Ime Okon has urged his South African teammates to keep fighting after their 2-0 loss to co-hosts Mexico in the opening game of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the Mexico City Stadium on Thusday.
The defender, born to a Nigerian father and South African mother, made his World Cup debut on the night and featured for the full 90 minutes.
However, two red cards to Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane, as well as goals from Julián Quiñones and Raul Jiménez saw Bafana Bafana’s hopes of making a positive start to the tournament end in disappointment.
“It was a tough game, we had them at times. We just look forward, we’re positive. We know it’s a loss but we’re looking to the next game now,” Ime Okon told SportyTV after the match.
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“I know the team, I know myself. All of us just wanna fight for ourselves, our families, our country. Onto the next,” he added.
On his World Cup debut, the 22-year-old said: “It’s not a World Cup debut I’ll want to remember. But we need to keep on fighting. We trust in each other, all of us work so hard to be here.”
Mexico started the match brilliantly with Julián Quiñones netting the first goal of the 2026 World Cup just nine minutes in. The goal came after a mistake from Sithole, whose loose touch gave Éric Lira the opportunity to win the ball.
Quiñones pounced and made no mistake, slotting his shot through the goalkeeper’s legs and into the net to make it 1-0.
The co-hosts continued to press with intensity as they looked to add to their early lead. However, South Africa managed to weather the storm, and had their first shot on target in the 44th minute when Mbekezeli Mbokazi’s effort was comfortably saved by Raúl Rangel.
Just like they did in the first half, Mexico made a fast start to the second half, and came close to scoring, aided by some poor decisions by South Africa’s defense. Things went from bad to worse for the African side in the 49th minute, as Sithole received a straight red card for denying a goalscoring opportunity.
History was made in the 66th minute as 17-year-old Gilberto Mora came on for Álvaro Fidalgo, with the talented midfielder becoming the sixth-youngest player to feature at the World Cup.
Few seconds after that, there was more cause for the Mexican fans to celebrate as Raul Jiménez scored his first ever World Cup goal with a brilliant header, making it 2-0.
In the 84th minute, more drama ensued as Themba Zwane received a straight red card for violent conduct after a VAR check, reducing South Africa to nine men. In the 92nd minute, the third red card of the night was shown, this time to Mexico’s César Montes for denying a goalscoring opportunity.
After a dramatic encounter, Mexico earned the first win of the tournament, taking them top of Group A ahead of South Korea’s clash against Czechia at Guadalajara Stadium.
The co-hosts will be targeting another victory when they face South Korea in their next match on Friday, June 19. Meanwhile, South Africa will be determined to bounce back against Czechia on Thursday, June 18.
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