Julian Quinones Creates History, Becomes First Player From CONCACAF Nation To..

Published 11 June 2026 · sports

Julian Quinones Creates History, Becomes First Player From CONCACAF Nation To... Published By, Last Updated: June 12, 2026, 03:00 IST Quiñones is the first player

Julian Quinones Creates History, Becomes First Player From CONCACAF Nation To... Published By, Last Updated: June 12, 2026, 03:00 IST Quiñones is the first player from a CONCACAF nation to score the opening goal of a FIFA World Cup tournament. Julian Quinones celebrates after scoring first goal of FIFA World Cup 2026. (Picture Credit: AP) Julian Quiñones scored the opening goal of the 2026 FIFA World Cup after capitalising on a mistake by a South African player in the ninth minute of the match. His strike gave co-hosts Mexico the lead at a packed Mexico City Stadium in the Mexican capital. With that goal on Thursday (June 11), Quiñones became the first player from a CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football) nation to score the opening goal of a FIFA World Cup tournament. 1 – Mexico’s Julián Quiñones is the first player from a CONCACAF nation to score the opening goal at a FIFA World Cup tournament.Historic.

pic.twitter.com/O1KpjLZs99 — OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 11, 2026 Lucien Laurent was the first player to score a goal in a FIFA World Cup match. He achieved the feat against Mexico at Estadio Pocitos on July 13, 1930. In the previous edition of the FIFA World Cup in 2022, Enner Valencia scored the opening goal of the tournament against Qatar in the competition’s opening match. Players to score first goal in FIFA World Cup editions EDITION PLAYER COUNTRY AGAINST 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 Agne Simonsson Sweden Mexico 1962 Héctor Facundo Argentina Bulgaria 1966 Pele Brazil Bulgaria 1970 Dinko Dermendzhiev Bulgaria Peru 1974 Paul Breitner Germany Chile 1978 Bernard Lacombe France Italy 1982 Erwin Vandenbergh Belgium Argentina 1986 Alessandro Altobelli Italy Bulgaria 1990 François Omam-Biyik Cameron 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 Yuri Gazinsky Russia Saudi Arabia 2022 Enner Valencia Ecuador Qatar 2026 Julian Quiñones Mexico South Africa For Mexico, star forward Raúl Jiménez also found the back of the net in the 67th minute to seal a 2-0 victory for the hosts.

South Africa, meanwhile, never looked capable of spoiling the opening-day celebrations and finished the match with only nine men after Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane were sent off. Mexican defender César Montes was also shown a red card for a clumsy challenge on Khulisa Mudau near the edge of the penalty area. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit About the Author Harshit Bisht Senior Sub-editor Harshit Bisht is a sports journalist with CNN-News18 since July 1, 2024, and covers cricket with a sharp eye for records, trends, and match analysis. Based in Noida, he has reported extensively on the... Read More First Published: June 12, 2026, 03:00 IST News sports football Julian Quinones Creates History, Becomes First Player From CONCACAF Nation To... Disclaimer: Comments reflect users’ views, not News18’s.