Mexico City, 01 July (H.S.): Mexico ended a 40-year wait for a FIFA World Cup knockout-stage victory by defeating Ecuador 2-0 in their Round of 32 clash on Wednesday, securing a place in the last 16 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Julian Quinones and Raul Jimenez scored within a span of nine first-half minutes to seal a memorable victory for Mexico.

Quinones opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, giving the hosts an early advantage. Jimenez doubled the lead in the 31st minute, putting Mexico firmly in control before halftime.

The victory marked Mexico's first win in the World Cup knockout stage since the 1986 tournament, when they defeated Bulgaria at home to advance beyond the Round of 16. Since then, Mexico had suffered Round of 16 eliminations in seven consecutive World Cups — 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 — before failing to progress beyond the group stage at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Quinones and Jimenez achieved significant individual milestones during the match.

Quinones scored his third goal of the tournament, moving into joint second place among Mexico's all-time World Cup goalscorers. Only Luis Matador Hernandez and Javier Chicharito Hernandez have scored more, with four goals each.

Jimenez, meanwhile, netted his 47th international goal for Mexico, surpassing Jared Borgetti on the country's all-time scoring list. He now stands just five goals behind Chicharito's national record of 52 international goals.

Mexico also maintained their outstanding record at the iconic Estadio Azteca. The team remains unbeaten in 10 FIFA World Cup matches played at the historic venue. Officially, Mexico have suffered only two defeats at the stadium in all competitions, with the most recent coming against Honduras in a 2013 FIFA World Cup qualifier.

The win also extended Mexico's unbeaten run to 12 matches across all competitions.

In another historic achievement, Mexico became the first CONCACAF nation to defeat a South American team in the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup. Before Wednesday's result, South American sides had won all five previous knockout meetings between teams from the two confederations.

Mexico will now face the winner of the Round of 32 match between England and Congo in the Round of 16.

The match kicked off one hour later than scheduled after severe thunderstorms forced a delay, making it the second weather-affected fixture of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar