Mexico defeated South Africa in the first match of the FIFA World Cup 2026 that was held at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City by a margin of 2-0. This was a giant win for the home side, as this propelled their chances of qualifying for the Round of 32 from Group A. While it was an attacking masterclass from Mexico, one of the players who did shine and was an important reason for the big win for the hosts was winger Julian Quinones. In fact, he managed to create a record that no one in the history of the FIFA World Cup has managed to achieve since its inception 96 years ago.
Julian Quinones opened the scoring in the 8th minute for Mexico against South Africa, as he capitalized a schoolboy error from the African side’s defence, and netted a rocket of a shot from just outside the box straight into the back of the net. This was the first goal of the FIFA World Cup 2026.
With this goal, Quinones became the first player from a North American nation to score the first goal of a FIFA World Cup edition in history. Mexico, in fact are the only North American nation to play an opening match of the FIFA World Cup. They had done so thrice in previous editions (1930, 1950, 2010) but never managed to score the first goal of the game in all the three occasions.
Here are all the players to score the first goal of a FIFA World Cup edition:
| Year | Player | Nation | Opponent |
| 1930 | Lucien Laurent | France | Mexico |
| 1934 | Ernesto Belis | Argentina | Sweden |
| 1938 | Josef Gauchel | Germany | Switzerland |
| 1950 | Ademir de Menezes | Brazil | Mexico |
| 1954 | Miloš Milutinović | Yugoslavia | France |
| 1958 | Oreste Corbatta | Argentina | West Germany |
| 1962 | Héctor Facundo | Argentina | Bulgaria |
| 1966 | Pelé | Brazil | Bulgaria |
| 1970 | Dinko Dermendzhiev | Bulgaria | Peru |
| 1974 | Paul Breitner | West Germany | Chile |
| 1978 | Bernard Lacombe | France | Italy |
| 1982 | Erwin Vandenbergh | Belgium | Argentina |
| 1986 | Alessandro Altobelli | Italy | Bulgaria |
| 1990 | François Omam-Biyik | Cameroon | Argentina |
| 1994 | Jürgen Klinsmann | Germany | Bolivia |
| 1998 | César Sampaio | Brazil | Scotland |
| 2002 | Papa Bouba Diop | Senegal | France |
| 2006 | Philipp Lahm | Germany | Costa Rica |
| 2010 | Siphiwe Tshabalala | South Africa | Mexico |
| 2014 | Marcelo (Own Goal) | Brazil | Croatia |
| 2018 | Yury Gazinsky | Russia | Saudi Arabia |
| 2022 | Enner Valencia | Ecuador | Qatar |
| 2026 | Julián Quiñones | Mexico | South Africa |
Julian Quinones Breaks Phillip Lahm’s Record
Julian Quinones also managed to break another record with his strike against South Africa. He opened the scoring for Mexico in the 8th minute of the game. This is now the fastest goal ever scored in the opening game of a FIFA World Cup in history.
The Mexican winger broke the record of German legend Phillip Lahm who scored the first goal of the FIFA World Cup 2006 against Bolivia in the 11th minute.
Julian Quinones came into the FIFA World Cup 2026 on the back of some brilliant form. He finished as the top scorer of the Saudi Pro League 2025/26 season with 33 goals from 31 games for Al Qadsiah. In fact, he even managed to outscore Cristiano Ronaldo this season.
