Mexico bounced back from their opening loss to grab a key victory after defeating Ivory Coast by a 1-0 score in the 2025 U17 World Cup. In a must win match, Mexico grabbed the three points in a match where
once again they struggled during the match especially in the 2nd half. Mexico now must try to get another result against group leaders Switzerland in their final group stage match as they hope it will not be their final tournament game played.
The 1st half started with Mexico making only one change from the first match to the starting 11. Humberto Mancilla took the place of Karin Hernandez. 30 seconds into the game, Luis Gamboa got pasta a defender and got off a right footed shot that forced Ivory Coast’s goalkeeper, Christ Kouassi to make a save. He would leave the ball there for Gael Garcia, but a defender cleared the ball by bouncing it off the Mexican attacker. Off a counter, Ismael Toure got off a right footed shot that was deflected wide by Mexico’s defense. A thru pass found Alynho Haidara but his shot would go past Mexico’s goalkeeper, Santiago Lopez, but in the end went wide. A left footed shot from outside the area from Garcia would force Kouassi to make a good save. Off a free kick, Garcia got off a right footed shot that was saved by Kouassi. Ivory Coast had been very physical, especially on Garcia and while there had been a lot of fouls called, no cards were given which allowed the Africans to get away with their fouls. A right footed shot from outside the area from Hubert Yao went right to Lopez. A cross into the area was headed by a wide open Yao but right to Lopez. A shot from outside the area by Iñigo Borgio would go wide. Off a free kick, a mistake by Lopez, who came out of his line, allowed a close range header from Yao that was blocked by Michael Corona. In the ensuing corner kick, it looked like Oscar Pineda had handled the ball but after going to VAR, the ref decided it wasn’t a Penalty Kick in a controversial decision. The halftime whistle blew as Mexico was the slightly better team although it hadn’t really created much chances for all their possession.
The 2nd half started with Mexico subbing out Aldo Denigris Jr and Jhonnatan Grajales for Ignacio Lopez and Adrian Villa. Haidara got into the area and got off a right footed shot that went wide. Unlike the 1st half, it was Ivory Coast who were dominating play and had Mexico defending and with no control of possession. Off a free kick, the ball fell to Aboubacar Meite, who was wide open but he whiffed on his left footed shot, wasting a great chance. A cross into the area from Yao would turn into a shot right to Lopez. Mexico subbed out Humberto Mancilla for Kenneth Martinez. A shot in the area from Vaboue Doumbia would be blocked by Mexico’s defense. Off a free kick, a great cross from Garcia found a wide open Ian Olvera, who headed the ball past Kouassi to score and give Mexico the surprising 1-0 lead. Against the run of play and when Mexico was struggling the most, a set piece goal open the scoring for Mexico. A cross into the area was headed wide by Borgio. Ivory Coast subbed out Tape Touali for Bakary Kebe. Mexico subbed out Gael Garcia and Luis Gamboa for Karin Hernandez and Maximo Reyes. Ivory Coast subbed out Ismael Toure for Allassane Toure. A cross into the area looked to be headed in by Toure but the goal was immediately called off for a foul on Lopez. After going to VAR, it was not only clear that it was a foul but Toure had not even headed the ball in but handled it into the net. Reyes got off a left footed shot that Kouassi saved. Ivory Coast subbed out Vaboue Doumbia for Gueu Tiekoman. A shot from Kebe was deflected just out of reach of Yao in what would have been a close range chance had he gotten to it. It was the last chance as the final whistle blew and Mexico took the vital three points.
After a very disappointing debut, Mexico got their first victory in the 2025 U17 World Cup. In their opener against South Korea, Mexico had a good 1st half but a terrible 2nd half, which ended with a 2-1 loss. It was the same thing against Ivory Coast were they had an even worse 2nd half but took advantage of a free kick to get the goal. Mexico will need to get a result against the Group F leaders, Switzerland, who crushed the Ivory Coasty (4-1) but could only get a scoreless tie against South Korea. Mexico will need to improve a lot although a tie would probably give them enough to go thru to the knockout stages as at least a best 3rd place team. It still not a good sign that they have struggled so much in both matches but the emotional boost of getting the victory should help the team improve in another do or die match.
