5 targets, 4 water breaks, three pink playing cards and a glittering opening ceremony.
The World Cup 2026 opening day delivered the whole lot you possibly can ask for.
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From an early thunder strike to a late winning goal, Thursday was stuffed with drama, stretching from Mexico Metropolis to Zapopan.
Al Jazeera breaks down the important thing takeaways from the 2026 FIFA World Cup’s day 1:
Is that this going to be the World Cup with probably the most pink playing cards?
The three pink playing cards brandished to Yaya Sithole, Themba Zwame and Cesar Montes throughout Mexico’s 2-0 win over South Africa had been an uncommon sight at a World Cup.
Within the final two editions, Qatar 2022 and Russia 2018, solely 4 pink playing cards had been handed out throughout the whole match. This 12 months’s World Cup opening sport almost matched that singlehandedly.
With officiating in the beginning of the match often setting the tone for the remainder of the marketing campaign, the sequence of sending offs at Estadio Azteca may very well be repeated a number of occasions throughout the 39-day, 104-match spectacle in North America.
Thursday’s three reds fell only one in need of the file of 4 at a World Cup 2006 sport, nicknamed the “Battle of Nuremberg”, between Portugal and the Netherlands.
The file for probably the most pink playing cards – 28 – was additionally set on the identical match in Germany.
Controversial VAR on the centre of debate once more
The look of confusion and disbelief amongst South African gamers after Zwane was despatched off for flinging an arm into Mexico’s Roberto Alvarado’s face prompted the controversy: Is Video Assistant Referee (VAR) enjoying spoilsport once more?
Referee Wilton Sampaio didn’t initially pull out the pink card, however after being despatched to the pitchside monitor by VAR, Sampaio determined to ship Zwane off.
Whereas the replays had been unclear, it appeared Zwane was making an attempt to maneuver previous Alvarado, however his hand caught the Mexican’s face within the course of.
Zwane was finally booked for “violent conduct”, a controversial choice, which appeared harsh given it was not an apparent name. South Africa coach Hugo Broos was not satisfied by it, both.
“The second pink card, I believe the Mexican participant blocked my participant,” Broos mentioned within the post-match media convention.
“It’s the place of the referee, and we now have to just accept it additionally, however I don’t suppose [it was a red], it was too comfortable to offer that as a pink card.”
Hydration breaks or momentum killers?
The introduction of fixed hydration breaks – one in every half – got here into impact for the primary time on the World Cup on Thursday, and attracted early criticism from viewers and coaches alike.
Whereas some broadcasters caught with the dwell feed that includes gamers, others minimize to commercials, disrupting the match-viewing expertise for followers watching on TV.
Viewers in america had been pissed off after broadcaster Fox minimize away to full-screen commercials and so they missed some dwell motion throughout the second half of the Mexico vs South Africa opening match.
US head coach Mauricio Pochettino had a combined opinion over the three-minute breaks, that are held no matter climate situations and launched by FIFA to prioritise participant welfare.
“I don’t prefer it. I solely prefer it when the situations are very excessive, however when the situations are good, it isn’t essential to have water breaks,” he mentioned throughout a information convention on Thursday.
“For me, it’s 50-50. For coaches and employees, it’s an opportunity to make some adjustments or repair issues. However it’s a part of the sport, and we settle for that.
“I don’t agree with it, nevertheless it’s not an enormous difficulty and received’t have an enormous impact on the video games,” he mentioned, including that he didn’t watch the opening sport.
Son Heung-min misfires, however South Korea prevail
Son Heung-min has typically been the hero of the South Korea nationwide crew on the largest stage, however on Thursday, though the talisman obtained the lion’s share of the possibilities, he failed to attain of their 2-1 win over Czechia.
Son labored seamlessly with the spectacular Lee Kang-in and Lee Jae-sung to create a number of first-half possibilities, with the trio combining darting runs by means of the center with a succession of harmful pass-and-go strikes that they only couldn’t end.
However Oh Hyeon-gyu and Hwang In-beom stepped as much as the event, bagging a purpose every to steer the Koreans to a dramatic late comeback win over Czechia.
South Korea vs Czechia: A conflict of types
Though each groups opted for a 3-4-3 formation, there was a stark distinction of their methods and strategy.
South Korea performed a fluid, possession-based fashion of soccer, whereas Czechia had been closely reliant on useless balls, choosing a rugged, route-one tactic.
Though the Czechs broke ahead first with direct, bodily play, the Koreans – buoyed by a largely Mexican crowd rooting for them – bounced again with their dominance of possession and classy play, getting the higher of their set-piece specialist opponents.
