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Mexico beat South Korea 1-0 to secure first place in Group A of the 2026 World Cup

Mauro Tognacca
Romo put his team ahead
© David Ramos/Getty ImagesRomo put his team ahead

The time came for some teams to get back on the field at the 2026 World Cup, as Group A returned to action with Mexico and South Korea looking to seal their tickets to the next round in a match that finished 1-0, with a goal that sealed Mexico as the group winner.

In the first half, imprecisions were everywhere from both teams. For some time Mexico controlled the ball, with South Korea just covering spaces, which then occurred the other way around as they went into halftime tied 0-0.

It was a match in which only mistakes could turn into a goal. This occurred precisely in favor of Mexico on a high ball that looked easy for the South Korea goalkeeper, but he crashed into a teammate and dropped the ball into Luis Romo’s area, leaving him with only a simple finish into the net. Mexico could then hang on to the advantage to get the victory.

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Full time

90+6' The referee blows the final whistle. The match is over!

Chance for Kim Min-jae

90+1' A corner kick from the left for South Korea, but Kim Min-jae's header goes wide.

Chance for Cho Gue-sung

90+3' A cross comes in from the left, and Cho Gue-sung gets a header on it, but it deflects off a defender and goes out for a corner.

Stoppage Time

90' Six minutes of added time.

Chance for Cho Gue-sung

87' A dangerous cross comes in from the left, but Cho Gue-sung can't get a clean header on it, and the goalkeeper makes the save.

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Chance for Vargas

84' A shot from Vargas is brilliantly saved by the goalkeeper.

Substitution for Mexico

83' César Huerta comes on for Julián Quiñones.

Double substitution for Mexico

80' Santiago Giménez comes on for Raúl Jiménez, and Roberto Alvarado replaces Israel Reyes.

Chance for Jimenez

74' A lofted pass over the top finds Jiménez, who controls it and fires across goal, but the goalkeeper makes a great save.

Play resumes

71' Play resumes. The ball is rolling again.

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Double substitution for Mexico

70' Mexico make a double substitution: Luis Romo comes off for Obed Vargas, and Brian Gutiérrez is replaced by Orbelín Pineda.

Hydration break

68' The referee calls for a hydration break. Both teams head to the sidelines to hydrate.

Yellow card for Paik Seung-ho

58' Yellow card for South Korea's Paik Seung-ho (8).

Double substitution for South Korea

57' South Korea make a double substitution: Son Heung-min comes off for Hwang Hee-chan, and Lee Jae-sung is replaced by Oh Hyeon-gyu.

GOAAAAAL! Romo scores after goalkeeper error

49' A massive mistake from the South Korea goalkeeper on a high ball, colliding with a teammate, leaves the ball on a plate for Romo who taps it in for a goal.

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Gallardo fires wide

48' Mexico advance well with Gallardo on the left, who enters the penalty area and shoots left-footed at the near post, but it goes wide.

Second half begins

The second half begins.

Halftime

45+4' The first half comes to an end.

Added time

45' Four minutes of added time.

South Korea dominance

43' South Korea has been dominating possession for several minutes while Mexico sits back and waits.

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Jeong Woo-yeong missed opportunity

40' Through ball for South Korea's Jeong Woo-yeong, but he runs out of angle and fires a poor left-footed shot wide from the left.

South Korea dominance

36' Possession now belongs to South Korea.

Both teams struggling

34' Misplaced passes and inaccuracies abound from both teams in the first half, making it difficult to generate any real action.

Group leadership secured

31' The winner of the match wins the group, regardless of what happens in the final fixture.

Match resumes

26' The match resumes.

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Hydration break

23' The match stops for a hydration break for both Mexico and South Korea.

Quiñones dangerous header

19' Cross from the right by Roberto Alvarado for a header by Julian Quiñones, but the South Korean goalkeeper makes a great save to deny Mexico.

Son disallowed chance

15' Long pass for South Korea's Son Heungmin who lofts it over the goalkeeper but Edson Alvarez clears it with a bicycle kick when it was going in; the play was disallowed for offside.

Mexico high press

11' South Korea tries to build up from the back but Mexico presses well and forces them to play long.

Gutierrez weak shot

7' A good combination on the left leaves the ball to Brian Gutierrez who fires from long range for Mexico but it goes weakly into the goalkeeper's hands.

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Alvarado long-range shot

6' Roberto Alvarado fires a shot from long distance for Mexico but it goes easily into the goalkeeper's hands.

Yellow card for Lee Kangin

3' Yellow card for South Korea's Lee Kangin.

Kickoff

The match Mexico vs South Korea begins.

The referees

The referees for this match are Gustavo Tejera (Uruguay - Referee), Carlos Barreiro (Uruguay - Assistant Referee), Nicolás Taran (Uruguay - Assistant Referee), Andrés Rojas (Colombia - Fourth Official), Alexander Guzmán (Colombia - Reserve Assistant Referee) and Leodan González (Uruguay - Video Assistant Referee).

South Korea's list

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Mexico's list

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Confirmed lineups

Mexico: Raúl Rangel; Jorge Sánchez, Edson Álvarez, Johan Vásquez, Jesús Gallardo; Luis Romo, Érik Lira, Brian Gutiérrez; Roberto Alvarado, Raúl Jiménez and Julián Quiñones.

South Korea: Kim Seung-Gyu; Lee Han-Beom, Kim Min-Jae, Lee Gi-Hyuk; Seol Young-Woo, Hwang In-Beom, Paik Seung-Ho, Kim Moon-Hwan; Lee Kang-In, Son Heung-Min, Lee Jae-Sung.

The history

Mexico and South Korea have faced each other twice in FIFA World Cup history, with Mexico securing a 3-1 victory on June 13, 1998, in France and later winning 2-1 on June 23, 2018, in Russia. Their most recent meeting overall came shortly before this tournament on September 6, 2025, when they played out a highly competitive 2-2 draw in a friendly.

Their group

The other teams in Group A have already played their second match, as Czechia and South Africa drew 1-1. That result left Mexico in first place with 3 points and a +2 goal differential, South Korea in second with 3 points and a +1 goal differential, Czechia in third with 1 point and a -1 goal differential, and South Africa in last place with 1 point and a -2 goal differential.

The stadium

The venue for this match is Estadio Guadalajara in Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico. It has a capacity of 49,813.

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Welcome!

Welcome to live coverage of the match between Mexico and South Korea.

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