40-Year Curse Broken! Mexico Defeats Ecuador 2-0 at Home, Writes New Chapter in CONCACAF History
On Tuesday evening, a packed Estadio Azteca in Mexico City saw the host nation Mexico defeat Ecuador 2-0, ending a 40-year drought of World Cup knockout stage victories. The match was delayed by an hour due to a thunderstorm, but the passion of the home fans remained undiminished. Amid the roar of the crowd, Mexico controlled the tempo from the kickoff, with Julian Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez scoring within the first nine minutes to lay a solid foundation for the win.
This victory recalled the glory of 1986—also at the Estadio Azteca and also a 2-0 win over Bulgaria, the last time Mexico hosted the World Cup. Although the tournament has expanded to 48 teams, meaning Mexico's path to the quarterfinals is still long, this win serves as a major boost after exiting in the first knockout round in seven consecutive World Cups.
As one of the co-hosts, Mexico will return to the Estadio Azteca on Sunday to face England or the Democratic Republic of Congo, aiming to reach the quarterfinals. Betting against them would require considerable nerve—Mexico has lost only two of 89 official matches at the Estadio Azteca, winning 70, and remains unbeaten in 10 World Cup matches played in Mexico City.
The path to the round of 16 has demonstrated immense dominance. Tuesday's clean sheet made Javier Aguirre's side the fourth team in World Cup history to go unbeaten in their first four matches without conceding a goal. Quiñones has scored three goals in this tournament, moving into second place on Mexico's all-time World Cup scoring list, trailing only Luis "El Matador" Hernández and Javier "Chicharito" Hernández, who each have four. Jiménez scored his second goal of the tournament, bringing his national team tally to 47, surpassing Jared Borgetti for fourth place outright, and is now five goals shy of matching "Chicharito" as the all-time top scorer.
Additionally, Mexico became the first CONCACAF team to defeat a South American side in a World Cup knockout match—the previous five such encounters were all won by South American teams. For Ecuador, the outlook was bright after a surprising group-stage win over Germany, but it ended in disappointment. They finished their campaign with a lackluster loss, and defender Piero Hincapié received a red card in second-half stoppage time under a new rule—players covering their mouths when speaking with opponents will be penalized—leaving the team with 10 men. Authoritative media contributed to this report.