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Two second-half goals gave Mexico their first ever victory over France to leave El Tri well-placed to make the last 16 and the 2006 runners-up on the verge of elimination.
Mexico were the brighter of the two throughout but were unable to take any of their chances until just after the hour, when substitute Javier Hernandez broke the offside trap and rounded keeper Hugo Lloris before slotting home.
Another Mexican substitute, the 37-year-old Cuauhtemoc Blanco, sealed the victory from the penalty spot after a third replacement, Pablo Barrera, had been felled in the box.
It leaves Mexico level at the top of Group A with Uruguay and a draw between those two sides in their final game in Rustenburg would send France out of the tournament.
Mexico and France met in the first ever World Cup finals match in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1930, with Les Bleus cruising to a 4-1 victory, but this keenly contested encounter was never likely to reproduce such a scoreline.

Both teams showed greater endeavour than in their drawn opening games, with France in particular looking more lively, but for long periods neither possessed the cutting edge to truly punish their opponents.
The French squad is reportedly in disarray, with suggestions of a training ground bust-up between coach Raymond Domenech and midfielder Florent Malouda, who was not selected for their uninspired 0-0 draw with Uruguay, and they have been criticised by former midfielder Zinedine Zidane.
However, Malouda was recalled in place of Yoann Gourcuff in a line-up that kept faith with a world class strike-force, spearheaded by Nicolas Anelka, that has failed to register an international goal since last November.
Malouda showed rare glimpses of the form he showed throughout last season for Chelsea, forcing Mexico keeper Oscar Perez to palm over early in the second half, having earlier begun a free-kick routine straight off the training ground that saw Frank Ribery flash a drive across goal.
This was the closest Ribery would come to affecting the game from his central playmaker role and, as against Uruguay, Anelka was largely anonymous and was replaced at half-time by Andre-Pierre Gignac, who also offered little in his 45 minutes on the pitch.
Mexico's attack is exciting but too often lightweight. Their forwards missed numerous chances in their opening 1-1 draw with hosts South Africa but all three players retained their place in the side - although Arsenal striker Carlos Vela was forced off with an injury on the half hour with only one skied shot to his name.
Another member of their attacking triumvirate, Tottenham's Giovani Dos Santos, produced another lively display to match the one he produced against South Africa and, but for Patrice Evra's presence, would have been able to get greater purchase on a shot that bobbled wide just before half-time.
Mexico's chief offensive weapon in the first half was left-back Oscar Salcido, who regularly found himself in advanced positions, but his execution could not match his intent.
He had two good shooting opportunities in the first half but from the first he shot wide of the far post from 25 yards, and then saw a close-range effort blocked by France keeper Lloris after William Gallas had inexplicably backed away from Salcido's run.
The opening of the second half had seen a clear dip in quality from what had been a decent first 45 minutes, but two positive Mexican substitutes - Hernandez and Blanco - altered that, with a third, Vela's replacement Barrera, also playing a part.
In the 64th minute, Marquez chipped a ball forward from midfield, Eric Abidal played the Manchester United-bound striker onside and with the French defence static and begging for offside, Hernandez was able to advance onwards, skip round Lloris and slot into the vacated goal.
France's response was meek at best but the Mexicans, by now full of confidence, continued to press and were rewarded when Barrera was tripped and Blanco charged in from outside the box to dispatch his penalty into the right-hand corner of the net.

Mexico's Rafael Marquez struck 12 minutes from time to deny hosts South Africa a winning start to the World Cup at Soccer City in Johannesburg.
Marquez controlled Andres Guardado's cross at the back post and rifled past Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune to ensure the spoils were shared after a breathless opening to the tournament.
The Mexicans were the better team throughout, but they fell behind when Siphiwe Tshabalala fired in a left-foot thunderbolt from an angle on the left to give the hosts a lead in which their supporters revelled.

