{"id":4597,"date":"2026-06-12T04:26:42","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T04:26:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=4597"},"modified":"2026-06-12T04:26:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T04:26:42","slug":"world-cup-roundup-mexico-breaks-one-of-its-curses-south-korea-completes-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=4597","title":{"rendered":"World Cup Roundup: Mexico Breaks One Of Its Curses, South Korea Completes Comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"subnav-title ff-ffc bold fs-23 lh-25 uc pd-b-10\">\n            POPULAR SEARCHES\n          <\/p>\n<p class=\"subnav-title ff-ffc bold fs-23 lh-25 uc pd-b-10\">\n            BROWSE BY\n          <\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>The first day of the 2026 FIFA World Cup did not disappoint. Curses were broken in Mexico City, as were the hearts of the Bafana Bafana faithful.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Here is everything you might have missed from Day 1 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup:<\/p>\n<p><span>In the 2022 World Cup, the entire tournament saw four red cards total. (Photo by Tom Weller\/picture alliance via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n<p><span>(Photo by Ulises RUIZ \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/span> <!--&gt;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14><strong>Assist Of The Day<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"color:var(-color-text-primary);font-family:inherit;font-size:18px;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:0.028em;line-height:1.11;margin:0;width:auto\">Winger<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"height:24px;margin:0 4px;object-fit:contain;vertical-align:middle;width:24px\" src=\"https:\/\/b.fssta.com\/uploads\/application\/countries\/flag-logos\/484.vresize.120.120.medium.0.png\" alt=\"RKC Soccer Club\" height=\"24\" width=\"24\">Mexico<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Ra\u00fal Jim\u00e9nez waited 12 years for his first World Cup goal, and his Mexico teammate Roberto Alvarado made sure he didn't have to work too hard for it. The 27-year-old Chivas winger saw Jim\u00e9nez calling for the ball at the far post and delivered a perfectly-weighted cross with his favored left foot, and Jim\u00e9nez just had to place the ball outside the reach of South Africa goalkeeper Ronwen Williams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14><strong>Save Of The Day<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"color:var(-color-text-primary);font-family:inherit;font-size:18px;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:0.028em;line-height:1.11;margin:0;width:auto\">Goalkeeper<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"height:24px;margin:0 4px;object-fit:contain;vertical-align:middle;width:24px\" src=\"https:\/\/b.fssta.com\/uploads\/application\/countries\/flag-logos\/410.vresize.120.120.medium.0.png\" alt=\"RKC Soccer Club\" height=\"24\" width=\"24\">South Korea<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>South Korea walked away with all three points against Czechia thanks to some late-match heroics from Kim Seung-gyu. After conceding two goals \u2014 one of which was disallowed \u2014 Seung-gyu picked himself back up and made this save from point-blank range that kept South Korea out in front through the final whistle.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14><strong>Goal Of The Day<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"color:var(-color-text-primary);font-family:inherit;font-size:18px;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:0.028em;line-height:1.11;margin:0;width:auto\">Midfielder<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"height:24px;margin:0 4px;object-fit:contain;vertical-align:middle;width:24px\" src=\"https:\/\/b.fssta.com\/uploads\/application\/countries\/flag-logos\/410.vresize.120.120.medium.0.png\" alt=\"RKC Soccer Club\" height=\"24\" width=\"24\">South Korea<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>When Lee Kang-in played Hwang In-beom through, he had three defenders closing in on him. By the time he controlled the ball, he had the whole right side of the goal open. How? A fake shot that fooled Czechia's entire back line. That bit of skill was the difference between one and three points for South Korea on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14><strong>Moment Of The Day<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"color:var(-color-text-primary);font-family:inherit;font-size:18px;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:0.028em;line-height:1.11;margin:0;width:auto\">Striker<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"height:24px;margin:0 4px;object-fit:contain;vertical-align:middle;width:24px\" src=\"https:\/\/b.fssta.com\/uploads\/application\/countries\/flag-logos\/484.vresize.120.120.medium.0.png\" alt=\"RKC Soccer Club\" height=\"24\" width=\"24\">Mexico<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Ra\u00fal Jim\u00e9nez was overcome with emotion after giving Mexico a 2-0 lead over South Africa. Not only was it Jim\u00e9nez's first-ever World Cup goal, but it was in tribute to his late father Rau\u0301l Jime\u0301nez Vega. It's a moment he and El Tri fans will surely never forget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"color:var(-color-text-primary);font-family:inherit;font-size:18px;font-weight:700;line-height:1.25;margin:0;min-width:0\">4 Takeaways From Mexico's Triumphant World Cup Opener vs. South Africa<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"color:var(-color-text-primary);font-family:inherit;font-size:18px;font-weight:700;line-height:1.25;margin:0;min-width:0\">'All Positives': Javier Hern\u00e1ndez Reacts To Mexico's 'Crucial Win vs. South Africa<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"color:var(-color-text-primary);font-family:inherit;font-size:18px;font-weight:700;line-height:1.25;margin:0;min-width:0\">Mexico\u2019s Rau\u0301l Jime\u0301nez Has Long-Awaited World Cup Moment: 'Perfect Day For Him'<\/p>\n\n--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY The first day of the 2026 FIFA World Cup did not disappoint. Curses were broken in Mexico City, as were the hearts of the Bafana Bafana faithful. Here is everything you might have missed from Day 1 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup: In the 2022 World Cup, the entire tournament [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4596,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}