Mexico has made it into the knockout rounds of the 2026 World Cup ahead of schedule. Against South Korea, the World Cup co-host took advantage of a goalkeeping error to score the winning goal.
Two games, two wins. Mexico continues to celebrate a big football party and is already the winner of Group A after the second group match day. Because since this World Cup, the direct comparison counts first in the event of a tie, Mexico can no longer be pushed out of first place.
In Guadalajara, the World Cup host country defeated the South Korean team 1-0 (0-0), Luis Romo scored the winning goal after a mistake by South Korean goalkeeper Seung-gyu Kim. It is therefore clear: Coach Javier Aguirre’s team will play its round of 16 finals in the Aztec Stadium in Mexico City.
Ecstasy in the stadium – groping on the grass
If the initial phase of the game had only been about the volume of the fans in the Guadalajara Stadium, it would have given the impression that one playful highlight followed the next. But as frenetically as the mostly Mexican fan base accompanied almost every decent action by their team with loud shouts, the opening quarter of an hour was uneventful. The South Korean Kang-in Lee received the fastest yellow card of the tournament so far (4th minute) after a foul on Romo, and two harmless shots from Mexico a few minutes later posed no problem for goalkeeper Kim.
The first real outcry came from former Bundesliga star Heung-min Son, who, after a high vertical pass, sent the ball past keeper Raúl Rangel towards the goal. Edson Álvarez cleared the ball just in front of the line with an overhead kick, but the whistle was blown shortly afterwards due to Son’s offside position (16′). A hit wouldn’t have counted.
A clarifying action like a painting: Edson Álvarez makes the Guadalajara Stadium shake.
The opening goal was scored four minutes later by Mexican Julián Quiñones, who was denied by goalkeeper Kim after a cross from Roberto Alvarado (20′). Because both teams rarely found a gap in the opposing defense, the game remained short on highlights for a long time. Shortly before the break, Young-woo Seol missed from a tight angle (40′) and Mainz’s Jae-sung Lee narrowly missed a sharp cross from Son (45′). South Korea became more and more active, but still went into the locker room goalless.
Romo scores after Kim’s mistake
Mexico got off to a better start in the second half. After a through pass from Brian Gutiérrez, Jesús Gallardo appeared in a half-left position in front of the South Korean goal, but only put the ball into the side netting (49th). Just a minute later: Mexico kept the tempo high, but an attack ended with a harmless high ball in the penalty area. Actually a sure prey for keeper Seung-gyu Kim – actually! Because while trying to pick the ball down, Kim collided with his teammate Gi-hyuk Lee, who was unfortunate enough to be in the way. The ball slipped from Kim’s hands to the feet of Luis Romo, who scored into the empty goal to make it 1-0 (50′).
Romo is celebrated by the entire bench.
South Korea tried to respond quickly, but time and time again they were stuck by Mexico’s stable defense. And so it was the Latin Americans who were closer to the second goal than South Korea was to equalizing. Keeper Kim parried both Raúl Jiménez’s shot from close range (75th) and Obed Vargas’ powerful long-range shot (85th).
Rangel secures the win with a mega save
South Korea remained too harmless on offense for a long time, but then had a huge opportunity to equalize in the 87th minute. Gue-sung Cho came free to head the ball after a tailor-made cross, Mexico goalkeeper Rangel defused it with a strong reaction and also spectacularly saved the follow-up shot on the line. South Korea turned things up a notch but were unable to capitalize on any of their good header chances to equalize in the final minutes.
Mexico ultimately won 1-0 against South Korea and, with six points from two games, can no longer be pushed out of first place in Group A. It is also certain that Javier Aguirre’s team will play their round of 16 finals against one of several possible third-place teams in the early morning of July 1st (3 a.m. CEST). Before that, however, there is the last group game day in Group A.
outlook
Group winners Mexico will continue against the Czech Republic in Mexico City on Thursday (3 a.m. CEST). South Korea will face South Africa in Monterrey at the same time and will continue to have a place in the knockout rounds in their own hands.