Mexico U20 women faced Benin in the opening Group Stage match at the 2026 World Cup, and the game finished 2:2. Both sides walked away with a point after a contest where neither could find a way through the other. By then it was clear this would not be a one-sided affair.
Mexico took the lead through A. Soto in the twenty-first minute, a moment that shifted how the game unfolded. Benin equalised just before half-time when R. Gandonou stepped up and converted a penalty in the fifty-sixth minute. To be fair, both sides had chances, though the statistics would tell a different story.
The second half saw Mexico regain the advantage through M. Saldivar in the fifty-first minute, and for a while it looked as if they might hold on. But Benin fought back, and Gandonou struck again in the eighty-seventh minute to rescue a draw. And here's the thing — the match was decided by moments, not by territory or possession.
Substitutions came at regular intervals. Soto was replaced on the forty-fifth minute, Ebi on the forty-sixth, and later Djibril, Villalobos, Segura and others were brought on as coaches tried to change the shape of the game.
The numbers showed Mexico dominated: 144 attacks to 61, possession at 0.7 compared to 0.3, and nine shots off target to seven. Yet shots on target were level at four apiece, and the result reflected that balance.
After one game both teams sit on one point, Mexico in second place and Benin in third. The group is still wide open, and neither side has anything to lose going forward.