Mexico defeated Morocco by a 1-0 score in their final group stage to qualify to the Round of 16 of the 2025 U20 World Cup. Mexico got the very important victory that gave them second placed in Group C and
thus the ticket to the next stage in a group that was clearly labeled as the Group of Death. Both Morocco and Mexico surprised everyone by qualifying over Spain and Brazil in the group, with Brazil being eliminated in the Group Stage for the first time ever in an U20 World Cup. Mexico will now have a very tough task as they face disappointing hosts Chile in the Round of 16 also in Valparaiso.
The 1st half started with Mexico making the change of having two forwards from the start, giving the first minutes of play to Mateo Levy. Also Elias Montiel, as Mexico went with the more offensive Yael Padilla. Morocco, who already had qualified to the next stage and won first place of the group, made 9 changes to the starting 11 of their previous two matches. A right footed shot from outside the area from Ilias Boumassaoudi was slightly deflected, forcing Mexico’s goalkeeper, Emmanuel Ochoa to make a great save. Off a free kick, a cross into the area was headed just wide by Mohamed Taha Manji. A cross from Cesar Bustos would reach Levy but his shot was blocked by Morocco’s goalkeeper, Ibrahim Gomis. Younes El Bahraoui would get into the area and get off a right footed shot that went wide. A great chance had Padilla getting off a shot that was deflected wide. In the ensuing corner kick, a very scary accident happened when a clash of head between Naim Byar and Levy ended with the Mexican attacker completely knocked out. It was a couple of tense moments that had Levy needing to be stretchered out to a hospital, where he would later be stable after the concussion. Iker Fimbres would be subbed in his place. A left footed shot by Tahiel Jimenez was deflected wide. Padilla lobbed a shot from outside the area but Gomis was there to save the ball. The halftime whistle blew with a very even match with few exciting moments for either side.
The 2nd half started with no substitutions during the halftime break. A free kick into the area was headed by Jimenez but it was wide and also out of reach for Mexican attackers. A cross into the area was deflected into the path of Fimbres, who got off a shot that was clearly handled by Anas Tajaouart and a Penalty Kick was given to Mexico. Gilberto Mora stepped up to take the PK and would place a right footed shot past Gomis to score and give Mexico the 1-0 lead. It was a very well taken PK and Mexico had the lead that could possibly give Mexico the spot in the knockout stage. A cross into the area went past a couple of attackers after Ochoa failed to try to get to the low cross. Mexico subbed out Cesar Garza for Hugo Camberos. El Bahraoui would get past Ochoa and score but it was ruled offside. Although El Bahraoui wasn’t offside, Saad El Haddad had touched the ball before he got to it and he was clearly offside, ruining his team of a scoring opportunity. Jimenez got the ball in the area but his left footed shot was saved by Gomis. Morocco subbed out Saad El Haddad, Younes El Bahraoui and Ilias Boumassaoudi for Othmane Maamma, Yassir Zabiri and Gesssime Yassine. It was a strange move to sub in some of your most important players, especially their best Yassine, as Morocco had nothing to gain from this match. Padilla made a great move in the area and got off a close range shot that was blocked by an defender what could have been a great chance. A right footed shot from Zabiri was deflected over Ochoa and almost went in but it just went wide. Mexico subbed out Gilberto Mora for Rodrigo Pachuca in a very defensive move. Morocco subbed out Ali Maamar for Ismael Baouf. Mexico made a “Green Card” request for a PK after Tajaouart pulled the shirt of Bustos but incredibly it wasn’t given. Mexico subbed out Tahiel Jimenez and Yael Padilla for Oswaldo Virgen and Amaury Morales. After being called for a foul, Yassine threw a tantrum and got a Yellow card, once again showing what a bad decision it was to have subbed him in. Morocco subbed out Anas Tajaouart for Houssam Essadak. A right footed shot from Camberos was deflected wide. After getting into the area, Maamma got off a cross that turned into a shot that forced a save from Ochoa. In the ensuing corner kick, Ilyass Mahsoub got off a header from close range that went well wide. It was the last chance of the match as Mexico held on to get that victory that had them in the Round of 16 as the second place team of the Group of Death.
Mexico got their first victory in a U20 World Cup since 2017. That win was also a 1-0 win over an African side. That time Mexico defeated Senegal in the Round of 16 with a late goal by Ronaldo Cisneros that booked their place in the Quarterfinals against England (who would defeat Mexico in route to winning the World Cup). Now Mexico get a victory that qualifies them to the Round of 16. The victory was definitely the least exciting match by Mexico and might be the performance that left a lot to be desired although Mexico was the better team, granted against a team that had come in with an alternate squad as they had the ticket already to the next stage. That being said, it’s an improvement over their game against Spain, where they were the inferior team and Morocco incredibly tried to win the match with late substitutions and couldn’t even get the tie. Mexico will now have a tough task against the host team, Chile. Chile has been a disappointment so far. They only won their opener against New Zealand by a terrible mistake from the OFC team’s goalkeeper. They then proceeded to lose against Japan and Egypt. That being said, they are host and although they are clearly the most inferior team off all the teams Mexico has faced so far, they are still the host team and will have the crowd behind them. Mexico will need to improve but so far they have lived up to the high expectations Mexico fans had before it and another win in the Round of 16 against Chile (something they did in grand style in the 2015 U17 World Cup) will be a great boost to Mexican football.
