Mexico manager Javier Aguirre stressed that the emotional significance of opening the 2026 World Cup at the Azteca on Thursday affected some of his players, blaming nervousness for a number of avoidable mistakes in their 2-0 victory over South Africa.

“It’s a brutal setting, it makes your legs shake a bit. You come from the training center [CAR] to the stadium and that makes the players say, ‘wow,'” Aguirre said after the match. “It’s a very strong emotional state, that’s what I attribute it to.

“Never in 25 games have we had players suffer from cramps and here we had three. It’s an emotional issue; making mistakes on easy passes weighed heavily on them, but not on everyone. The atmosphere weighed on them a little, not on everyone, but it did on some. Fortunately, they calmed out. We kept possession, we got into the opponent’s area, we never suffered defensively.”

The players’ emotions were evident after each goal, particularly when Raul Jimenez scored in the second half. After finding the net, Jimenez immediately broke down in tears during his celebration, dedicating the goal to his father, who recently passed away.

Although Mexico secured victory in a match that saw two South African players sent off, Aguirre felt his side should have scored more, having created numerous opportunities, especially during the opening half.

“It was a 2-0 game. It could have been 4-0 and nobody would have said otherwise,” Aguirre said. “4-0 was the scoreline. The fans have the right to boo. I didn’t hear the boos. The fans are happy with the 2-0, but they would have been much happier with 4-0. The important thing is that we have the three points.”

Aguirre’s side will now turn their attention to the fixture against South Korea on 18 June in Guadalajara. The Mexico manager revealed that finishing top of Group A is not currently on his mind, with his focus firmly on the next match.

“Right now, the match against Korea is the most important thing,” Aguirre said. “Everything else is just a matter of adding and subtracting, but it’s not our priority either. We’re focused on Korea, on being better than them, step by step, seeing what the future holds.”

Aguirre also indicated that Edson Álvarez is expected to return to the starting line-up for the upcoming match after Cesar Montes was shown a red card in the second half. Montes’ dismissal took the total number of red cards in the match to three, setting a new record for an opening World Cup fixture.

“Edson will end up playing center back because of Cesar’s expulsion,” Aguirre said. “I opted for [Erik] Lira because Edson arrived with only four minutes of playing time. We put a lot of pressure on him, so he arrived prepared. I spoke with him about Cesar’s red card, and it’s likely that Edson will play center back.”

Mexico will conclude their group-stage campaign against Czechia on 24 June.