{"id":380562,"date":"2026-06-30T12:20:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T12:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/380562\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T12:20:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T12:20:16","slug":"in-must-win-match-against-ecuador-mexico-looks-to-advance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/380562\/","title":{"rendered":"In must-win match against Ecuador, Mexico looks to advance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MEXICO CITY\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Mexico advances<\/a> to the second round of the World Cup<\/a> backed by its strong record in the group stage and a formidable fortress \u2014 Azteca Stadium \u2014 where it will host Ecuador on Tuesday at 6 p.m. PDT in a knockout match airing on Fox and Telemundo.<\/p>\n

El Tri became the first Mexican team to win all three of its group stage matches<\/a> at a World Cup \u2014 a perfect finish accompanied by fan support rarely seen before, with more than 80,000 packing Azteca Stadium for two of its games and more than 800,000 surrounding El \u00c1ngel de la Independencia statue to celebrate wins. <\/p>\n

Coach Javier Aguirre\u2019s<\/a> third stint leading the national team, which began in 2024 amid skepticism, has sparked World Cup fever in the streets of Mexico City, which have filled with fans wearing green jerseys, along with their dogs, cats and even ducks decked out in the national team colors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re motivated, but nothing is decided yet,\u201d Mexico forward Armando Gonz\u00e1lez<\/a> said. \u201cEarning points is useless because now comes the important part \u2014 do-or-die matches. We\u2019re focused on that.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Mexico's <\/p>\n

Mexico\u2019s Armando Gonz\u00e1lez controls the ball in front of South Africa\u2019s Ime Okon during on a World Cup match on June 11 at Azteca Stadium.<\/p>\n

(Eduardo Verdugo \/ Ap Photo\/eduardo Verdugo)<\/p>\n

The winner of the match will face the winner of the contest between England and Congo on July 5 at Azteca Stadium.<\/p>\n

Mexico has also been solid on defense, keeping three clean sheets while scoring six goals. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe respect all our opponents,\u201d said Mexico defender Jes\u00fas Gallardo<\/a>, who sat out the last group stage match against Czechia. \u201cWe know this is the World Cup and every team is playing to win. We\u2019ve won our three matches, and we\u2019re proud of that. But we haven\u2019t won anything yet. Ecuador has played well. We know they\u2019re a very dynamic, very strong team.\u201d <\/p>\n

Erik Lira, Ra\u00fal Jim\u00e9nez and Brian Guti\u00e9rrez will join Gallardo returning to the lineup after sitting out Mexico\u2019s last match. Guti\u00e9rrez had a yellow card and was held out against Czechia to avoid a second yellow card and suspension. Gilberto Mora, 17, started in place of Guti\u00e9rrez and had a tremendous performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to focus on what we do on the field; we want the fans to cheer us on,\u201d Gallardo said. \u201cWe want to bring them a lot of joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the convincing 3-0 victory over Czechia while resting some starters, the atmosphere on the Mexican team has been very relaxed, with several videos showing the players joking around with each other. Some of them have been training together for nearly two months because Aguirre arranged a monthlong training camp ahead of the World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why these past few months have gone by so quickly. Even though they\u2019re always joking around, we know that we have a brother right beside us who would give his life for us,\u201d Gonz\u00e1lez said.<\/p>\n

On the other side, Ecuador arrives after advancing as one of the best third-place finishers, having closing Group E competition with four points \u2014 a stark contrast to its performance in the South American qualifiers, where Ecuador finished second only to world champion Argentina.<\/p>\n

At the World Cup, Ecuador began the tournament with a tough last-minute loss to Ivory Coast and then failed to score against debutant Curacao. But when Ecuador had its back against the wall and needed to beat Germany in the final group-stage match, it pulled off a stunning upset, defeating the German team 2-1 to secure its spot in the next round.<\/p>\n

