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It's been a good half for the Mexicans, though they probably feel they should have added another goal to Quiñones's early strike.

The stats show Mexico's dominance, with 57 per cent possession and 10 shots on goal compared to South Africa's two.

But with only one goal on the board, the South Africans will feel they can still get back into this.

South Africa is hanging on at the end of the first half. Williams makes amends for conceding the first goal, with the South African goalkeeper leaping at full stretch to keep out a flick by Mexico's Raúl Jiménez.

Just seconds later, Quiñones almost claims his second goal for Mexico. His shot beats Williams but comes back off the post.

It's the first hydration break of the tournament. A three-minute break has been worked into the middle of each half of every game at this World Cup, so players can take on liquids during what are expected to be some hot, hot days on the pitch.

It's 24 C in Mexico City today, with humidity at around 50 per cent.

As expected, Mexico has had the better of this match so far, and took its goalscoring chance well. South Africa was succeeding at soaking up early pressure up to that point, including a crucial save within five minutes from Williams. The goalkeeper will be disappointed he let Quiñones's shot slip through his legs.

Possession is pretty even so far — 54 per cent Mexico to South Africa's 46 per cent — but the South Africans have yet to get a good glimpse of goal.

Wilton Sampaio, the head referee for this match, is wearing a camera attached to his headset, providing us a view from basically where his temple is.

We always expect high TV production values in the World Cup, but seeing a replay featuring Sampaio’s view of Mexico’s opening goal was something else.  

Huge reaction here in Vancouver to that Mexico goal! People at multiple tables jumped out of their seats and there was high-fiving and hugging.

This group of Mexican students living in Vancouver are Mexico fans to the core — but they say they will also still cheer on Canada as the country welcomed them with open arms. 

However, that comes with a caveat. 

"As long as they’re not against Mexico I’m cheering for Canada just as much because I love Canada," said Daniela Gerardo.

Tomorrow, Toronto will be decked out in Canadian red.

Today, Mexico’s green jerseys are everywhere at the downtown fan festival. 

Also spotted: a few sombreros, which makes sense as Toronto’s weather is actually hotter than Mexico City’s right now.

Mexico opens the scoring at the 2026 World Cup! 

A mixup in the South African defence allowed Julián Quiñones to rifle a shot between Ronwen Williams's legs. The Azteca roars!

Following the South African anthem, the notes of the Himno Nacional Mexicano echo around the Azteca's giant bowl. It's followed by a giant, spine-tingling roar from the home crowd.

Mexico kicks off the match and the FIFA World Cup 2026 is officially underway.

Reuters

The players are entering the pitch and lining up for the national anthems.

Mexico coach Javier Aguirre has left out captain Edson Alvarez and veteran goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa for today's game.

Instead, Raul Rengel will start in goal and Erik Lira will be in Alvarez's place in midfield. Raúl Jiménez leads Mexico's ⁠attack

South Africa is captained by goalkeeper Ronwen Williams and Lyle Foster will lead the attack.

Speaking of Messi, you can be pretty sure he's just as driven to win this trophy as he was in 2022.

But there's another title he's undoubtedly got his eye on: the all-time leading World Cup goalscorer. Currently, that record belongs to Miroslav Klose of Germany, who scored 16 goals across four tournaments. Messi is only three goals behind and, with an additional knockout round added to this expanded tournament, he has a definite shot at claiming those bragging rights.

But there's more intrigue here — because just one goal behind Messi, with 12 goals, is France's superstar Kylian Mbappé, who scored a hat-trick in the 2022 final yet still ended up on the losing side. 

So Mbappé and Messi will be going head to head again in 2026, even though they're not scheduled to play against each other in the tournament — yet.

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