From The Sports Desk: Mexico wins opener, U.S. starts its World Cup journey tonight

World CupFrom The Sports Desk: Mexico wins opener, U.S. starts its World Cup journey tonightThe U.S. men’s national team and its ‘Golden Generation’ play Paraguay in Los Angeles today. Plus, France’s Kylian Mbappé is today’s World Cup spotlight.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Julian Quinones of Mexico celebrates scoring a goal to make the score 1-0 with his teammates Isreal Reyes and Johan Vasquez during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group A match against South Africa on June 11, 2026.Chris Brunskill / Fantasista via Getty Images fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJune 12, 2026, 11:00 AM EDTBy Mark Hodge and Doha MadaniThe World Cup has kicked off! Mexico hosted the opening ceremony yesterday and then beat South Africa, 2-0, in front of an electric home crowd. Can the U.S. men’s national team follow suit tonight? The Americans start their World Cup journey in Los Angeles against Paraguay.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.We’ll have two reporters at that game and a live blog running all day, keeping you up to date on all things World Cup. After the game, check out our coverage on the NBC News website. World Cup RecapMexico started its World Cup campaign in a fiery opening match of the tournament that also saw three red cards. Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez scored the goals for the home side, in front of a capacity crowd of 80,824 at the iconic Azteca Stadium.South Africa’s Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane were given red cards, forcing the team to finish the match with only nine players. Mexico defender César Montes was then given a red card in injury time.It was the first time there were three red cards given in the opening match of a World Cup tournament. And it’s the most in a World Cup game since four were handed out when Portugal played the Netherlands at the 2006 tournament in Germany.“We didn’t play well in the first half, but we could have gone into the break leading 3-0 and no one...