Mexico raised the curtain to the biggest Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup in history with an impressive 2-0 victory over South Africa at the iconic Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on Friday.

The Mexicans, who are co-hosting the global showpiece with USA and Canada, fed off the roaring capacity crowd of 80,824 and got to work fast with Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez delivering the first pair of goals in the 48-team tournament.

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Mexico threatened early, with Jiménez testing South African goalkeeper Ronwen Williams in the fifth minute after meeting a cross from Israel Reyes. Williams produced a fine save, but the pressure soon paid off.

Just four minutes later, Quiñones scored the breakthrough. Collecting the ball on the left flank, he cut inside before drilling a low shot past Williams and into the far corner, sending the crowd at the Azteca into celebration and handing Mexico an early lead in its tournament opener.

The strike also etched Quiñones' name into World Cup history. His goal in the ninth minute became the fastest scored in an opening match of the tournament since Philipp Lahm found the net in the sixth minute of Germany’s 4-2 win over Costa Rica at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Mexico dominated the possessions for the most part of the contest with Jiménez nailing another goal at the 67th mark to give the hosts the much-needed morale-boosting start.