Mexico beat Ecuador to reach the round of 16 at the 2026 World Cup
The Mexican national team secured a victory over Ecuador in the round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup. The match at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City ended 2–0.
The Mexicans opened the scoring in the 22nd minute. Julián Quiñones received a pass on the left flank from Roberto Alvarado, cut into the penalty area and fired a precise shot into the bottom corner.
In the 31st minute, the home side doubled their lead. Raúl Jiménez exchanged passes with Quiñones near the opposition’s penalty area and sent the ball into the top right-hand corner of the net.
The Ecuadorians were unable to reply with even a single goal. Towards the end of the match, the team were reduced to ten men. In the 90+5th minute, Piero Incapie was shown a straight red card under the so-called ‘Vinícius rule’ following an incident involving Santiago Jiménez.
Mexico finished the group stage top of Group A. The team beat South Africa 2–0, defeated South Korea 1–0 and thrashed the Czech Republic 3–0.
Javier Aguirre’s side thus progressed to the round of 16 without conceding a single goal in their four matches of the tournament.
Ecuador’s tournament campaign came to an end after finishing third in Group E. The team lost 0–1 to Côte d’Ivoire, drew 0–0 with Curaçao and beat Germany 2–1.
In the round of 16, Mexico will face the winner of the England v DR Congo match, which takes place on 1 July at 19:00 Kyiv time.
The 2026 World Cup is taking place from 11 June to 19 July in the USA, Mexico and Canada. This is the first World Cup to feature 48 national teams.
