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It was a highly intense, festive start to the FIFA World Cup 2026 as co-hosts Mexico outclassed South Africa 2-0 in front of a passionate home crowd at Estadio Azteca on Friday, with the match-up producing some interesting statistics, records and milestones.
The match saw three red cards being shown, two to South Africa and one to Mexico, with fierce tackles, arguments with the referee and plenty of body contact. The three red cards are most in a World Cup opener, as per ESPN. For the first time since the 2006 edition in Germany, a team got two red cards in a WC match, with the last instance being two red cards shown to Portugal and the Netherlands 20 years back during a match. This is Mexico's 22nd successive win across all competitions against African teams, with their last loss dating back to the same opposition back in the 2005 Gold Cup. This was the 20th WC match at the iconic Azteca, more than any stadium in the tournament's history. Mexico continues their undefeated run at the venue. However, after a seven-match winless streak in the WC openers (five losses and two draws), it is the first time Mexico have started the World Cup with a full set of points to their name. In the ninth minute, the goal from Julian Quinones emerged as the second-earliest WC goal since Philipp Lahm's goal for Germany at the 2006 tournament vs Costa Rica (six minutes), as per Sky Sports. Later on, the second goal was scored by Raul Jimenez, who levelled Jared Borgetti as Mexico's second-highest goal-scorer, six shy of Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez (52 goals), as per ESPN. Mexico's Gilberto Mora was also brought to the pitch as a substitute in the second half. At 17 years and 240 days, he is the youngest player to represent the Mexican flag at the marquee tournament and overall sixth-youngest in tourmament history, as per ESPN. In the ongoing tournament, he is the youngest player of them all. Mexico's second match is against South Korea on June 19. (ANI)
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