Julian Quinones joins Pele, Philip Lahm in a historic list with the 2026 FIFA World Cup opening goal

The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicked off in spectacular fashion as cohosts Mexico defeated South Africa in the opening match at the iconic Estadio Azteca Stadium on Friday. Mexican striker Julian Quinones etched his name in World Cup record books as he became the first goalscorer of 2026 edition and in doing so, joining one of the most exclusive clubs the sport has to offer.In the ninth minute of the opening match, the 29-year-old forward capitalised on a defensive error, cutting in from the right and firing a low strike past South African goalkeeper Ronwen Williams to open the scoring. The strike became the first goal in the history of the newly expanded 48-team FIFA World Cup format.

It was the 2,721st goal in World Cup history, recorded across 965 matches, according to FIFA data.By achieving the feat, the Colombian born player joins the elusive list of players that includes Philip Lahm, Jurgen Klinsmann and Pelé - players who have written their names into history by scoring the first goal of a World Cup.

The list begins with Lucien Laurent of France, who became the first goalscorer in World Cup history in the first edition in 1930.Quiñones also set a record for the fastest goal in a World Cup opening match as his goal in the ninth minute mark became the third fastest opening goal after Germany's Philipp Lahm famously curled one past Costa Rica in the sixth minute back in 2006 and Brazil's César Sampaio, who scored the fastest one against Scotland in the 4th minute during the 1998 tournament opener.

Of all the players and teams who scored the opening goal of a World Cup edition, only Paul Breitner's West Germany in 1974 went on to win the whole tournament. Out of all the goalscorers, Brazil’s Marcelo is the only one with an unfortunate own goal to his name in the 2014 edition when Brazil hosted Croatia in the opening match.