Mexico Gets Ecuador Again: A Familiar Face Awaits in the Round of 32 | OneFootball

After spending the last few hours doing math, checking tiebreakers and refreshing group tables every five minutes, Mexico finally knows its opponent for the World Cup Round of 32: Ecuador.

Thanks to Ghana’s result against Croatia, Sebastián Beccacece’s side squeezed through as the third-place team in Group E with four points. Ecuador opened with a 1-0 loss to Ivory Coast, played out a scoreless draw with Croatia, and then pulled off one of the biggest surprises of the tournament by beating Germany 2-1.

For Mexico, it feels like a rerun.

The two nations have met only once before at a World Cup, back in the 2002 group stage. Mexico won 2-1 behind goals from Jared Borgetti and Gerardo Torrado, while Agustín Delgado scored Ecuador’s lone goal. Twenty-four years later, the sequel arrives—this time with no second chances.

Mexico finished atop Group A after defeating South Africa 2-0, South Korea 1-0, and Czechia 3-0, becoming the first Mexican team in FIFA World Cup history to win all three group-stage matches. It also marked the first time Mexico had finished first in its group since the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan, when it later faced Ecuador in the Round of 16.

Some things never change

In one of football’s favorite plot twists, Javier Aguirre is once again the man on Mexico’s bench. Yes, the same Javier Aguirre who coached that victory over Ecuador in Miyagi back in 2002.

Apparently, World Cups come and go, generations change, stadiums get bigger… but Mexico facing Ecuador with Aguirre in charge is still a thing.

A victory would give “El Vasco” his second World Cup win over Ecuador, making them the national team he has defeated most often on football’s biggest stage. Not exactly the rivalry either side expected, but here we are.

Time to break a 40-year curse

Mexico also has a much bigger mission than reliving old memories.

El Tri hasn’t won a World Cup knockout match since defeating Bulgaria in 1986. Forty years later, that remains the country’s one and only victory in a do-or-die match at the tournament.

There’s another curious twist: Ecuador will become the first South American nation besides Brazil or Argentina that Mexico has ever faced in a World Cup knockout round. It’s a refreshing change from repeatedly running into the continent’s traditional heavyweights… although Ecuador probably isn’t thrilled to hear that.

Match details

Mexico and Ecuador will meet on June 30 at 7:00 p.m. / 6:00 pm Pacific at Estadio Ciudad de México, with a place in the Round of 16 on the line. The winner will move on to face either England or Senegal.

Because apparently, the World Cup bracket decided Mexico hadn’t suffered enough anxiety already.

It also wasn’t exactly the opponent many in Mexico were expecting. Scotland had long been viewed as the most likely Round of 32 matchup, but a series of late results reshuffled the bracket and sent Ecuador instead. The South Americans arrive with credentials, having finished second in the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers, making them a far trickier test than many anticipated.

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