In an atmosphere bordering on ecstasy in Johannesburg, Tshabalala's screamer threatened to provide the 19th World Cup with the fairytale beginning it was hoping for, before Marquez and Mexico intervened.
Even then, South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira saw his team almost snatch it in the dying moments, only for striker Katlego Mphela to agonisingly roll a shot against the post with keeper Oscar Perez beaten.
Yet over the 90 minutes, Parreira and his side were perhaps lucky to get away with a draw themselves in front of a partisan 84,490 crowd as Mexico failed to turn their startling superiority into victory.
For South Africa, the first African nation to host the footballing spectacular, what was supposed to be a day of celebration began with the announcement that the 13-year-old great-granddaughter of former president and icon Nelson Mandela had tragically died in a car crash on Thursday.
The 91-year-old Mandela stayed away from the opening ceremony - which preceded the game - to mourn, but through president Jacob Zuma, who declared the World Cup open, he asked people to "enjoy the game".
It is unlikely many of the South African fans enjoyed the first 54 minutes of their moment in the global footballing spotlight as their team were comprehensively outplayed by a Mexico side that knocked the ball around the gorgeous surface with consummate skill and ease.
With Giovani sitting in the hole behind Carlos Vela and Guillermo Franco, the Mexicans had weapons Bafana Bafana simply could not handle - and the movement of the front three quickly began to cause the hosts all kinds of havoc.
Khune was only spared the embarrassment of his early fumble costing a goal by Aaron Mokoena's reflex block to deny Giovani, before Franco headed a corner wastefully over.
South Africa were struggling to get out of their own half with any real consistency and former West Ham striker Franco was inadvertently keeping them in the contest, again heading off target when he should have done better and seeing another shot expertly saved by Khune.
Mpehla had been forced to feed off scraps until he was inches away from heading in Tshabalala's cross just before the break, but soon after the interval the world had the goal for which it had been waiting.
Tshabalala, a 25-year-old Soweto-born left winger for Kaizer Chiefs, wrote his name down in football folklore with a strike of such pure quality it almost took a second for him to realise what he had done.
Mexico were shell-shocked, but after Giovani's left-foot rocket was tipped away by Khune, up popped Marquez to slot in and quieten some of the vuvuzelas in the crowd.
Mphela's late flirtation with the woodwork only compounded the agony for the hosts, but their World Cup campaign remains very much alive.

With the World Cup only seven months away, the South African FA made a brave but necessary move to oust former coach Joel Santana and bring back fellow Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira. That move paid off, and the team now prepare themselves for the opening match of the 2010 World Cup.

Bafana struggled to score goals a few months back, and Parreira has done well to improve that situation, though the side should make more out of the opportunities and possession they have during games. The defence on the other hand, has been impressive, with very few goals conceded thanks to tight marking and good communication at the back, while marshalled by Itumeleng Khune in goal.

The side currently boasts a 12-game unbeaten run, and although a number of those teams were not particularly testing for Bafana, there were also matches against the likes of Colombia, Bulgaria and Denmark in that statistic.

For this reason, and due to incredible support from the home fans, South Africa is feeling confident and aiming to make it to the second round of the competition. Failure to do so would make them the first host nation to fall at the group stage.

Mexico Are Well Prepared

The opponents of the host nation are the surprise package of Mexico, a country with a tradition of football passion and a fair share of good teams down the years. The Mexicans have played many warm-up matches ahead of the tournament, and the preparations have been good for the North Americans, with opponents such as England, Holland and Italy coming head to head with El Tri.

The side lost to England and Holland, while beating Italy, but against all of those opponents the Mexicans proved to be an impressive and cohesive outfit. Talented and relatively balanced throughout the park, Mexico will be a stern test for South Africa, and home advantage will be a necessary weapon in Bafana’s arsenal.


Mexico have reached the last-16 at the last four World Cup tournaments and coach Javier Aguirre has set a second-round place as the minimum requirement for his squad of 14 local-based stars and nine from around Europe. Aguirre salvaged a qualification campaign on the verge of failure under former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson.

The Mexicans do not suffer from a lack of support either, with a great number of fans making the journey to South Africa for the World Cup. They will be behind their troops, knowing that two difficult tests against France and Uruguay remain after the Soccer City opener. A coach like Aguirre has experience and will prepare his team well, while the many matches ahead of the tournament would have allowed the team to become more comfortable together.
South Africa

South Africa 1-0 Denmark

South Africa 5-0 Guatemala

South Africa 1-1 Bulgaria

South Africa 4-0 Thailand

Mexico

Mexico 2-1 Italy

Mexico 5-0 Gambia

Mexico 1-2 Holland

Mexico 1-3 England

TEAM NEWS

South Africa

Itumeleng Khune, fully recovered from an injury sustained in a bruising win over Colombia, will be the goalkeeper behind a back four of Siboniso Gaxa, captain Aaron Mokoena, Bongani Khumalo and Tsepo Masilela. There will likely be five midfielders with Teko Modise, Reneilwe Letsholonyane, Siphiwe Tshabalala, Steven Pienaar and Thanduyise Khuboni set to balance Bafana in the middle of the park. Katlego Mphela will be the lone striker, and will be in confident mood after scoring six goals in five World Cup warm-up matches.

Possible Line-up: Khune, Gaxa, Khumalo, Masilela, Mokoena, Pienaar, Modise, Tshabalala, Letsholonyane, Khuboni, Mphela.

Mexico

Oscar Perez appears the likely goalkeeper with Efrain Juarez, Ricardo Osorio, captain Rafael Marquez and and Carlos Salcido a possible 'El Tri' back four. And the Mexican midfielders in what could be a densely populated area of the Soccer City pitch may be Giovani dos Santos, Israel Castro, Guillermo Franco, Gerardo Torrado and Andres Guardado. Manchester United-bound Javier Hernandez looks a strong candidate to start upfront in a team packed with talented individuals who do not always sing from the same sheet.

