Co-hosts Mexico are taking on South Africa in the opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Thursday (June 11), and Mexican winger Julián Quiñones needed just nine minutes to score the first goal of the tournament.
The 29-year-old capitalised on a defensive error by a South African defender to break the deadlock and give Mexico an early lead at Mexico City Stadium.
The goal by Quiñones was the earliest first goal at a World Cup since 2006, when Philipp Lahm netted for Germany against Costa Rica after six minutes.
Julián Quiñones scored the very first goal of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. #fifa2016 #football pic.twitter.com/cxPf4yW93t
— spaceofcinemas (@anandlodhi12) June 11, 2026
THE FIRST GOAL OF THE WORLD CUP BY SAUDI LEAGUE TOP SCORER JULIAN QUIÑONES! 🎯pic.twitter.com/62vPTJgaNu
— Viralitity (@Viralitity) June 11, 2026
🚨 Julián Quiñones’ goal in the ref-cam! 😮💨🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/Tcj1wYqVnK
— TheGoalsZone (@TheGoalsZone) June 11, 2026
Quiñones, who plays for Al-Qadsiah in the Saudi Pro League, finished as the league’s top scorer in the 2025-26 season. The Mexican forward scored 33 goals in 31 appearances, including four hat-tricks, finishing ahead of Ivan Toney of Al-Ahli (32 goals) and Cristiano Ronaldo of Al Nassr (28 goals) in the scoring charts.
Before netting the opening goal of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Quiñones’ most recent goal for Mexico came in a friendly against Brazil in June 2024 at Kyle Field in College Station, United States.
The ongoing match against South Africa at Mexico City Stadium marks Quiñones’ FIFA World Cup debut. The 29-year-old made his international debut for Mexico in 2023 and featured in a handful of matches that year.
His strike against South Africa has now earned him a place in an exclusive group of players who scored on their FIFA World Cup debut, making a dream start to their journey on football’s biggest stage.
Mexico-South Africa create history!
The first match of FIFA World Cup 2026 is taking place between Mexico and South Africa and the ongoing fixture is a historic one, as it marks the first time in FIFA World Cup history that the same two teams have faced each other in the tournament’s opening match on two separate occasions.
The opening match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup was also contested between South Africa and Mexico at Soccer City in Johannesburg on June 11, 2010. That encounter ended in a 1-1 draw, with Siphiwe Tshabalala giving the hosts the lead in the 55th minute before Rafael Márquez equalised for Mexico in the 79th minute.
