Julian Quinones carries Saudi Pro League form into World Cup with opening goal in Mexico win

Mexico's Julian Quinones scored the first goal of the 2026 World Cup, carrying on his fine form from an outstanding Saudi Pro League campaign. The Colombian-born Quinones scored only nine minutes into his World Cup debut, adding to the 33 Pro League goals that saw him finish ahead of England's Ivan Toney and Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. Quinones, 29, secured Mexican citizenship in October 2023 and made his first appearance for El Tri a month later. He now holds the distinction as the first player to score at Fifa's expanded 48-team tournament as Mexico ran out 2-0 winners in which three players were shown red cards. It took the Al Qadsiah striker only nine minutes. After the pomp and pageantry of the Opening Ceremony , where acts included Shakira and Burna Boy, Mexico flew out of the blocks at the sold-out Azteca Stadium. South Africa goalkeeper Ronwen Williams played an ill-advised pass to Sphephelo Sithole at the top of the penalty arc. Sithole was still careless in losing the ball to pressure from Erik Lira, and as Quinones seized upon the turnover and fired in a low finish that went through Williams' legs. “I’m happy and excited to score my first World Cup goal, in such a spectacular stadium with amazing fans. It’s important for me to acknowledge what my teammates did to secure the first three points. We’ve felt the support of the fans these past few days. We’re united and today it really showed.” Quinones said. Fulham striker Raul Jimenez, making his first World Cup start at his fourth global finals, scored his first World Cup goal on 67 minutes. Jimenez, 35, doubled Mexico's advantage when he ran to the back post and headed Roberto Alvarado's cross from the top right corner of the area low between Williams and his near post. It came almost six years after he suffered a nearly career-ending head injury playing for Wolverhampton Wanderers in the English Premier League. Cesar Montes took the lone blemish for Mexico, sent off in second-half stoppage time with the third red card of the match brandished by Wilton Sampaio. Montes took out Khuliso Mudau as he tried to dribble into the penalty area, and was ruled to have denied an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. South Africa rarely threatened with even numbers in their first World Cup match since hosting the event in 2010. They were reduced to 10 men when Sampaio judged that Sithole had hauled down Brian Gutierrez during an obvious goal-scoring opportunity early in the second half. It was nine men in the 84th minute following a video review that showed Themba Zwane had deliberately struck a Mexico player. It was a first victory in eight attempts for Mexico playing in a World Cup opener. Manager Javier Aguirre was also on the field when Mexico last began a home World Cup with a 2-1 win over Belgium at the same Estadio Azteca in 1986. “This could have been a 4-0 match, but people were happy. It is the start of the World Cup, we left the nerves behind and we go with three points,” Aguirre told reporters. “Now we are thinking about what is next.” Williams, widely acknowledged as the finest goalkeeper in Africa, said Bafana Bafana will have to correct their mistakes ahead of their remaining group games against Czech Republic and South Korea. “If you make mistakes, they will punish you. They will hurt you at this level," he said. "I think the most important thing is that now we know what we’re up against, because we’re not used to this. "We haven’t been part of the World Cup for a very long time. We went down, but we kept fighting. We didn’t give them anything towards the end. We had a few decent chances as well. We’ll keep fighting, we’ll keep going as a team, and we’ll be better.” South Korea came from behind to get their Group A campaign up and running, coming from behind to beat Czech Republic 2-1 in Guadalajara. After a tight opening spell, things exploded into life after the break in. Czech captain Ladislav Krejci powered a header home from a long throw-in to put his side in front with their first shot on target, only for Hwang Inbeom to pull Korea level eight minutes later with a delightful turn and finish. Tomas Soucek thought he had restored Czech Republic's lead only to see his header ruled out for offside. Korea broke away down the right flank 10 minutes from time when Hwang delivered a low cross perfectly into the path of the onrushing Oh Hyeongyu. The substitute connected with a first-time finish that had too much pace on it for Czech goalkeeper Matej Kovar, who could only help the ball on its way into his own net. Czech Republic v South Africa, Thursday, June 18, 8pm (UAE) Mexico v South Korea, Friday, June 19, 5am (UAE)