Mexico opened the World Cup in style on Thursday with a dominant 2-0 win over South Africa in front of a boisterous home crowd at Azteca Stadium.

Today, the U.S. and Canada both get their opportunity for a fast start in front of their respective home countries.

Julian Quinones scored the first goal of the World Cup in the ninth minute, booting a cross through the legs of South Africa goalkeeper Ronwen Williams. El Tri made it 2-0 midway through the second half when veteran Rael Jimenez delivered a header that found the back of the net.

It was an emotional moment for Jimenez, who had tears in his eyes as Mexico’s crowd roared in approval. Jimenez suffered a fractured skull after a scary collision in 2020, but has rebuilt his career and now has his first World Cup goal.

What to watch

Fox is the exclusive U.S. broadcaster of the World Cup with all 104 matches in English on Fox or FS1. All matches are also available on the Fox One app. Telemundo and Universo will broadcast all of the matches in Spanish. Peacock is the streaming home for Spanish language broadcasts while Telemundo also has an app that includes all the matches.

1. Canada vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina, 3 p.m. in Toronto (FOX/Telemundo/Peacock)

2. United States vs. Paraguay, 9 p.m. in Inglewood, California (FOX/Telemundo/Peacock)

Canada at home

The Canadians are searching for their first World Cup win on Friday after going 0-3 in both 1986 and 2022.

Canada has been a country on the rise over the past decade in the soccer world, moving to No. 30 in FIFA’s world rankings after being ranked below 100 as recently as 2017. Forward Jonathan David — who plays for Italian club Juventus — is the country’s all-time leading scorer with 39 goals in 77 matches.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is playing in its second World Cup and first since 2014, when the country was eliminated in the group stage.

US breakthrough?

The Americans — who enter the tournament ranked No. 17 in the world — hope that matches on their home soil can lead to a World Cup breakthrough.

The U.S. has advanced to the knockout round in four of the last six World Cups its played, but hasn’t been able to advance past the quarterfinals. Coach Mauricio Pochettino was hired in 2024 after successful stints at several European clubs. It’s a big tournament for forward Christian Pulisic, who enters this World Cup in his prime and with high expectations.

Paraguay is the lowest-ranked team in Group D at No. 47 and back in the World Cup for the first time in 16 years. Ramon Sosa and the Julio Enciso are among the team’s best players.

Ticket prices

FIFA President Gianni Infantino defended World Cup ticket prices on Wednesday, saying “if we do something wrong, then probably everyone selling tickets in North America is doing something wrong.”

He also said FIFA was powerless to get the U.S. government to admit a Somali referee, and praised his ability to get Iran’s national soccer team into the United States.

FIFA priced tickets starting at $140 for group-stage games, but regular seats for the July 19 final outside New York were listed at up to $8,680 and hospitality seats at up to $73,200. It also raised prices for the final to $10,990 and then $32,970.

After much criticism, FIFA offered $60 tickets to national federations for their regular supporters. Infantino said 130,000 tickets were offered in that category.

You’re outta here

South Africa’s Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane — along with Mexico’s Cesar Montes — were ejected from the World Cup opener after getting red cards.

The ejections meant that South Africa had to play short-handed for much of the game. Both players are also suspended for the team’s next group game.