South Africa continues recent trend of a truly poor team kicking off the World Cup
The World Cup is officially underway, and well, where do we start with that opener?
Mexico welcomed South Africa to Mexico City in a repeat of the 2010 curtain-raiser, but this time around, there were no heroics from Bafana Bafana.
Sixteen years ago, Siphiwe Tshabalala scored one of the most iconic goals in World Cup history, but this time around, the South Africans showed very little quality of any kind.
Mexico sail past lacklustre South Africa
It didn't take long for Mexico to take the lead. A disastrous piece of the play from South Africa saw their goalkeeper, Ronwen Williams, play the ball to an under-pressure Yaya Sithole, whose awful first touch gave the ball straight to Julian Quinones.
He didn't need a second invitation, rifling the ball through the goalkeeper's legs to give the hosts a deserved lead.
Throughout the rest of the second half, there was very little quality of note from either side, but in the second half, things went from bad to worse for Bafana Bafana.
Five minutes after the break, Sithole completed his disaster-class when he was handed a second yellow card and duly sent off.
Veteran striker Raul Jimenez then doubled the hosts' lead with a fine header after good work down the right from Roberto Alvarado, only for things to go from bad to worse for South Africa when Themba Zwane was sent off for slapping the face of Alvarado.
El Tri would then suffer a red card of their own when Cesar Montes was sent off for a lazy challenge late on, but they held on for a comfortable 2-0 win in somewhat of a drab affair.
Online betting sites already made the Mexicans overwhelming favourites to top Group A, but in the aftermath of this victory, those odds have been slashed even further.
The latest odds from Sportaza online sportsbook now make the tournament co-hosts a clear 2/5 frontrunner to top their quartet, with South Africa now way out at 33/1.
But while the above critique is somewhat scathing for the South Africans - and rightfully so, may we add - they aren't the only ones to deliver a stinker in the opening game of a World Cup.
In fact, they have become the third team in a row to be involved in somewhat of a mismatch in the curtain raiser on the grandest stage.
Here is what happened the last two times.
Ecuador waste no time dispatching Qatar
The sceptics had already circled the Qataris before the ball was even kicked ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
The Maroon had never before featured on football's grandest stage, but after their controversial bid to host the tournament was accepted, their World Cup bow was confirmed.
In the lead-up to the tournament, they won the AFC Asian Cup for the first time, leading many to think that they would actually be competitive once the global showpiece got underway.
How wrong they were.
They faced Ecuador in the curtain raiser, arguably the second-worst team in a group that contained both the Netherlands and Senegal.
But while they may have been the second-worst team at the tournament, they were still a million miles better than the Qataris.
It took just 16 minutes for La Tricolor to break the deadlock when captain Enner Valencia swept from the penalty spot.
On the half-hour mark, the former West Ham striker struck again, doubling his side's lead.
Qatar never mounted any pressure of sorts and would succumb to a 2-0 defeat, setting the tone for what was to come.
The Maroon would suffer a 3-1 defeat to Senegal in their second group game, confirming their exit before they had even completed their group stage schedule.
The Netherlands would then hand them a 2-0 beating in their final game, rooting them to the bottom of Group A with three defeats from three and a goal difference of -6, the worst at the entire tournament.
Russia obliterates Saudi Arabia
But neither Qatar's nor South Africa's displays could hold a candle to that of Saudi Arabia in 2018.
That year, hosts Russia headed into the World Cup as the lowest-ranked nation and without a win in the last year.
There were genuine concerns that the Sbornaya could embarrass themselves on home turf and suffer a similar fate to that of Qatar in 2022.
Luckily, however, Saudi Arabia were even worse.
Russia would come roaring out of the blocks when defensive midfielder Yury Gazinsky rifled them in front.
Two minutes before the break, the brilliant Denis Cheryshev doubled the hosts' lead with a stunning goal, chipping the ball over one defender before lashing past Abdullah Al-Mayouf.
From then on, it was one-way traffic. Targetman Artem Dzyuba made it three with a powerful header in the 71st minute, before two injury-time goals, one from Cheryshev and a stunning free-kick from Aleksandr Golovin, sealed a 5-0 win, the most lop-sided opener in World Cup history.
Russia would then go on to defeat Egypt and progress to the round of 16, where they would stun Spain on penalties.
Saudi Arabia would lose again to Uruguay to confirm their exit, but they did manage to pick up a win when they downed Mohamed Salah's Egyptians in their final group game.
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