Mexico opened the tournament with a tense, chaotic win in Mexico City, while South Korea showed resilience in Guadalajara to cap a dramatic first day before Canada’s debut.
The biggest World Cup ever began with exactly the kind of energy that comes with a 48-team field and three host countries. Two Group A matches launched a 39-day, 104-game tournament, and both games suggested that this expanded event will be unpredictable from the start. For Canadian supporters waiting for their team’s entrance, the first day offered both a preview of the stage and a reminder that nothing here will come easily.
Mexico’s opener mixed celebration with turmoil
The tournament’s first whistle sounded at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, where a crowd of more than 80,000 greeted the occasion with a major pregame show featuring Shakira and the band Maná. The match that followed, Mexico against South Africa, delivered one of the most eventful opening fixtures in World Cup memory.
The first breakthrough arrived early. In the ninth minute, Erik Lira pounced on a mistake from a South African defender trying to play out from the back, and Julián Quiñones finished neatly through goalkeeper Ronwen Williams to score the first goal of the 2026 tournament. The second goal carried a different kind of weight. Raúl Jiménez, whose career has included the frightening skull fracture he suffered in a collision while playing for Wolverhampton in 2020, rose to head home his first World Cup goal and reacted with visible emotion after finding the net.
What will linger longest, though, is the discipline crisis that followed. Referee Wilton Sampaio of Brazil issued three red cards, the most ever in a World Cup opener and the first match in the tournament to feature that many dismissals in 20 years. South Africa lost Sphephelo Sithole in the first half and Themba Zwane after a video review caught him striking Roberto Alvarado in the face. Mexico later went down to 10 men as well when César Montes was sent off for pulling down a South African attacker on a breakaway. All three players now face suspensions for the next round of group games.
For Mexico, the result meant far more than just three points. Javier Aguirre’s team won its first-ever World Cup opening match after five losses and two draws in previous attempts, and it did so with 17-year-old midfielder Gilberto Mora playing a major role. The 2-0 score line and the clean sheet gave the hosts a confident start and a sense that the pressure of expectation might actually be fueling them.
South Korea answered pressure with poise
If Mexico’s match was defined by chaos, the nightcap in Guadalajara was built on control under stress. South Korea, ranked 25th in the world, fell behind Czechia, ranked 38th, before recovering for a 2-1 victory at Estadio Akron in front of a crowd that never fully filled the seats but still got a memorable contest.
The first half was flat enough that both teams were booed off the pitch, and the pattern did not change immediately after the restart. Czechia struck first in the 59th minute when captain Ladislav Krejčí rose above everyone else to meet a long throw and head home the opening goal, a finish that reflected the kind of set-piece dependence that helped carry the Czechs through qualifying.
South Korea’s response was the most polished move of the day. Eight minutes later, Lee Kang-in slid a pass into Hwang In-beom, who used a sharp fake shot to unbalance two defenders and the goalkeeper before curling the equalizer into the corner. The move took 25 passes from start to finish, making it one of the longest buildup sequences ever recorded for a World Cup goal.
The drama continued when Tomáš Souček appeared to restore Czechia’s lead in the 77th minute, only for the assistant referee’s flag, later confirmed by review, to rule the goal out for offside. South Korea capitalized almost immediately. Substitute Oh Hyeon-gyu, who said afterward that a 38-degree fever had nearly kept him out of the match entirely, finished Hwang’s low cross for the winner three minutes later. Kim Seung-gyu then protected the result with a diving save deep in stoppage time.
South Korea ended the match with more shots, more composure, and a stronger claim to dark-horse status. The victory also gave Son Heung-min another milestone, as he became one of only two players to appear in four World Cups for South Korea, joining current head coach Hong Myung-bo.
The group picture already feels unsettled
After one day, Mexico and South Korea sit level on three points at the top of Group A, with the hosts ahead only on goal difference. South Africa and Czechia both have immediate problems to solve, including suspensions and the need to recover quickly from defeats that could shape the rest of their tournament.
For Canada, Thursday’s action served as the opening act before its own long-awaited moment. The men’s national team begins on Friday at a sold-out BMO Field in Toronto against Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the first men’s World Cup match ever played on Canadian soil. Jesse Marsch’s squad is grouped with Bosnia, Qatar, and Switzerland, and it will complete its group-stage schedule at BC Place in Vancouver. After watching the other host nation and several tournament contenders make their entrances, Canada now gets the chance to step into the spotlight at home.
Opening day made one thing clear: this tournament is likely to be noisy, fast, and full of swings in momentum. There were three red cards, a tearful header from a striker with a remarkable comeback story, a fever-hit substitute delivering a winner, and a 25-pass team move that looked worthy of a show reel. Before Canada even kicked off, the 2026 World Cup had already announced itself as an event built for drama.