Come on, Mexico! Hosts dominate, dump out Ecuador and go through! 🎥

Come on, Mexico! Hosts dominate, dump out Ecuador and go through! 🎥 The mythical Azteca, which hosted Brazil’s third World Cup title in 1970 and saw Maradona lead Argentina in 1986, lived through yet another historic chapter. Mexico ended a LONG drought without winning a knockout match by beating Ecuador 2-0 and booking its place in the FIFA World Cup round of 16. In front of 80,824 fans. Mexican supporters will keep giving everything and then some against either England or the Democratic Republic of Congo — who face each other this Wednesday (1st) Easy, easy, let’s not panic!  The ball started rolling in Mexico City with a one-hour delay because of a storm alert that never materialized. A delay that did nothing to dampen the excitement in the stands. Mexico’s long spell of possession just two minutes into the match already drew cries of “Olé.” Javier Aguirre’s men got off to a more than positive start.  A goal felt like only a matter of time, and it came through Quiñones, the top scorer in last season’s Saudi league who chose to represent El Tri . It was his third goal of the World Cup.  After going through major drama in his career, “El Lobo” Jiménez never gave up. And he scored his second goal of this World Cup. Ecuador did manage to create real danger before halftime. But Rangel came up big.  Mexico deserved it The second half saw Beccacece’s Ecuador trying to take control of the match and (finally) find a way past an impenetrable Mexico. But the greater share of possession was not productive. The best chance of the second half fell to Mexico, with Montes forcing Galíndez into a great save.  Deep into stoppage time, Hincapié was sent off for covering his mouth while a scuffle with Giménez was going on.  It was the second sending-off under the rule created after the Prestianni and Vini Jr. incident at the tournament, following Almirón’s.  Could this finally be the time? 💪🏽 Mexico’s best World Cup runs came when it hosted the tournament: it reached the quarterfinals in 70 and 86. After missing the 1990 edition, El Tri was eliminated in the round of 16 in seven straight World Cups — from 94 through 2018. Always going out after the fourth match. And it didn’t even reach the knockout stage at the World Cup in Qatar. In other words: its last knockout win came in the round of 16 in 1986, when it beat Bulgaria 2-0 before falling to West Germany.  Next Sunday (5th), again at the Azteca, England or DR Congo will stand in its way as it chases a place in the quarterfinals. This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.