Mexico won their first World Cup knockout game in 40 years after beating Ecuador 2-0 in front of an enthusiastic crowd at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca on Tuesday.
The one-hour delay in the start of the match due to lightning around the stadium did not dampen the atmosphere inside. Fueled by the roar of the fans, Mexico emerged victorious over their South American rivals. They scored twice in nine minutes of the first half thanks to outstanding strikes from Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez.
– How the World Cup in Mexico revitalized a small town in Oregon
It was the same score and in the same place as the only previous time Mexico qualified for the knockout stage, when they beat Bulgaria in 1986, the last time the country hosted the quadrennial event.
The first expanded 48-team World Cup means Mexico is yet to realize its long and frustrating bid to return to the quarter-finals, but after seven straight defeats in the first stage of the knockout stages, victory on Tuesday will be sweet.
Raul Jimenez celebrates scoring Mexico’s second goal against Ecuador with teammate Julián Quiñones. CARL DE SOUZA/AFP via Getty Images
The co-hosts will now aim to complete their final eighth quest when they take on England or DR Congo in Azteca on Sunday.
It would be safe to bet against them. Mexico have now lost just twice in 89 matches against Azteca, winning 70 of them, and they are unbeaten in the 10 World Cup games played in Mexico City.
This time their run to the round of 16 was dominant. Tuesday’s lockout made Javier Aguirre’s side the fourth team in World Cup history to win their first four games without conceding a goal.
This was Quiñones’s third goal of the tournament, and he is now El Tri’s second-leading scorer in World Cup history behind Luis “Matador” Hernández and Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, who scored four goals each.
Jimenez scored his second goal of the tournament to give him 47 international goals, breaking a tie with Jared Borghetti. He is five steps away from becoming Mexico’s all-time leading scorer with Hernandez.
Mexico became the first Concacaf team to eliminate a CONMEBOL team in a World Cup knockout match. The previous five meetings were won by teams from South America.
For Ecuador it was a disappointing end to a tournament that had promised much after a shock victory over Germany in their last group game.
They left with a whimper and with 10 men after defender Pierrot Hincapier was red carded in second-half stoppage time as a result of a new law punishing players for covering their mouths when talking to opponents.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.