Mexico defeated South Korea by a 1-0 score to become the first team to qualify to the knockout stages of the World Cup. The win also won Mexico the Group, which means for the first times since 2002, Mexico won their Group in a World Cup. Better yet for the first time since 1986, Mexico will play the third match knowing they have the ticket to the next stage and for the first time in history they will play it knowing they won the Group. It was an historic win in a match that Mexico was better even
when it wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing victory. Mexico will close out their group stage on Wednesday against Czechia.
The 1st half started with Mexico making only three changes from their opener. Luis Romo and Jorge Sanchez would start instead of Alvaro Fidalgo and Israel Reyes. Meanwhile Edson Alvarez took the spot of suspended Cesar Montes. From outside the area, Roberto Alvarado got off a left footed shot that was easily saved by Kim Seung-gyu, South Korea’s goalkeeper. From outside the area, Brian Gutierrez got off a weak right footed shot that was easily saved by Seung-gyu. A longball into the area found Son Heung-min, who lobbed the shot over Mexico’s goalkeeper, Raul Rangel. Before it went into the line, Alvarez made a wonderful bicycle kick save and although the play would be ruled as offside (and wouldn’t have counted had it gone in), it was a great play from Alvarez. A great cross into the area from Alvarado would find Julian Quiñones, who got off a good header but Seung-gyu made a wonderful save on it. While Mexico had been the better team, it was a very even match with few chances from both sides. A good cross into the area was just missed by Raul Jimenez when he tried to head it. Seol Young-woo got the ball in the area but his left footed shot went wide. South Korea started to gain more possession although Mexico did well to contain them and have them not be able to create chances. A cross into the area was just missed by Lee Jae-sung. The halftime whistle blew as the crowd booed, mad that although Mexico started as the better team, they gradually gave the title up and South Korea finished as the better side.
The 2nd half started with neither team making a substitution. Off a great counter, Gutierrez made a thru pass that found Jesus Gallardo, whose left footed shot went wide. A cross into the area was badly cleared by South Korea and Seung-gyu tried to get to the ball but crashed into defender Lee Gi-hyuk, leaving the ball into the path of Luis Romo, who get off a shot past him and into the net to score and give Mexico the 1-0 lead. It was a great start for Mexico in the 2nd half and a great moment from Romo, who went to Qatar 2022 but didn’t play a minute but right now was making history as one of Mexico’s World Cup goal scorers. South Korea subbed out Son Heung-Min and Lee Jae-Sung for Oh Hyeon-gyu and Hwang Hee-chan. Mexico had once again the better team although the match evened out after their good start to the half. Mexico subbed out Luis Romo and Brian Gutierrez for Obed Vargas and Orbelin Pineda. South Korea subbed out Seoul Young-woo and Kim Moon-hwan for Yang Hyun-jun and Eom Ji-sung. A great cross from Quiñones was brilliantly lowered by Jimenez but his right footed shot was wonderfully blocked by Seung-gyu. South Korea subbed out Paik Seung-ho for Cho Gue-sung. Mexico subbed out Raul Jimenez and Roberto Alvarado for Santiago Gimenez and Israel Reyes. The match started to get chippy as South Korea looked desperate to get that tying goal. Mexico subbed out Julian Quiñones for Cesar Huerta. From outside the area, Vargas got off a great right footed but Seung-gyu made a wonderful save. A great cross into the area was headed from close range by Gue-sung but Rangel made a fantastic save and although the ball was left there for him to kick the ball, Rangel once again got to it in a great play all around from the Mexican goalkeeper. Off a corner kick, Lee Han-beom got a wide open header but it went wide. A cross into the area was headed by Gue-sung but deflected wide by Johan Vasquez. A great counter from Vargas forced a corner kick but it wasn’t taken as time ran out and Mexico had their victory that won them the Group and gave them the ticket to the Round of 32.
Mexico was able to make history once again in the 2026 World Cup for the National team. After winning the world cup opener for the first time ever, they were able to become the first team in the competition to win their group. Also for the first time since 1986, they will be playing the final game knowing they are qualified to the knockout stages. The tie between Czechia and South Africa earlier in the day meant neither team could reach Mexico’s 6 points. The victory over South Korea meant that they would get the tie breaker because of the result should South Korea and Mexico end tied at 6 points. It was a very important victory even if, once again, it wasn’t the most inspiring performance. Yet Mexico’s style under Coach Javier Aguirre is a defensive minded one, which is what the team needs, as they don’t have a solid squad to be a contender. Mexico will now return to Mexico City to face a Czechia side that only has a point and needs a victory. Mexico should make a number of changes to take advantage of the fact the result doesn’t hamper. Yet they should still go for the victory and they might be benefited by Czechia’s disadvantages. Not only is Czechia’s level of play been incredibly lackluster so far, but they have their training camp in the United States. Besides the travel, they will face Mexico City’s altitude for the first time ever. If it’s bad enough, the fact that they need to go out for a victory means the team should be exposed for counters, besides the fact that if you need to go out on offense to get a result, it’s a bad situation to do so during the first time they are ever facing altitude. Mexico has a golden chance to get nine points but the first goal has already been reached with the victory over South Korea. Mexico has returned to the knockout rounds of the World Cup, which is a great sight after the failure in 2022 that ended the longest current streak making it out of the group stage beside Brazil’s.
