World Cup, Group A: Mexico 2 (Quinones 9, Jiménez 67) South Africa 0

A crowd of 80,824 at the World Cup’s biggest and most famous stadium enjoyed one of Mexican football’s greatest days, as the co-hosts made easy work of nine-man South Africa.

The Azteca was full two hours before kick-off in anticipation of the opening ceremony, which turned out to be an enjoyable jumble of nonsense, including magnificently feathered conchero dancers, ageing Mexican rockers, Shakira, a flag parade at which the American flag was resoundingly booed, and Salma Hayek, whom Gianni Infantino cleverly deployed as a shield against boos as he displayed the World Cup trophy to the crowd.

On Wednesday, Infantino rhapsodised about “The Azteca … a cathedral of football … blessed by the Gods of football”, before adding “or Estadio Ciudad de Mexico, as we call it at the World Cup”. Let’s ignore FIFA’s dull homogenisation policy and keep calling it the Azteca for now.

That beautiful word calls to mind images of Pelé, of Maradona… and of human sacrifice. The Bafana appeared on the big screen, moving in formation up the tunnel. Their singing and shuffling dance gave the scene an appropriately ceremonial air. Here come the victims, food for the hungry gods.

Shakira in yellow wows crowds at World Cup opening ceremony

The crowd howled at the yellow-shirted South Africans, while the big screen displayed a curious message: “WHO WILL WIN? MEXICO 93.1% SOUTH AFRICA 6.9%.”

Such was the expectation on the home team, which has been their historic curse. Lucky as they are to play for this crowd at one of the world’s greatest stadiums, there is a dark side to the privilege. The crowd’s thirst for a victim has to be sated. If it’s not the opponent, then their own team will have to do.

The same process of homogenisation that has made World Cup stadium names boring has also been at work in the game itself. Everywhere, teams are increasingly playing the same way. But the vast majority of this South African squad plays in the domestic league. Might they show us something different?

They did, but it was a style that didn’t make any sense. They play out with short passes from the back, but they don’t seem to expect to be closed down. They do all this at a relaxed 1990s pace.

In seven minutes, Raul Jimenez sprinted to close down Ime Okan, who’d had a long time to decide what to do with the ball, and blocked his eventual attempted clearance out for a goal kick.

If the 35-year-old Jimenez was chasing like that, Mexico had clearly identified a vulnerability. Within two more minutes, their tactics had paid off.

There was no apparent danger when Ronwen Williams rolled a straight pass out to Sphephelo Sithole, 20 yards out in the middle. But as Sithole turned with a casual touch, Mexico’s midfielder Erik Lira exploded into a challenge that caught the defender by surprise and knocked the ball loose. Julián Quinones pounced and smashed a 15-yard shot between the legs of Williams.

At 23 minutes, we had the first mandated “hydration break” of the World Cup. The players walked towards their dugouts, and the broadcasters cut to ad breaks.

In the stadium, the announcer declared “the POWERADE HYYYY-DRATION BREEEAK!” as though introducing a wrestler, the speakers boomed out This Girl, and fans flooded down the stairwells for toilet breaks or beers. Then it was Dance Cam, as the camera picked out individual fans who were socially pressured to cavort for the edification of the crowd.

Sadly, the people seemed to lap up this nonsense, which broke the rhythm of the match and the occasion. This time, it helped Mexico, as South Africa was having their only good spell of the game just before the stoppage. When play resumed, Mexico were back in control, and the stadium atmosphere was notably more subdued. Quinones eventually hit the post, but the home side could not add to the lead.

Would South Africa learn from their mistakes and adapt in the second half? No. In the 46th minute, Williams tried to roll out the same short pass to Sithole, but Alvaro Fidalgo had already anticipated the ball and intercepted before Williams’ pass had even reached his team-mate. This time, Mexico couldn’t punish the mistake.

But two minutes later, Brian Gutierrez burst through on to a ball over the top, and the luckless Sithole bundled him over just outside the box to earn the first red card of World Cup 2026.

Raul Jimenez scored Mexico’s inevitable second with a back-post header with the last touch of the ball before the second Powerade Hydration Break; this time, the Mexico mariachi goal music of La Negra segued straight into Van Halen, and the crowd just kept dancing.

You could see their delight in the joy of Jimenez, who suffered a near-life-changing injury in 2020, when he fractured his skull in a clash of heads with David Luiz. Now his perseverance on the road to recovery has led him to a moment of joy that Mexico will always remember.

There was still time for VAR to send off South African sub Themba Zwane for a rabbit-punch on Gutierrez, completing a miserable day for the South Africans.

And on 92 minutes, Mexico’s Cesar Montes received the third straight red card of the day – an astonishing tally for one match, given that there were only four red cards in each of the Qatar and Russia World Cups. The crowd didn’t care. The World Cup has lift-off.

World Cup TV channels for every match tonight –

How to watch World Cup games on TV tonight for free:

• World Cup games on Friday, June 12: The second day of action at World Cup 2026 features an intriguing double-header between Canada vs Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as USA vs Paraguay. This comes after South Africa lost 2-0 to Mexico and South Korea saw off the Czech Republic 2-1 on the opening day of games.
• When is Canada vs Bosnia and Herzegovina: Canada and Bosnia and Herzegovina will kick off at 8pm UK time. Co-hosts Canada will look to stun their home crowd in Toronto as they take on a robust and resilient Bosnian team in the opening game of Group B.
• How to watch Canada vs Bosnia and Herzegovina for free: Fans wanting to catch the action can tune in for free on BBC One from 7pm. For online, smart TV, or mobile viewing, the match live stream will be available on BBC iPlayer and it can also be streamed on the BBC Sport website.
• When is USA vs Paraguay: Kicking off at 2am UK time on Saturday, June 13, this fixture will wrap up Friday night’s games. The United States will square off against a resilient Paraguayan side at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, with the USMNT determined to make a big statement in the highly anticipated Group D showdown.
• How to watch USA vs Paraguay for free: The clash will be broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer for free from 1.30 am. For those wanting to watch the game online, on a smart TV, or on their phones, the game will be available to stream on BBC iPlayer. While the BBC are showing 54 matches live throughout the World Cup, fans can follow all 104 matches across the broadcaster’s digital platforms.