Key events
The match is scheduled to kick off at 8:00 pm local time / 10:00 pm IST / 3 am BST / 12:00 pm IST.
There is confirmation. We will depart an hour later than announced.
ShareNick Ames
The skies have cleared significantly, the rain is easing – although still falling steadily – and I believe we are approaching football conditions. However, there are no signs of the players warming up, so I don’t think this game will start for another hour or so.
Meanwhile, a huge, sodden crowd drinks beer and enjoys a light show and DJ set. Despite the latter, there is something epic in this atmosphere, let’s see if we get a game that matches.
Share
Alan Steenstrup notified me: “Local media are currently reporting that the game will start at 20:00 local time, an hour later than the original kick-off time.” I’ll bring you confirmation when it lands.
Share
Paul from North Carolina sent an email, perhaps by misunderstanding, to Sash! The Ecuador parcel is official propaganda, but it is signed with a charming playfulness. “So according to this video, Ecuador is all gaucho screams, jingling noises and strange women? This video may be one of the most counterproductive advertising campaigns since our local diner and gas station advertised ‘Eat Here, Fuel Up.’
ShareShare
It’s that annoying curse again, isn’t it?
Share
Allow content provided by a third party?
This article includes content hosted on embed.bsky.app. We ask for your permission before downloading anything as the provider may use cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click “Allow and continue”.
Share
I can’t find any specific information about the thunderstorm protocol in Mexico yet, but the US protocol was widespread after the inclement weather early in the tournament.
In the US, a match must be immediately suspended if lightning is detected within an eight mile radius. It cannot start or resume within 30 minutes of the last lightning strike.
Share
Justin Meyer is having fun despite the weather as he swaps his allegiance from Bafana Bafana to El Tri. “As a South African in Mexico City currently braving the rain at a fan festival, I was obviously disappointed in the loss to Canada, but honestly just qualifying for the second round for the first time felt like winning the World Cup! Mexico have been incredible hosts and I’ll be cheering on the home team tonight along with some of the nicest and friendliest people in the world!”
Share
Nick Ames is at Aztec and will keep us updated on the weather. He hopes the delay will only be half an hour or so.
It’s raining in Mexico City. Photograph: David Ramos/Getty ImagesShare
The start of the match has been postponed
Nick Ames
The start of the match here was delayed due to a biblical thunderstorm that had been raging over the stadium for more than an hour.
Lightning flashed directly overhead, and thunder was loud enough to draw gasps from the storm-hardened crowd inside the Azteca.
There are no signs of players warming up yet, so we’ll see how long it takes before we get started.
Share
It’s time for my last pre-match coffee and kitchen rave.
Share
Based on my quick analysis, Mexico hasn’t lost at home since a friendly loss to Chile in 2018. They haven’t lost a match or been defeated at the Azteca since 2013. Khashtag fortress.
Share
As if tonight’s match wasn’t enough, it’s also a referendum on the status of the dark horses.
Share
Mexico’s football culture began in the early 20th century.The country made history as a participant in the first ever World Cup match when they lost 4-1 to France on the opening day of the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay.
In the next match against Chile, they conceded the first own goal of the World Cup.
Then against Argentina they scored their first ever penalty in the tournament… but still lost 6-3.
Perhaps Mexico was always destined to play the fall boys at the World Cup?
Share
Keira Healy emails me about fan behavior at some major tournaments: “Last night, dozens of Mexican fans surrounded the Ecuadorian team hotel, singing, chanting, honking, etc. to keep them awake. There has been a lot of talk about this in the Spanish language news – the Ecuadorian team has now made an official complaint to FIFA about this. Shadows of the 1995 Rugby World Cup final, for those with good memory.”
Share
Ecuador XI
Ecuador remained unchanged from the team that made it through the group stage with a late win over Germany.
Ecuador (4-4-2): 1 Hernan Gallindes; 3 Piero Hincapie, 4 Joel Ordonez, 6 Willian Pacho, 21 Alan Franco; 15 Peter Wiethe, 23 Moses Caicedo; 20, Neilson Corner, 9 John Yeboah; 13 Enner Valencia, 19 Gonzalo Silver
Share
Mexico XI
17-year-old Gilberto Mora starts in Mexico’s midfield, with Javier Aguirre selecting his preferred line-up after tweaks in the group stage.
