At home, the Mexican team defeated South Africa 2-0, thanks to goals from Julian Quinones and Raul Jimenez. Coach Javier Aguirre's team had a fairly easy victory when South Africa received 2 red cards in this match. In addition, another highlight of the match was the 17-year-old talent Gilberto Mora playing for the Mexican team, thereby setting a World Cup record.
Statistics from FIFA, the Mexican team is currently unbeaten in the last eight World Cup opening matches, winning six of them. They defeated the South Korean team 3-1 in France 1998, won Croatia 1-0 in Korea/Japan 2002 and defeated Iran 3-1 in Germany 2006 before drawing 1-1 with host South Africa in 2010.
Mexico returned to the winning streak when they defeated Cameroon 1-0 at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. At the 2018 World Cup, Mexico defeated Germany in the opening match. And at the 2022 World Cup, Mexico drew with Poland 0-0.
With the South Korean team, they had a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic. Ladislav Krejci headed in to help the European team take the lead at the beginning of the 2nd half. However, midfielder Hwang In-beom shone brightly, scoring 1 goal, having 1 assist, helping the South Korean team reverse the score to beat the Czech Republic 2-1.
This is the 3rd consecutive victory of the Korean team against a European team at the World Cup after the team defeated Germany at the 2018 World Cup and Portugal at the 2022 World Cup.
Statistics show that 13/14 of the most recent goals of the South Korean team were scored in the second half. The Asian team showed admirable strength and persistent fighting spirit.
With the victory over the Czech Republic, the South Korean team has the first 3 points at the 2026 World Cup. However, they are still behind host Mexico after the first match of Group A due to losing on goal difference.
In the 2nd match of the group, the South Korean team will meet Mexico. The winning team in this match will soon win a ticket to the round of 32.
