World Cup 2026: Mexico beats Ecuador 2-0, breaks fifth game curse

The Mexican men’s national football team secured a solid 2-0 victory over Ecuador at Azteca Stadium on Tuesday and advanced to the 2026 World Cup round of 16. The hosts will now face the winner of Wednesday’s match between England and DR Congo. After a delayed start due to storms in Mexico City, the hosts came out of the gates swinging.  In the 22nd minute, striker Julian Quiñones broke away with the ball from his own half, opened up a window for himself, and put a powerful shot into the top corner of Ecuador’s goal to give the home team a 1-0 lead. Just nine minutes later, Quiñones did it again, holding up the ball and assisting striker Raúl Jiménez for the 2-0. With the hard work already done, Mexico switched to defending the lead in the second half, although it still managed to get some serious chances to score against an Ecuadorian team that was unable to create solid chances.  In the 95th minute of stoppage time, Ecuadorian defender Piero Hincapié was sent off after the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) spotted him covering his mouth while speaking to Santiago Giménez.  Hincapié became the second player  — after Paraguay’s Miguel Almirón — to get sent off under this new rule, born out of the controversy between forwards Gianluca Prestianni and Vinicius Jr. It did little to change the game that Mexico saw off with a 2-0 win. The Tri is running high in the tournament, having won all four of its matches and scoring eight goals. It is also one of only two teams, along with Spain, yet to concede a goal. It also marked the first time a team from CONCACAF, the North American football organizing body, defeated one from CONMEBOL, its South American counterpart, in a World Cup single-elimination game.  Mexico head coach Javier Aguirre was elated by the result. “I’ve had some great wins, but none like today’s,” he said after the match. “At home, with our people, and doing what we had to do. It’s a perfect night.” Aguirre, who has had three separate stints at the helm of the Mexico national team, admitted he was “very hurt” after missing out on getting to the fifth World Cup game at the 2002 and 2010 tournaments. The fifth game curse Between 1994 and 2018, Mexico suffered seven consecutive World Cup exits in the Round of 16, leading to the notion that the team had a “fifth game” curse, unable to advance past that stage.  While the team has now reached a fifth game, it’s worth noting that the stage they’re at is the same as before, since the 2026 World Cup is the first to feature an eight-game run to the final. “This means a lot to me,” Aguirre said. “Right now, our bond with the fans pushes us forward; we’re playing in a great stadium. We play until we’re exhausted, to our limit, so it’s a beautiful night for Mexican people.” Sebastián Beccacece waves goodbye at Ecuador It certainly wasn’t as nice a night for Ecuador head coach Sebastián Beccacece. The Argentine trainer confirmed he’ll be stepping down from his position after coming down from the high of beating Germany to elimination on Tuesday. “It’s my turn to say goodbye to a beautiful family,” he said after the match. “I’m thankful, at peace with myself and calm. We gave it our all, we worked non-stop.” The Argentine coach admitted that, with his contract set to expire at the end of the World Cup, he won’t be looking to renew his involvement with the Ecuadorian national team. “We played an amazing group stage. Today, the first half wasn’t up to the standards we set,” he added. Cover image: Selección Mexicana Twitter