FIFA World Cup 2026 What To Know: Mexico Opens With Win As US & Canada Prepare For Openers

New Jersey: Mexico opened the World Cup on Thursday with a dominant 2-0 win over South Africa in front of a boisterous home crowd at Mexico City's Azteca Stadium.

On Friday, the United States and Canada both get their opportunity for a fast start in front of their respective home countries.

Julián Quiñones scored the first goal of the World Cup in the ninth minute, booting a cross through the legs of South Africa goalkeeper Ronwen Williams. El Tri made it 2-0 midway through the second half when veteran Raúl Jiménez delivered a header that found the back of the net.

It was an emotional moment for Jiménez, who had tears in his eyes as Mexico's crowd roared in approval. Jiménez suffered a fractured skull after a scary collision in 2020, but has rebuilt his career and now has his first World Cup goal.

In Thursday's nightcap, South Korea rallied for a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic in Guadalajara, Mexico. All three goals were scored in an entertaining second half.

The Canadians are searching for their first World Cup win when they face Bosnia-Herzegovina on Friday after going 0-3 in both 1986 and 2022. Canada has been on the rise over the past decade in the soccer world, moving to No. 30 in FIFA's rankings after being ranked below 100 as recently as 2017. Forward Jonathan David — who plays for Italian club Juventus — is the country's career scoring leader with 39 goals in 77 matches.

Bosnia is playing in its second World Cup and first since 2014, when the country was eliminated in the group stage.

US hopes games on home soil lead to World Cup breakthrough

The Americans, who enter the tournament ranked 17th by FIFA, hope that matches on their home soil can lead to a World Cup breakthrough. The U.S. has advanced to the knockout round in four of the last six World Cups it has played, but hasn't been able to get past the quarterfinals. Coach Mauricio Pochettino was hired in 2024 after successful stints at several European clubs. It's a big tournament for forward Christian Pulisic, who enters this World Cup in his prime and with high expectations.

The Americans' first opponent, Paraguay, is the lowest-ranked team in Group D at No. 47 and back in the World Cup for the first time in 16 years. Ramon Sosa and the Julio Enciso are among the team's best players.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino defends World Cup ticket prices

FIFA President Gianni Infantino defended World Cup ticket prices on Wednesday, saying “if we do something wrong, then probably everyone selling tickets in North America is doing something wrong.” He also said FIFA was powerless to get the U.S. government to admit a Somali referee, and praised his ability to get Iran's team into the United States.

FIFA priced tickets starting at $140 for group-stage games, but regular seats for the July 19 final outside New York were listed at up to $8,680 and hospitality seats at up to $73,200. It raised prices for the final to $10,990 and then $32,970.

After much criticism, FIFA offered $60 tickets to national federations for their regular supporters. Infantino said 130,000 tickets were offered in that category.

Three red cards in the opener, two for South AfricaSouth Africa's Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane, along with Mexico's César Montes, were ejected from the World Cup opener after getting red cards.

Sithole interfered with Brian Gutiérrez as he raced in on goal early in the second half, drawing the first red card. Zwane was ejected late in the game after hitting Mexico's Roberto Alvarado in the face with his left hand.

The ejections meant South Africa had to play short-handed for much of the game. Both players are also suspended for the team's next group game against the Czech Republic next Thursday.

Mexico didn't escape without an ejection — Montes was shown a red card in stoppage time after a hard foul on Khuliso Mudau.

(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)