Mexico beat Ecuador with confidence and reach the World Cup 2026 Round of 16

Mexico’s impressive run at their home World Cup continues. Javier Aguirre’s side defeated Ecuador 2-0 in the Round of 32 at the FIFA World Cup 2026 and advanced to the Round of 16.

The match at Mexico City Stadium started with a one-hour delay because of adverse weather conditions. However, the pause did not affect the hosts’ attitude at all: Mexico took control from the opening minutes and created several dangerous chances in front of Hernan Galindez’s goal.

Gilberto Mora, Luis Romo and Raul Jimenez all had opportunities to open the scoring in the first 15 minutes. Ecuador responded in the 18th minute when John Yeboah’s effort struck the outside of the post. Soon after, though, Mexico found the breakthrough.

In the 22nd minute, Roberto Alvarado played a ball in behind the Ecuador defence. Julian Quinones, who had been in his own half when the pass was made and therefore stayed onside, raced through on goal and smashed a powerful shot into the net to make it 1-0.

Mexico continued to press after the opener. In the 31st minute, Quinones turned provider, setting up Raul Jimenez, who doubled the hosts’ lead — 2-0.

In the second half, Javier Aguirre’s team played with complete control and gave Ecuador almost no chance to get back into the match. Mexico’s defensive line, led by Cesar Montes and Johan Vasquez, delivered a reliable performance, while goalkeeper Raul Rangel kept another clean sheet. It was already his fourth consecutive shutout of the tournament.

Mexico also had chances to extend the lead from set pieces, with Montes and Vasquez both going close with headers after corner kicks.

Ecuador’s evening ended with another unpleasant moment. Deep into stoppage time, Piero Hincapie was shown a red card after an incident involving Mexico forward Santiago Gimenez.

Interestingly, before this match, Mexico had won only once in 14 previous World Cup games against South American teams. That victory also came against Ecuador — in 2002, when Javier Aguirre was also in charge of the Mexican national team.

Mexico will now play in the Round of 16 at the World Cup 2026. The match will take place on July 5 at Mexico City Stadium, where the hosts will face the winner of England vs DR Congo.