Possible Lineup: Perez; Juarez, Osorio, Marquez, Salcido; G. dos Santos, Castro, Torrado, Guardado; Franco, Hernandez.

Mexican Fans Are Excited To Be Playing The Opening Match

PLAYERS TO WATCH

South Africa

Bafana will be looking to Katlego Mphela in the absence of Benni McCarthy in terms of a goalscorer and someone to rely on up front. The talented Sundowns attacker is playing well at the moment, and recently boasted that losing five kilograms during the training camps has made him faster. He will need to use that speed against El Tri.

Mexico

Manchester United-bound striker Javier Hernandez is one of the jewels in the Mexican crown, adding pace and skill to an already aggressive attacking team. He is likely to be the lone striker up front against South Africa, and the Bafana defenders will need to watch him carefully to make sure he does not get the better of them.

PREDICTION

It is a game that will rely heavily on home support in the 89,000 seater Soccer City Stadium, which will be transformed into a Bafana cauldron for the match. The Mexicans are the better team, but South Africa has improved steadily and are very fit. The home advantage will weigh heavily, and perhaps the hosts can pull off a surprise in front of their fans with a 2-1 win. Mexico are tipped by the Castrol Match Predictor to beat South Africa in this opener, but football is a tough game to call.

The criticism of Italy coach Marcello Lippi is almost certain to increase after Mexico put the Azzurri to the sword with a thoroughly deserved 2-1 win at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels.

Carlos Vela opened the scoring early in the first half, and Mexico missed a number of chances to double their lead before substitute Alberto Medina finally made it 2-0 in the final 10 minutes. Defender Leonardo Bonucci scored a consolation for the hugely disappointing Italians, who were outplayed throughout, in the final minute.

With Italy having no official match action coming into this fixture, much of the focus was on coach Marcello Lippi’s squad selection. Having already cut Antonio Candreva and Fabio Grosso from his original 30, on June 1 he also released Salvatore Sirigu, Mattia Cassani, Andrea Cossu, Marco Borriello and Giuseppe Rossi from his final 23.

The World Cup holders fielded a strong team, although Giorgio Chiellini and Mauro Camoranesi missed the game through injury. Vincenzo Iaquinta, Antonio Di Natale and Alberto Gilardino featured up-front.

Mexico had promised to play a weakened starting XI, although dangerous attacking trio Javier Hernandez, Carlos Vela and Giovani Dos Santos all started.

Italy started strongly and were so close to taking the lead after just two minutes as Iaquinta headed against the crossbar following Andrea Pirlo's corner. Soon after, a fine Pirlo pass culminated in Di Natale lashing over.

Mexico's first chance arrived on eight minutes as some poor marking at a corner presented Gerardo Torrado with a clean shot from 20 yards which he fizzed a couple of yards wide.

This was a warning of what was to come as Mexico broke the deadlock on 16 minutes through Vela. The Arsenal striker latched on to a delightful Giovani chipped through ball and fired past Buffon.

Fernandez was about to double the advantage on 24 minutes after turning Fabio Cannavaro, but a Domenico Criscito tackle came to the rescue. Carlos Salcido then fired just wide as Mexico started to dominate.

Italy's best hope of scoring seemed to be from set-pieces and just shy of the hour mark Leonardo Bonucci headed over unmarked from a corner.

But it was Mexico who were playing all the football. Salcido launched a missile from 30 yards that missed the top corner by inches.




Each side made one change at half time as Simone Pepe replaced Di Natale for Italy, and Pablo Barrera came on for Rafa Marquez for Mexico.

Barrera squandered a glorious opportunity moments after his introduction as he was put clean through on goal from De Rossi's bad backpass, but the substitute chipped wide.

The North Americans missed another golden chance as Vela put the ball across the six yard box for an open goal, but Hernandez got it all wrong.

Mexico were laying siege to the Italian goal, and should have had a penalty on the hour mark after what appeared to be a clear foul from behind by Gianluca Zambrotta on Vela.

Italy desperately tried to change things, and Giampaolo Pazzini and Christian Maggio entered for Gilardino and Zambrotta. But it was Mexico who continued to carve openings and Vela almost got onto the end of a chipped pass.

A deserved second Mexico goal finally arrived as two substitutes combined. Legendary veteran Cuauhtemoc Blanco delivered a magnificent chipped pass to play in Alberto Medina who finished emphatically by driving the ball into the corner.

With two minutes remaining Italy managed to get a consolation as substitute Salvatore Bocchetti hit the post with his first touch from a corner, and fellow defender Bonucci lashed home the rebound for his maiden nazionale goal.

Italy pushed for an equaliser, but it was Mexico who should have reopened their two goal advantage as Buffon came to the rescue with a superb point-blank save from substitute Andres Guardado.

The Azzurri's final official friendly before their first World Cup group game against Paraguay will be on Saturday evening when they face Switzerland. Mexico, meanwhile, will be delighted with this impressive victory.