Mexico (4-1-2-3): 1 Rangel; 2 Sanchez, 3 Montes, 5 Vazquez, 23 Gallardo; 6 lire, 7 blunts, 19 mora; 25 Alvarado, 9 Jimenez, 16 Quinones.
Gilberto MoraShare
Updated at 7:57 pm ET.
In today’s match there is a third main character – the incomparable Azteca Stadium.
The last time a World Cup knockout match was played here, it ended with Diego Maradona lifting the trophy after a masterly individual tournament.
The place was already famous for Pelé and his teammates in the 1970 Brazil team, and for its role in the first (unofficial) Women’s World Cup.
Share
What about Ecuador? As Aaron Timms writes, these are power-based dark horses with an attractive trainer.
double quotation mark On the pitch, through wins and losses, Ecuador was exactly what everyone imagined it would be before the tournament began: a team with an elite defense and a midfield that lacked any real forward punch. But on the sidelines and at press conferences they absolutely dominated, and it was all thanks to gaucho Fabio they lead their team. With locks of dirty blond hair, stubble on his chin and a nose like a Boeing 747, Sebastian Beccacece looks like a manager who must to succeed at the World Cup, regardless of results on the field. He is 45 years old, in charge of a country other than his native Argentina, and comes to this tournament with a relatively modest coaching record: he worked as an assistant under Jorge Sampaoli in Chile and managed Spanish club Elche without much success.
Share
More about the fascinating curse of the fifth game.
Mexico reached the quarter-finals on home soil in 1986, but were banned from the Italia 90 tournament due to the fielding of older players at the 1988 CONCACAF Under-20 tournament in what became known as the Cachirules scandal. Because four players were found to have falsified their ages, the fourth match is now cursed, meaning the fifth game will never take place.
Following the scandal, El Tri were eliminated in the round of 16 (their fourth match) and at every World Cup from 1994 to 2018 (seven tournaments in a row) before failing to make it out of the group stage in Qatar.
Share
Raul Vilchis presents the scene from a Mexican perspective.where the curse of the fifth game hung over the hosts.
double quotation mark The history of the World Cup in Mexico is marked by decades of defeats in the first stage of the playoffs. It is in this round that Mexico will play on Tuesday against Ecuador. And the country is on the brink.
Since 1994, Mexico has made the playoffs and then collapsed at the first hurdle. The only exception was Qatar, when they didn’t even qualify from the groups. The last time Mexico reached the now-mythical “Game 5” in the quarterfinals was 1986, and it was also the last time the World Cup was played on home soil.
Across the country, familiar anxiety is growing that this fourth game will be Mexico’s last in the tournament.
Share
There will be team news in a few minutes and there will still be some time before kick-off, giving you plenty of opportunities to join the conversation by emailing me at jonathan.howcroft.freelance@theguardian.com.
You could be praising France and glorifying Norway, both countries who have qualified for the round of 16 already today, or reflecting on what went wrong yesterday with the Netherlands and fellow European leaders Germany.
In the meantime, take care of Max, Barry and the rest of the team.
It’s time to write off the Germany-Brazil battle outside Japan | Daily World ChampionshipShare
Preamble
Jonathan Howcroft
Hello everyone and welcome to the live broadcast of the Mexico – Ecuador match in the 1/16 finals of the 2026 World Cup. Kick-off at Estadio Azteca will take place at 19:00 local time (21:00 EST/2:00 BST/11:00 AEST).
Mexico, the flamboyant hosts, went undefeated in the opening stage without conceding a single goal, demonstrating the stubbornness of their coach Javier Aguirre. Just two years ago, El Tri’s preparations were in disarray as they abandoned their third coach since the start of the World Cup in Qatar. For the third time they turned to the man who played for the greatest team in the country in 1986, and for the third time he took them out of the group stage. His task now is to break el quinto partido – the curse of the fifth game.
To do that, Mexico will need to find a way through a team that finished second in continental qualifying but third in the four-team group behind already eliminated Germany and Ivory Coast. Ecuador are incredibly tough and rarely concede goals, but unfortunately for their fans, they rarely score either.
In the second round, already determined by the grappling and pulling contests, this pair is destined to go out of order.
The sudden death of football at the most legendary stadium in World Cup history. These are the moments that make the four-year wait worth it.
Share