One of the hosts of this World Cup, the Mexican team qualified for the next phase of the World Cup on Thursday night (18) by defeating South Korea 1-0 at the Akron stadium, in Guadalajara.
Mexico now has 6 points and has already secured first place in Group A, which will give it an advantage in the phase with 32 teams, against a third-placed team that will come out of groups C, E, F, H or I.
Korea can no longer be first because one of the tiebreaker criteria is direct confrontation. In the last game of this phase, the South Koreans face South Africa next Wednesday (24), while Mexico faces the Czech Republic.
Unlike other games in this World Cup, the first half had a slow pace in Guadalajara.
Mexico started attacking with quick touches and finishing from outside the area while Korea preferred to exchange passes in the midfield and make direct connections with attacking launches.
As a result, the partial had few shots on goal, with three Mexican and two South Korean shots.
At 15 minutes, South Korean captain Son Heung-min had the first big chance.
He was launched from midfield and, on the run, he made the first pass over goalkeeper Tala Rangel. Álvarez appeared and took the ball almost over the line with a half-kick. However, the play didn’t count because Son was in an offside position.
At 19 minutes, it was the host’s turn, when Alvarado dribbled past a rival on the right side and crossed for Quiñones in the area. Even under pressure from the marker, he headed it, and goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu held on tight.
From the middle of the partial, Korea started to put into practice their tactic of exchanging passes and making shots, but there was an offside in almost every move. In the game, there were six offsides for the Asians.
In the only one that didn’t happen, Seol Young-woo received a pass on the left side in the 40th minute and shot left-handed, but the ball went up and went far from the Mexican goal.
At 45 minutes, Hwang In-beom picked up the ball on the right wing and crossed to the middle of the area, but Lee Jae-sung arrived a little late and the ball went straight through.
Mexico started the second half going forward and “won” the goal after just 4 minutes, following a blatant mistake by the South Korean goalkeeper.
On a Mexican cross in the small area, Kim Seung-gyu jumped alone to catch the ball, but was unable to hold on to it and fell on top of defender Lee Gi-hyuk. The ball was free for Romo to touch into the empty goal.
With the goal, the South Koreans tried to force their attack, putting pressure on the Mexican defense in search of a draw, but it had no effect, and the game became truncated, with a lot of clashes in midfield and few incisive moves in attack.
Only in the 29th minute did Mexico have a chance to expand. Quiñones picked up the ball on the left and passed it to Raúl Jimenez inside the box on the other side. The center forward dominated and finished with his right leg, but Kim Seung-gyu closed the angle and managed to rebound.
At the end of the game, both teams had great opportunities to score. At 39 minutes, Santi Giménez headed the ball for Vargas to hit hard from the edge of the area, forcing Kim Seung-gyu to make a beautiful save.
In the next move, Cho Gue-sung received a throw in the small area and headed the ball to the ground, but Tala Rangel was in the right place at the right time and managed to hit the ball. The ball was still in the air, but the goalkeeper caught it before a rival attacker arrived.
There was still South Korean pressure at the end, but it wasn’t enough to break through the Mexican wall, to the delight of the fans, who went crazy at the final whistle.
