Mexico celebrates magical World Cup victory over

MEXICO CITY —  Mexico’s national crew overcame a lackluster first half to beat Czechia thanks to a dream second half that allowed it to end the group stage undefeated on a evening that shall be remembered as one of the best in Mexican World Cup historical past.

The celebration of Mexico’s 3-0 win Wednesday at Azteca Stadium turned into a tribute to legendary goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, who entered the sport in the ultimate minutes to obtain a standing ovation in contrast to any other for a Mexican participant in the historical past of the match.

Czechia was eradicated after failing to earn more than one level in the match. In the other group match, South Africa defeated South Korea 1-0 in Monterrey and superior in second place. South Korea can have to wait to discover out whether or not it advances as one of the eight best third-place groups.

Czechia put up a strong efficiency during the first 45 minutes, while Mexico confirmed little offensive readability, mainly because of a lack of control in midfield.

Everything modified in a matter of six minutes during the second half, when El Tri discovered Czechia and secured its best victory in the group stage.

Mateo Chávez opened the scoring in the fifty fifth minute with the help of Mexico’s deadly counterattack. Luis Romo set up the purpose by shaking off three Czechia gamers at midfield and pushing ahead, passing to Chávez, who beat Czechia’s Michal Sadilek and buried a shot to the left facet of purpose. It was the 22-year-old’s first purpose for the Mexican national crew.

Forward Julián Quiñones prolonged the lead in the 61st minute, exploiting Czechia’s defensive confusion in the penalty space.

Álvaro Fidalgo, who was a second-half substitute, capped the win with a stoppage-time purpose. The run on the ultimate purpose was set up by a booming Ochoa kick and triggered a raucous celebration by the goalkeeper and his teammates.

The match encapsulated both the current and the future of the Mexican crew.

Gilberto Mora, a 17-year-old midfielder from Tijuana and the crew’s youngest participant at the World Cup, was instrumental in the second half, setting up a number of of the performs that determined the end result.

“It’s something I’ve always worked toward — playing in a World Cup at Azteca Stadium

,” Mora said after the match.

Mexico coach Javier Aguirre was happy with the younger gamers’ performances.

“This is a generation of young players who aren’t afraid to take risks with the ball,” Aguirre said. “We have a solid foundation for what lies ahead.”

With a 2-0 lead, one of the best moments for a goalkeeper in World Cup historical past unfolded. Ochoa changed starter Raúl Rangel and was greeted with a standing ovation from a large portion of the 80,824 followers at Azteca Stadium.

Ochoa was handed the captain’s armband.

The followers chanted Ochoa’s identify every time the goalkeeper touched the ball. He has performed in six World Cups, including beginning and serving as a key participant during the 2014, 2018 and 2022 tournaments.

He saluted the followers during the sport and kissed the goalposts when the ultimate whistle blew.

“It was a fitting tribute; he’s a legend,” Aguirre said. “I felt that Memo should play, but I didn’t know for how long. Mexico had its night to celebrate a legend.”

Ochoa took images with his household after his teammates tossed him into the air and he hugged all gamers from Mexican and Czechia.

“Sometimes things just fall into place; history wanted it this way… the result, the setting… I’m very grateful,” said Ochoa, 40, in a postgame interview with TV Azteca.

Aguirre said that ending first in the group was a “primary objective” for Mexico, which already certified for the next spherical. The crew achieved a first by securing three consecutive wins without conceding a purpose in the group stage. Mexico defeated South Africa 2-0 in the opening match and South Korea 1-0 in the second recreation.

“I have an extraordinary group of players,” said Aguirre, who emphasised that 25 of his 26 gamers on the roster have seen motion.

After the Czechia match, Aguirre spoke about the “emotional balance” he calls for from his gamers, particularly when going through boos from their own followers following a poor first half. Boos have been also directed at his gamers during El Tri’s first two World Cup matches.

“There was some booing, but the team showed mental strength,” said Aguirre, who famous that he was not happy with the first 25 minutes of the match.

Mexico, which is co-hosting the match alongside Canada and the United States, will face its next opponent — one of the best third-place finishers — on Tuesday at Azteca Stadium.

With its three victories in the group stage, Mexico is now on a nine-game unbeaten streak so far in 2026, with seven wins and two attracts.

“The statistics and the data — they’re just there. At the end of the day, what really matters is what comes next,” said Aguirre. “We can’t stop now.”

Czechia coach Miroslav Koubek said his crew wants to improve following its disappointing efficiency in this World Cup and attributed Wednesday’s poor exhibiting to his gamers’ fatigue.

“The tournament has taught us that we need to improve. We need to select players who can compete at this level. We need to improve technically,” Koubek said. “We’ve seen this in recent years. We need to improve. We saw it today — we had some good moments, but it wasn’t enough.”

“We had players who didn’t play well, and that surprised us. We had players with injuries; their recovery took much longer than we wanted,” added Koubek, who thanked followers who traveled to Mexico City to assist their national crew.

The only bitter word for Mexico got here in the scoreless first half when the stressed crowd unleashed a common homophobic chant at least twice. FIFA beforehand sanctioned the Mexican soccer federation in an effort to stop the mantra.