That inconsistency makes Ecuador a wild card.<\/p>\n

\"Mexico's <\/p>\n

Mexico\u2019s Luis Romo celebrates with Jesus Gallardo, Erik Lira and Johan Vasquez after scoring against South Korea during a World Cup match at Guadalajara Stadium on June 18.<\/p>\n

(Silvia Izquierdo \/ Ap Photo\/silvia Izquierdo)<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what life is all about \u2014 having faith, having confidence. The team is very united,\u201d said Sebasti\u00e1n Beccacece, Ecuador\u2019s Argentine coach. \u201cWe\u2019ve always remained calm and cautious in the face of adversity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe team is united, obviously full of enthusiasm and energy \u2014 like all national teams \u2014 but also tired, especially due to the schedule. Still, that\u2019s no excuse. We\u2019re driven by enthusiasm and the desire to make history; we\u2019ll build our efforts on these foundations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ecuador has also had to move quickly to plan for the match against Mexico. Following Thursday\u2019s victory, Ecuador didn\u2019t know it would be facing Mexico until Saturday morning. The team tried to travel to Mexico City on Sunday, but it ran into logistical problems and had to do so on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cTraveling to the Azteca Stadium is going to be a bit of a challenge,\u201d Agust\u00edn Delgado, the all-time leading scorer for the Ecuadorian national team, said in an interview with Claro Sports. \u201cThat ultimately takes its toll in a match of this magnitude.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis generation has what it takes for this World Cup and another one after that. They\u2019re very young players. They haven\u2019t reached their full potential yet; they have a lot to give.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike the game against Czechia, altitude won\u2019t be as big a factor, since the Ecuadorian national team plays its home games in Quito, which sits at an elevation of 9,350 feet \u2014 making it the second-highest capital city in the world and more than 2,000 feet higher than Mexico City. It also has players who compete for clubs accustomed to playing at Mexican altitudes, such as Pedro Vite of Pumas and Enner Valencia of Pachuca.<\/p>\n

Ecuador boasts proven talent such as Mois\u00e9s Caicedo of Chelsea in England; William Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain in France; Piero Hincapi\u00e9 of Arsenal; and Joel Ord\u00f3\u00f1ez of Club Brugge in Belgium.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a close match; there are star players on both teams,\u201d said \u00c1lex Aguinaga, a former Ecuadorian player and Liga MX legend who is now a commentator for Fox Sports. \u201cEcuador\u2019s defense is much more solid; it has players who handle the defensive zone very well.<\/p>\n

\"Mexico <\/p>\n

Mexico fans cheer during a World Cup game against Czechia at Azteca Stadium on June 24.<\/p>\n

(Alex Slitz \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so close, but I think it\u2019s going to come down to a single goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ecuador will also try to capitalize on the pressure stemming from the fact that Mexico has won only one match in its entire history in knockout rounds \u2014 in 1986 when it played at home against Bulgaria and won 2-0. Between 1994 and 2018, Mexico was eliminated in the second round of the World Cup on each of the last seven occasions it reached that stage.<\/p>\n

Mexico has never lost a match at Azteca Stadium in a World Cup, and its last defeat in an official match was against Honduras in a qualifying match in 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think right now all the opponents are going to be tough; none of them will be easy,\u201d said Obed Vargas, an Atl\u00e9tico Madrid player who has come off the bench for Mexico. \u201cWe\u2019re taking it one game at a time, but for me, we have to make it to the final.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MEXICO CITY\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Mexico advances to the second round of the World Cup backed by its strong record in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":380563,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[153871,63086,153869,153870,8293,95597,145042,153868,153867,48,52,51,47,50,49,63125,2457,137244,127409,49398,149614],"class_list":["post-380562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-aficionado","tag-ano","tag-eliminacion","tag-fase","tag-futbol","tag-grupo","tag-javier-aguirre","tag-joven-promesa","tag-jugador","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-mexicano","tag-mexico","tag-mundial","tag-partido","tag-rival","tag-seleccion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380562\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}