Overview
Mexico will aim to extend their unbeaten streak at the 2026 World Cup when facing Ecuador in the round of 32 at the Azteca stadium. The winner of this match will meet England or the DRC Congo in the round of 16.
The home team showed convincing form in the group stage when they won all 3 matches against South Africa, South Korea and the Czech Republic without conceding a goal.
In the 3-0 victory over the Czech Republic, Mateo Chavez opened the score before Julian Quinones scored a double. This striker became the first Mexican player to score more than one goal in a World Cup since Javier Hernandez in 2010. He is facing the opportunity to score in 3 consecutive matches, something only Luis Hernandez has done for El Tri at the 1998 World Cup.
Mexico also set a memorable milestone when they kept a clean sheet in 3 consecutive matches at the World Cup for the first time since the 1986 tournament at home. If they did not concede a goal against Ecuador, they would for the first time in history have 4 consecutive clean sheets in a World Cup.
Home advantage is also a great support for coach Javier Aguirre's team. In 12 World Cup matches held at home, Mexico has only lost once, against Italy in the quarter-finals in 1970. They won 8, drew 3 and achieved a win rate of up to 67%.
However, El Tri's achievements in the knockout round are not very impressive. In the last 10 knockout matches at the World Cup, Mexico only won one, drew 2 and lost up to 7 matches. The only time they passed the knockout round was a victory over Bulgaria at the 1986 World Cup, also at the Azteca stadium.
On the other side of the battle line, Ecuador created a big surprise when they came back to defeat Germany 2-1 to win the right to advance. After being soon penetrated by Leroy Sane, the South American representative rose up strongly with goals from Nilson Angulo and Gonzalo Plata to complete an impressive comeback.
Thanks to this result, Ecuador became the second team in the 21st century not to score in the first 2 matches of the group stage but still advanced, after Greece at the 2014 World Cup.
Coach Sebastian Beccacece's team also impressed with their aggressive pressing ability. Only Uruguay and Canada performed more high-level pressures than Ecuador in the group stage, while they ranked second in the number of times they regained the ball from high-intensity pressing situations.
In terms of force, both teams have the strongest squads. Mexico is likely to bring Raul Jimenez back to the starting lineup after this striker was rested in the match against the Czech Republic. Raul Rangel continues to guard the goal, even though veteran goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa has reappeared in the last round of the group stage.
Meanwhile, Ecuador has no injuries or suspensions, giving Beccacece a full choice for the highly anticipated confrontation at the Azteca stadium.
Head-to-head record
Mexico and Ecuador have only met once at the World Cup, in the group stage in 2002. At that time, the CONCACAF representative won 2-1.
However, the balance of head-to-head recently between the two teams is quite balanced when all three recent encounters in all competitions ended in a draw.
Score prediction: Mexico 0-1 Ecuador
The match between Mexico and Ecuador takes place at 8:00 a.m. on July 1 (Vietnam time).
