Mexico and South Korea strike first in Group A

Mexico and South Korea started with a victory on the first day of the and are positioned as the early leaders of the tournament after the two matches played this Thursday.

The Mexican team starred in the opening match of the tournament at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, where they defeated South Africa 2-0 in front of 80,824 spectators, breaking a historic streak of seven opening matches in the World Cup without a victory, a drought that dated back to Uruguay 1930.

Julián Quiñones opened the scoring in the ninth minute by taking advantage of a recovery in the opponent's half, becoming the scorer of the .

The task became easier for the Tri at the start of the second half with the expulsion of South African defender Y. Sithole, leaving the Bafana Bafana with ten players.

Raúl Jiménez took advantage of the numerical superiority and sealed the match in the 67th minute with a header for the final score of 2-0.

The team led by Javier Aguirre dominated the statistics with greater ball possession, more shots, and an overall control of the game that left the African rival with no real chances.

Hours later, at the Akron Stadium in Zapopan, South Korea staged the comeback of the day by defeating the Czech Republic 2-1 in one of the .

The Czechs took the lead in the 62nd minute with a header from Ladislav Krejci following a corner kick, but the Asian team's response was immediate.

Hwang In-beom equalized the score five minutes later with a spectacular shot from outside the box and then assisted Oh Hyeong-gyu, who scored the winning goal in the 80th minute.

With these results, Mexico leads Group A with three points and a goal difference of +2, while South Korea is in second place with three points and +1.

The Czech Republic and South Africa are left with zero points and must respond in the second match to keep their qualification hopes alive.

The next group match will see Mexico face South Korea on June 18 at the Akron Stadium, a game that could determine the first team to qualify from the group, while the Czech Republic and South Africa will compete simultaneously at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta in search of their first points in the tournament.