South KoreavsMexico
KOR 0/MEX 1
Things to say
Mexico beat South Korea 1-0 at Estadio Akron to go 2-0-0 in the group.
01
opener
Mexico edged South Korea one-nil at the Akron. Tight game, not pretty, but El Tri get the three points. Crowd was absolutely rocking.
02
key player
Edson Álvarez ran the whole midfield — 71 accurate passes and 12 defensive interventions. Man-of-the-match, no debate.
03
hot take
Two shots for Jiménez and they still won. Mexico can't keep scraping by like this once the knockouts hit.
04
deep cut
Kim Min-Jae had 91 accurate passes from center back and Korea still couldn't string anything in the final third. Tells you where the problem is.
05
exit
Anyway — they've already locked up advancement basically. Curious who they draw in the round of 16.
The recap
Mexico edged South Korea 1-0 at the Akron for a clean sheet and a 2-0-0 start, with Raúl Rangel making a couple of tidy saves to keep things locked. Edson Álvarez absolutely ran the midfield — 71 accurate passes and a dozen defensive interventions, basically the engine and the brick wall in one shift.
Korea hung in there with Kim Min-Jae spraying it around the back and Kim Seung-Gyu making three saves, but they couldn't crack the host's block. Not a classic, but Mexico got the job done in front of their own crowd and that's three more points in the bag.