South Africa's World Cup campaign got off to a disastrous start on Thursday, with midfielder Yaya Sithole producing a historically poor performance in a defeat against Mexico.
The 27-year-old committed a critical error just eight minutes and 33 seconds into the match, allowing Mexico's Julián Quiñones to score the earliest opening tournament goal since 2006 after being dispossessed by Érik Lira.
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Historic Disciplinary Record
According to Opta data, Sithole received a straight red card four minutes into the second half for a professional foul on Brian Gutiérrez.
He became only the third player in World Cup history since 1966 to both commit a goal-leading error and get sent off in the same match.
Statistical tracking revealed Sithole won only one out of eight contested duels and committed a game-high three fouls despite playing just 49 minutes before his ejection.
The defeat leaves South Africa, ranked 60th in the Opta Power Rankings, with just a 24.0% chance of advancing to the round of 32 according to Opta supercomputer predictions.
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Historical records show only two other players have shared this specific disciplinary fate: Ivory Coast's Cyrille Domoraud and Czechia's Tomás Ujfalusi, both during the 2006 tournament.
Opta data notes that Ujfalusi remains the only player since 1966 to couple a goal-leading error and a red card with conceding a penalty in a single World Cup fixture.
Other historical nightmare performances tracked since 1966 include Hungary's Antal Szentmihalyi in 1966, Argentina's Daniel Carnevali in 1974, and Northern Ireland's Sammy McIlroy in 1986, who all committed two errors leading to goals in a single game.
Additionally, South Africa's Pierre Issa in 1998 and Serbia's Milan Dudic in 2006 hold the record for conceding two penalties in a single World Cup match.
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Sithole will be suspended for South Africa's next Group stage match against Czechia on Thursday at the Estadio Azteca.
