Mexico 1-0 South Korea: FIFA World Cup Match Report

Mexico's second group match was nothing like their first. Where the opener against South Africa was already 1-0 at the interval, this one was goalless for forty-five minutes and finished Mexico 1-0 South Korea, the narrowest of the three wins that carried the hosts to a perfect group stage.

South Korea arrived on three points after a 2-1 win over Czechia, and the goalless first half suggests they set out to keep the game where it was. It worked for a half. The single goal that followed was the only one of the night, and it took Mexico to six points with a match still to play while leaving South Korea on the same three they came in with.

Both clean sheets in this fixture belong to the story of Group A. Mexico did not concede at any point in the group — six scored, none allowed across three matches — so a shutout was in keeping with everything else they did. South Korea, though, held the hosts to one goal, which no other opponent managed: Czechia shipped three to Mexico and South Africa two. In the context of what Mexico did to the rest of the group, a 1-0 defeat was a creditable ninety minutes, and the scoreline gave South Korea a goal difference they could still work with going into the final round.

For Mexico it was qualification in all but confirmation. Six points from two matches and a goal difference of plus three in a group where nobody else had yet won twice, followed by a 3-0 win over Czechia that made it nine from nine.

For South Korea the consequences were heavier. Defeat left them on three points going into a final match against South Africa, and they lost that one 1-0 as well. Two goals scored, three conceded, three points, third place — eliminated on exactly the points their opening-day win had given them. Had they taken a draw here, the arithmetic of the last round would have looked entirely different. This was the match where their group turned.

Our pre-match call was Double Chance 1X (Mexico or Draw) at 1.42. Half of it was live for the entire ninety minutes and the other half landed at the end: goalless at the break meant the draw was covering the bet, and Mexico's goal meant the win side did.

That is what a double chance at a short price is for. It does not need the favourite to be convincing, only for the underdog not to win, and South Korea never did. They defended well enough to make this the hosts' narrowest win of the group, and it still made no difference to the outcome of the pick. The clean sheet Mexico kept in the opener held again here, and 1.42 was a fair price on a host nation that finished the group without conceding. Verdict: won