The chorus of boos that came with the half-time whistle at the Guadalajara Stadium on Friday confirmed what the statistics showed. The first 45 and a few minutes of football between Mexico and South Korea, which was to decide which side becomes the first in the 2026 FIFA World Cup to confirm a place in the knockouts, was a cagey snoozefest. Just one save to show and an xG of 0.11 for both sides, which roughly translates to almost negligible chances of seeing a goal. The Mexican players looked somewhat befuddled at the fans’ response. It was no secret they would take the pragmatic route when needed at this tournament. “At a World Cup, the team that plays the prettiest football does not always win. The team that knows how to compete does,” manager Javier Aguirre had said in the run-up to the tournament. At that point, however, it might be safe to assume that at least some of those playing for El Tri were wishing that the South Korean goalkeeper had just dropped the ball at their feet at some point in that first half so they could score. Well, that is exactly what happened just five into the second half. A cross that came from the right by Julian Quinones, scorer of the first goal of this World Cup, in the 50th minute was headed straight up in the air by Raul Jimenez. Korean goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu came out to collect it but the ball spilled right out of his gloves when he came in contact with Jimenez and his own teammate Lee Gi-hyuk. It fell kindly on to the feet of Luis Romo, a familiar name in these parts as he plays for CD Guadalajara which calls this stadium home in the Mexican League, and he made no mistake turning the ball into the unguarded goal. A half-chance came Korea’s way in the immediate aftermath of that goal with their superstar captain Son Heung-Min receiving the ball and racing into the box. Once there, though, he couldn’t get the ball out of his feet and the move fizzled out. That was the last act of the day for Son in that match, he went off for Oh Hyun-Gyu, who had scored the winner against Czechia on the opening day last week. Mexico’s Luis Romo (7), left, scored the 50th-minute goal for Mexico against South Korea. (AP Photo) It was a different story this time for him and the Korean side. Mexico went back to their comfort zone of sitting back which they had settled into after the hydration break in the first half. Only difference being that this time, there were no boos or whistles from the fans due to the score reading 1-0 in their favour. The equation was simple, a victory in this match would confirm Mexico as the group winners. The crowd in Guadalajara seemed well aware of that. They cheered every time a Korean chance was smothered, and even more when the ball was brought out for increasingly rare counter-attacks. The biggest cheer of all, apart from the one that came with the full-time whistle, came in the 87th minute when Mexican goalkeeper Raul Rangel put his body on the line and protected his side’s lead with a double save.Story continues below this ad For all the possession South Korea had – 64 percent in the second half and 53 percent in the first – this was the first, and only time, that they had troubled Rangel to this extent. Eom Ji-Sung’s cross from the left was met by Cho Gue-Sung with a header. It was too close to Rangel, who did well to repel the ball. Cho flicked the ball right back towards goal on the rebound, Rangel was alert to it. He dove to his left from a prone position and somehow managed to hold on to the ball. Another indicator of the match’s cagey nature, aside from the half-time boos, was the fact that the first corner for either side came only in the second minute of injury time. It was for South Korea and Lee Kang-in sent in a near-perfect ball to Lee Han-beom. The latter, however, failed to turn it in. Crosses flew in from the Koreans after that but the Mexicans were up to the task. The final whistle, in fact, blew when Mexico seemed to have forced their own first corner of the game after a counter-attack. The half-time anxieties were forgotten. Guadalajara erupted in joyful cheers. The co-hosts had become the first to qualify for the first-ever round of 32 in a FIFA World Cup, they had won their group for the first time since 2002. And they had done it by keeping clean sheets in their first two matches.
Mexico first to reach 2026 World Cup knockouts with cagey 1-0 win over South Korea
