Mexico became the first team to secure a spot in the knockout round after defeating South Korea 1-0 in its second group stage game on Thursday.
South Korea is still in a good position to advance since it won its first match, but it can no longer win the group after Mexico secured a first-place finish in Group A with the win.
South Africa and Czechia avoided elimination by drawing on Thursday, but neither can afford a loss on Wednesday.
Thursday’s match was a special moment for Mexico, as it had the chance to play a World Cup game in Guadalajara for the first time. Naturally, the home crowd gave Mexico an edge against South Korea.
But South Korea came out attacking and nearly had an early goal.
Mexico also nearly notched a first-half goal, but a tremendous save from Kim Seung-gyu prevented the early score.
Neither offense managed to find the back of the net in the first half, but a blunder from Seung-gyu early in the second half led to Mexico’s Luis Romo scoring the first goal of the game.
South Korea was inches away from a late equalizer, but a remarkable double save from Raúl Rangel kept Mexico in front.
The only two corner kicks came for South Korea in added time, but neither resulted in the goal it needed.
Mexico finished with eight shot attempts and four on goal, while South Korea had eight shots and just two on goal. South Korea controlled possession for 57.6 percent of the match, though it never made it through Mexico’s stout defense.
Mexico will face Czechia on Wednesday, while South Korea will take on South Africa as it looks to move on to the knockouts.
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