Mexico beat Ecuador to reach World Cup last 16

Mexico are through to the World Cup last 16 after defeating Ecuador 2-0 at the Azteca Stadium. Julian Quiñones opened the scoring in the first half before Raul Jimenez added a second before the interval.

The match began an hour late after severe weather in Mexico City, but the delay did not disrupt the hosts. Mexico took control early, pressed Ecuador into mistakes and made their first-half advantage count in front of a reported crowd of 80,824.

Ecuador struggled to build a sustained response after half-time, while Mexico managed the tempo and protected their lead. Hernán Galíndez prevented further damage with a second-half save from César Montes, but Ecuador’s night ended badly when Piero Hincapié was sent off in stoppage time after an altercation with Santiago Giménez.

Mexico’s win keeps their perfect tournament record intact at this stage: four victories, eight goals scored and none conceded, according to the source report. Their next opponent could be England, but only if England defeat DR Congo in their own round-of-32 tie.