MEXICO 2-0 ECUADOR
Jun 30, 2026
Att. 80,824 • Estadio Banorte
MEXICO CITY — Coming off a historic group stage where they won their three group stage matches without conceding a goal, Mexico looked to make even more history. The “quinto partido,” a common phrase the team and fans have constantly heard regarding Mexico’s struggles and failure to make it past the round of 16 and reach the long-desired quarterfinals. But if this World Cup has shown us anything, it’s that this Mexico team is much different than other Mexico teams of the past. After all, they did become the first Mexican team to win each group stage game; even coming into the tournament, they had never won an opening game, just to break that against South Africa.
While for Ecuador, they would be heading into the matchup as close underdogs, as they possessed what many called the best defense in the tournament. On the verge of elimination, they pulled off a major upset against Germany as they won their final group stage match 2-1 to secure a spot in the knockout round. The difference in Mexico’s squad compared to Ecuador’s is night and day, as Ecuador’s squad is almost purely made up of players who play in Europe compared to Mexico’s very few European players.
One of the talking points going into the matchup was how the altitude, which has played a factor in almost every match Mexico has historically played in the Azteca, wouldn’t affect Ecuador as they play at a higher altitude than the Azteca. Despite playing at a higher altitude, many of Ecuador’s players lost the ability to be accustomed to the altitude, as they played in Europe and their base camp was located in Columbus, Ohio. Ecuador’s travel plans were affected as well, as they faced a 3-hour delay to get into Mexico City, and upon arrival, when they tried to rest outside the hotel, numerous Mexico fans got rowdy and had their own party to ensure Ecuador wouldn’t get any rest before the match the following day.
The match started with plenty of action and created opportunities on behalf of Mexico, much differently compared to the way they played in their first half of each group stage game. They came out immediately on the right foot, pressing Ecuador’s defense but failing to put the ball away in the back of the net. Just like in the 6th minute, Romo crossed a ball just outside and into the box that Mexico’s Raúl Jiménez wasn’t able to hit the target when he connected with his header that kept the game tied at 0 a piece. Even Mexico’s Gilberto Mora, who became the second youngest player to debut in the knockout stage of the World Cup, only second to Pelé, just missed the goal when his shot blew past the right post on what would’ve been a wonderful goal from the 17-year-old starboy.
Tensions were already high, as in the 19th minute, Jiménez was tackled by Ecuador’s Willian Pacho so roughly that it knocked Jiménez into the padding surrounding the camera at midfield, causing both benches to rise and argue over the play. Only two minutes later in the 21st minute, Roberto Alvarado played a ball over Ecuador’s defense to Julián Quiñones, who was just onside before the halfway line; once inside Ecuador’s box, he cut inside and shot a ball past Ecuador’s keeper to give Mexico the 1-0 lead and a reason for the crowd to roar with excitement. Quiñones, despite this being his first World Cup, quickly became second on Mexico’s all-time World Cup goal scorers with three; only trailing Javier Hernández and Luis Hernández with 4 each.
It did not take long for Mexico to add to their 1-0 lead as Ecuador defender Joel Ordóñez mistakenly gave the ball away to Jiménez when attempting to clear it from their own half and started a play that Jiménez, with two defenders closing in on him, shot the ball into the net after a pass from Quiñones to give them the 2-0 lead in the 30th minute. One of Mexico’s biggest defensive plays in the first half came in the 39th minute, when Ecuador nearly drew close to making it a 2-1 game only to see Mexico’s goalkeeper Raul Rangel deny a curving shot from Ecuador’s forward Yeboah. Mexico comfortably took their 2-0 lead into halftime with all the momentum on their side.
The second half saw a Mexico side that made Ecuador struggle to create any chances to score or get into the game, as they chose to play back and let Ecuador attempt to find any possible openings. Mexico came close to putting an end to the game as in the 66th minute Mexico’s Cesar Montes almost headed in Mexico’s third goal of the day on two corner kicks; the first he saw denied by Ecuador’s goalie Galíndez, and his second attempt was just past the right post of the goal. The drama came near the closing minutes of the game when, in the 95th minute Santiago Gimenez pleaded with the referee that Ecuador’s defender Piero Hincapié covered his mouth to say something, which prompted the referee to visit VAR and then give Hincapié a red card. The reason as to why it was a red card was due to the new rule FIFA introduced in order to prevent any players from saying offensive remarks or abusive language by a player attempting to hide it with their shirts or hands.
With Mexico winning this game in the round of 32, they broke a 40-year curse without having made the wretched “Quinto Partido”. The crowd broke out into a frenzy; in the stadium, fans belted out the lyrics of “El Rey”, even at the Ángel de la Independencia huge crowds celebrated the historical achievement. An impressive outing from Mexico, where they immediately came out making a statement, something different from previous games where we saw them improve in the second half while playing a safe style in the first half. With this game in the past, Mexico is eyeing even more history as on Sunday, July 5th, they will face a tough competitive side in England in order to get a spot in the quarterfinals. A feat Mexico has not accomplished since the 1986 World Cup, when they were the hosts. It can’t be ruled out as impossible, as Mexico has ridden the momentum on their side when at the Azteca behind a loud and energetic crowd to get their wins. With this being the final game in Mexico during the World Cup, the team will be even more motivated to give the crowd one last win before having to move the rest of their games to the United States. If Mexico needs any more reason to defy history and advance, they can simply remember the motto all of Mexico and their fans have begun to say: Y Si Si?
- Alessandro Flores
