{"id":3490,"date":"2026-07-01T12:40:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T12:40:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3490"},"modified":"2026-07-01T12:40:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T12:40:27","slug":"mexico-ends-a-40-year-knockout-drought-beats-ecuador-2-0-to-reach-the-round-of-16-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3490","title":{"rendered":"Mexico ends a 40-year knockout drought, beats Ecuador 2-0 to reach the round of 16"},"content":{"rendered":"

By CARLOS RODRIGUEZ, AP Sports Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n

MEXICO CITY (AP) \u2014 The 40-year wait is over. Mexicans had learned to live with defeats in the knockout stages of the\u00a0World Cup. On seven occasions, El Tri fans were left heartbroken at this stage.<\/p>

Read more Kurtenbach: If the U.S. men really want us to believe, they\u2019ll deliver a reckoning in the Bay<\/a><\/p>\n

Not anymore.<\/p>\n

Juli\u00e1n Qui\u00f1ones and\u00a0Ra\u00fal Jim\u00e9nez\u00a0scored within a nine-minute span in the first half and\u00a0Mexico\u00a0defeated Ecuador 2-0 on Tuesday night to break a four-decade drought in the knockout stage and progress to the round of 16.<\/p>\n

Qui\u00f1ones opened the scoring in the 22nd minute and Jim\u00e9nez added a goal in the 31st for the Mexicans, who had not won a knockout-stage match since defeating Bulgaria in the round of 16 when they hosted the tournament in 1986. Mexico coach\u00a0Javier Aguirre was one of the starting midfielders in that \u201986 team.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means a lot to me because I am one of those who could not progress in the knockout stage,\u201d Aguirre said. \u201cWe are in the round of 16 and it is happening a great connection with the fans. We are like a family. It is spectacular.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mexico lost seven consecutive times at that same stage from 1994 to 2018 and didn\u2019t advance past the group stage in 2022.<\/p>\n

Aguirre, who returned as Mexico\u2019s head coach in August of 2024, was an assistant in 1994 and was the coach in 2002 and 2010.<\/p>

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\u201cWe will be on high alert from here until Sunday. We will try to have the players recover from this and we will see if we are able to win again,\u201d Aguirre said.<\/p>\n

In the expanded, 48-team World Cup, there\u2019s an extra round in the knockout phase \u2014 the round of 32 was inserted for this tournament between the group stage and the round of 16.<\/p>\n