Mexico capitalized on a costly defensive mistake by South Korea to secure a 1-0 victory on Thursday, becoming the first team to book a place in the World Cup knockout stage and sparking celebrations across the country.
The result marked a significant turnaround for Mexico, which failed to advance beyond the group stage in 2022. Playing on home soil, El Tri have now claimed back-to-back victories in front of passionate home crowds. Players gathered at midfield after the final whistle, applauding supporters who filled Estadio Akron with chants and songs throughout the match.
The celebrations quickly spread beyond the stadium. In Mexico City, mariachis began performing at the Angel of Independence as thousands of fans converged on the landmark from all directions. In Guadalajara, streets echoed with car horns as supporters waved Mexican flags, sang and celebrated a milestone victory that sent the host nation into the knockout rounds.
Luis Romo scored in the 50th minute after South Korea goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu collided with defender Lee Gi-hyeok and dropped the ball inside the area. Romo easily found the open net after collecting the loose ball.
The South Koreans nearly equalized in the 87th minute when Mexico goalkeeper Raul Rangel stopped a header from close range by Cho Gue-sung, then made an even better save on Yang Hyun-jun's rebound attempt, extending his right arm to keep the ball from crossing the line.
"It was very quick, it was pure reaction," Rangel said. "I couldn't really tell you what I saw because I remember the moment of impact with my teammate and me having the ball."
Mexico leads Group A with six points from two matches, three more than South Korea and five more than the Czech Republic and South Africa, which drew 1-1 earlier Thursday in Atlanta.
The top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage, along with the eight best third-place teams. A round of 32 is being played for the first time after the tournament expanded to 48 teams.
"We've been doing very well," Mexico coach Javier Aguirre said. "It wasn't a great match, but I think our opponent didn't let us do too much. But we still were able to score on that mistake, in addition to creating another two or three opportunities."
Aguirre said it felt good for the players to guarantee their place in the next round at home.
"It relieves some of the pressure," he said. "But not for me, for the players. They are euphoric, they are very happy."
Mexico opened with a 2-0 win over South Africa, while South Korea rallied for a 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic.
Mexico closes group play Wednesday against the Czech Republic in Mexico City, while South Korea takes on South Africa in Monterrey.
Mexico had never won a World Cup match on home soil outside Mexico City. Before 2026, all but one of its nine World Cup matches at home, spanning the 1970 and 1986 tournaments, had been played at Estadio Azteca, where it went 5-0-3. When it played in Toluca in 1970, it lost 4-1 to Italy in the quarterfinals.
Thursday's match got off to a lackluster start, with neither team creating significant scoring opportunities. Both squads were loudly booed at halftime.
Mexico, ranked No. 13, was eliminated in the group stage four years ago in Qatar. That followed seven consecutive eliminations in the round of 16.
South Korea star Son Heung-min had another disappointing game and was substituted in the 57th minute.
The 33-year-old Son is looking to become South Korea's leading World Cup scorer and the highest-scoring Asian player in tournament history. The former Tottenham star, now with Los Angeles FC, entered with three goals across three previous World Cups.
Kim kept Mexico from adding to its lead by making a difficult save on a close-range shot by Raúl Jiménez in the 75th minute.
South Korea pressed until the end but could not find an equalizer.
South Korea, ranked No. 22, is making its 11th consecutive World Cup appearance and 12th overall, the most by any Asian nation. Its best result was a fourth-place finish at the tournament it co-hosted with Japan in 2002. Since then, it has not advanced beyond the round of 16.
"The mistake that we made was unfortunate," coach Hong Myung-bo said.
This time, there were not many empty seats in Guadalajara, unlike the earlier match between South Korea and the Czech Republic. FIFA had blamed fans standing in the concourses for the appearance of empty seats. Thursday's crowd was announced at 45,522 for the 45,664-capacity stadium, which was hosting the national team for the first time.
Fan zones across Mexico were packed ahead of the game. In the largest one, in Mexico City's Zocalo, chants of support for the national team and cries of "Olé!" with every pass mingled with a homophobic chant. This one-word slur literally means male prostitute in Spanish, which has previously led to sanctions against Mexico and could trigger further punishment from FIFA.
There were also peaceful protests in Guadalajara, organized by the families of Mexico's 130,000 missing people.