Mexico has advanced to the World Cup round of 16, defeating Ecuador 2-0 on Tuesday night and ending a 40-year drought without a win in the tournament's knockout stage. Julián Quiñones opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, followed by a goal from Raúl Jiménez in the 31st minute, securing the victory for Mexico.
This marks Mexico's first knockout-stage win since they hosted the tournament and defeated Bulgaria in the round of 16 in 1986. The team had lost seven consecutive matches at this stage between 1994 and 2018. In the previous World Cup, Qatar 2022, Mexico was eliminated in the group stage, a scenario not seen for the team since 1978.
Quiñones' goal was his third of the tournament, positioning him as Mexico's second-highest scorer in World Cup history, trailing Luis “Matador” Hernández and Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, who each scored four goals. Jiménez's strike was his second of this tournament and his 47th for the national team, surpassing Jared Borgetti and placing him five goals behind "Chicharito" Hernández for the all-time leading scorer title for Mexico.
Mexico is set to play another home match on Sunday against the winner of the upcoming game between England and Congo. The team has maintained an undefeated record across 10 World Cup matches at the Azteca Stadium, with their last official loss at the venue being a World Cup qualifying defeat to Honduras on September 6, 2013. This victory extends Mexico's unbeaten streak to 12 games, dating back to a friendly loss against Paraguay in November.
The win also made Mexico the first CONCACAF side to eliminate a CONMEBOL opponent in a World Cup knockout match. South American teams had won the previous five encounters.
The match commenced an hour later than scheduled due to a thunderstorm. This was the second match of the tournament impacted by weather; a storm during the France-Iraq match on June 22 caused a significant suspension.
Ecuador was seeking to reach the round of 16 for only the second time in their history, and for the first time since the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Every FIFA World Cup match is being broadcast on either FOX or FOX Sports 1.