Mexico got their World Cup campaign off to a winning start this afternoon as they ran out 1-0 victors over Cameroon in a controversial encounter in Natal.

Giovani dos Santos twice had the ball in the back of the net in the first half, only for the linesman to wrongly rule both of them out for offside.

Samuel Eto'o also clipped the outside of the post in a rare chance for Cameroon, but Mexico finally got the opening goal just after the hour mark when Oribe Peralta slid the ball into an unguarded net.

Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at an intriguing 90 minutes at the Arena das Dunas.

Match statistics

Mexico
Shots: 9
On target: 4
Possession: 62%
Corners: 2
Fouls: 11

Cameroon
Shots: 13
On target: 1
Possession: 38%
Corners: 5
Fouls: 12

Was the result fair?

Absolutely. Mexico were comfortably the better side this afternoon and, in truth, it should have been more than the one-goal margin they managed. They have some poor finishing and some even worse officiating to thank for it only being 1-0, but the main thing for them was the victory today.

El Tri certainly started the better but Cameroon soon eased into the match and had a spell in the ascendancy midway through the first half. However, they spent the majority of their time on the back foot and relied largely on set pieces and counter-attacks to threaten Mexico.

The stats show that the Africans had more shots this afternoon, but the possession is a more accurate gauge of how the game went. Cameroon can have no real complaints at having coming away with nothing this afternoon, and they may even be thankful that it wasn't worse.

Mexico's performance

After such a rocky build-up to the tournament and a shambolic year in 2013, there was a lot of interest in how Mexico would fare this summer. After their first test, the signs are positive, and they will now be confident of reaching the last 16 for the sixth consecutive tournament.

It was by no means the perfect performance, however. The team looked lightweight when it was confronted with the physical side of Cameroon's play, while their defence of set pieces left a lot to be desired. Their naturally attacking mindset also left them thin at the back on a couple of occasions, something of which better teams will take full advantage.

However, they played some nice football while on the ball and carved out plenty of good goalscoring chances. Their use of the wing-backs caused Cameroon a lot of problems early on, while the front two of Giovani dos Santos and Oribe Peralta always looked capable of getting a goal.

Cameroon's performance

In truth, it was a pretty poor showing from Cameroon this afternoon. They were forced onto the back foot early on by a bright Mexico start and, with the exception of a short period in the first half and towards the end of the match, they didn't get out of defensive mode.

Like Mexico, their defence of set pieces left a lot to be desired, and it is quite easy to see a top team like Brazil breaching the backline with alarming regularity if they play the same. One concern for the Indomitable Lions will be that they defended in numbers without great success against Mexico, so what will Neymar and co be able to do to them?

They rarely threatened up front, with Samuel Eto'o becoming increasingly isolated as the game wore on. They did have their moments in attack and wasted a couple of decent chances to score, but they were comfortably second best this afternoon. With Croatia and Brazil to come, it is hard to see them even picking up a point in this tournament.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Giovani dos Santos: He may not officially be on the scoresheet today, but Giovani had the ball in the back of the net twice with perfectly valid strikes. Both were examples of bright forward play from the Villarreal man, but he was robbed of an opening match brace by some shoddy officiating.

Given previous questions over his attitude, it wouldn't have been surprising to see his head drop, but that simply didn't happen. He kept at it for his side and created a great chance for Peralta to score before his saved effort led to his strike partner's goal.

Biggest gaffe

Take your pick. Of the two howlers from the linesman, the second one just about takes it as the worst. The ball was flicked on from a Mexico corner by Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, a Cameroonian player, and tucked home from close range at the back post by Giovani.

The linesman's flag was straight up despite Choupo-Moting's touch making it impossible for the striker to have been offside. Even if the ball had come off a Mexican head, Giovani didn't look to be off, making the decision to disallow the goal even stranger.

Referee performance

The linesman made more headlines than the referee this afternoon with those two poor decisions, and Wilmar Roldan had no choice but to go with his Colombian compatriot on those calls. Roldan himself was very lenient today and kept his cards in his pocket whenever possible. It wasn't a textbook performance, but he was certainly not the worst of the officials.

What next?

Mexico: Next up for El Tri is the tournament favourites and hosts Brazil on Tuesday evening.

Cameroon: Cameroon, meanwhile, will look to spring a shock against Croatia on Wednesday to keep their slim hopes of qualification alive.