Atlante FC had the start it wanted in Matchday 1 of Liga MX, but it did not hold. Pizzuto put Atlante ahead in the second half on 07/16/2026, only for Julián Carranza to answer from the penalty spot and make it 1-1 with ten minutes plus stoppage time remaining.
That mattered because this was the first goal of the 2026 Apertura tournament, the kind of opening strike that can frame an early season. For a stretch, Atlante looked closer to a second goal than Necaxa looked to a response, but the pressure changed the game late and Carranza’s finish kept Necaxa alive.
Necaxa’s equalizer came after the pace had tilted toward its attack. The side pushed heavily in the closing moments after falling behind, and Atlante began to struggle in defense once the pressure increased. Carranza did the simplest thing under the most useful pressure: he converted the penalty and erased the lead.
What remained unresolved in the live update was the ending. The match stood 1-1 at the point Carranza scored, and the only certainty from there was that Necaxa were pressing for a winner while Atlante tried to absorb the surge. In an opening fixture, that left both teams with a result still in the balance and an early warning about how thin the margins can be in the 2026 Apertura tournament.
