The Mexican team defeated South Korea 1-0 on the night of this Thursday, June 18 at the Guadalajara stadium, Jalisco, and became the first team to secure its qualification for the round of 32 of the FIFA World Cup 2026.
After a balanced and goalless first half, in which both teams showed intensity and generated dangerous opportunities, the team led by Javier Aguirre found the difference at the beginning of the second half.
The only goal of the match came in the 50th minute, when Luis Romo took advantage of an offensive play to send the ball to the back of the net and put the Mexican team ahead. The score ended up being enough for El Tri to add their second consecutive victory in Group A.
South Korea tried to react and maintained the pressure for several passages of the second half. Among the most notable players of the Asian team were goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu, who made several important interventions to avoid a broader defeat, in addition to Kang-in Lee and Cho Gue-sung, who led their team’s offensive attempts.
Mexico was close to extending the lead. Raúl Jiménez scored what would have been the second goal of the night, but the action was disallowed for offside. Before leaving the field of play, both Jiménez and Julián Quiñones showed mobility and the ability to generate constant danger on the South Korean defense.
The entry of Santiago Giménez in the second half also brought intensity to the Mexican attack. The forward put pressure on the Korean defenders and helped keep the Asian team away from the goal defended by Raúl Rangel during several stages of the match.
However, South Korea had a clear opportunity to rescue the tie in the final minutes. In the 86th minute, Cho Gue-sung was close to scoring, but Mexico managed to maintain the advantage and avoid the goal that would have changed the fate of the match.
At the end of the match, Mexican coach Javier Aguirre recognized the difficulty of the commitment and highlighted the rival’s work.
“It wasn’t a great game because the Koreans didn’t let us do much,” said the strategist after the victory.
With the victory, Mexico reaches six points in two games and mathematically ensures its presence in the round of 32, becoming the first team to seal its classification in the 2026 World Cup. South Korea, for its part, must seek its place on the last day of the group stage.
