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Mexico took advantage of South Africa’s numerical inferiority
The opening match of the 2026 World Cup today, Thursday, between hosts Mexico and AAU witnessed a unique event for the first time in the tournament’s history.
Only 3 players were sent off from the opening match of the World Cup in an unprecedented scene: two footballers from South Africa and one from Mexico.
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In the 50th minute, the Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio assigned a red card to the South African player Swevelo Sitole.
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In the last minutes of the match, two cases of expulsion were also witnessed: Temba Zwane of “Boys” in the 84th minute, and Cesar Montes of Mexico in the minute (90+2).
The match ended with the victory of Mexico (2-0), with the goals of Julián Quiñones in the 9th minute and the veteran Raul Jimenez in the 67th minute.
The confrontation was led by Sampaio (44 years old), who started his international career in 2013 and participated in the 2022 World Cup, in which he led 4 matches (including England-France quarter-finals).
