9sar Montes also received a direct red card, leaving the local squad with ten players on the pitch. Despite the multiple refereeing interventions and the sudden reduction of active players on both squads, the scoreboard remained unchanged during the final whistle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this initial triumph, Mexico successfully started its journey in the group stage of the World Cup 2026, confirming its strong status as a co-host nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[ SOURCE: teleSUR ]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Mexican national team obtained a crucial 2-0 victory against South Africa in the inaugural match of the highly anticipated World Cup 2026. The historic sports event took place at… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11570,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[8],"class_list":["post-11569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"authors":[{"term_id":8,"user_id":1,"is_guest":0,"slug":"yolaunicaquehay","display_name":"RRebeldeAdminWP","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e6145d63ff95c9a0f0e53b7149804b1faf86748d6cc15f466103269a288ea377?s=96&d=mm&r=g","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11569"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11571,"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11569\/revisions\/11571"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11569"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radiorebelde.cu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=11569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}