Mexican National Team manager Javier Aguirre isn’t happy with the result of the World Cup opener, stating that El Tri “could have and should have done better” against South Africa at Mexico City Stadium.

Aguirre, who has now experienced a World Cup on home soil as both a player and a coach, acknowledged the significance of the moment. However, he said that a 4-0 scoreline would have been the ideal result for Mexico, even if the 2-0 shutout stands as a solid first victory to kick off their World Cup campaign.

“It’s a massive stage, and that makes your legs shake a little bit. When you travel from the CAR [high-performance center] to the stadium, it makes a player stop and go, ‘Wow.’ It’s an incredibly intense emotional state, and I attribute it to that. The stage weighed on them a little bit—not everyone, but it definitely got to some of them. Fortunately, they settled into possession, we got into the opposing box, and we never struggled defensively. It ended 2-0, but it easily could have been 4-0 and nobody would have argued otherwise,” Aguirre said during his post-match press conference.

In fact, he went on to reiterate that the match dictated a 4-0 outcome—a result the fans expected but didn’t get, which explained some of the boos inside the Mexico City Stadium.

“The match should have been 4-0. The fans have every right to boo, though I didn’t personally hear them. The crowd leaves happy with a 2-0 win, but they would have left much happier with a 4-0. The most important thing is that we walked away with the three points.”

The ‘Azteca’ weighed on some players

The Mexican manager also noted that several players showed clear nerves playing in their very first World Cup, especially on home soil—pointing to goalkeeper Raúl Rangel as an example.

“The stage weighed heavily on a few players. Their legs were shaking,” the head coach admitted, though he made sure to praise other squad members who stepped up and performed well in their 2026 World Cup debuts.

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