Mexico cruise past Czechia to reach World Cup knockouts with commanding 3-0 win

Mexico swept into the World Cup knockout stages with a clinical 3-0 victory over Czechia, punishing defensive lapses and displaying a disciplined rearguard performance in their final Group Stage match.

• Czechia will play with . , on .
• Mexico will play with . , on .

Czechia

• Matěj Kovář (6.3)
• Tomáš Holeš (6.5)
• Robin Hranáč (5.9)
• Ladislav Krejčí (6)
• Vladimír Coufal (6.7)
• Lukáš Červ (6.7)
• Michal Sadílek (6.9)
• David Douděra (6.7)
• Pavel Šulc (6.5)
• Denis Višinský (6.7)
• Adam Hložek (7)

Mexico

Substitutions:

Czechia

• Denis Višinský (Lukáš Provod, 56)
• Adam Hložek (Patrik Schick, 64)
• Tomáš Holeš (Tomáš Souček, 64)
• Lukáš Červ (Tomáš Chorý, 87)
• Tomáš Souček (Alexandr Sojka, 87)

Mexico

• Guillermo Martínez Ayala (Santiago Tomás Giménez, 63)
• Luis Francisco Romo Barrón (Obed Gómez Vargas, 63)
• Gilberto Rafael Mora Zambrano (Álvaro Fidalgo Fernández, 72)
• José Raúl Rangel Aguilar (Francisco Guillermo Ochoa Magaña, 78)
• Mateo Chávez García (Jesús Daniel Gallardo Vasconcelos, 78)

Ball possession:

Julián Quiñones led the way in front of goal for Mexico, who scored three times despite having less of the ball and fewer attempts overall, while Jorge Sánchez and Israel Reyes underpinned a resolute defensive display that shut down any realistic hopes of a Czech fightback.

Passes:

## Clinical Mexico make their chances count

Defense:

On paper, the match statistics painted a far more balanced picture than the scoreline suggested. Czechia edged ball possession with 52% to Mexico’s 48%, and fired in more attempts, recording 13 shots in total. Yet only one of those efforts found the target.

Face-to-face:

Mexico, by contrast, were ruthless. They produced 11 shots, with five on target, and turned pressure moments into goals at key stages of the contest. Quiñones was the most dangerous in front of goal for El Tri, repeatedly stretching the Czech back line and leading all players for shots on goal for the victors.

Fouls:

Yellow cards:

• Edson Omar Álvarez Velázquez (Mexico) at 64 minute

The last five games (including this match):

• Czechia –
• Mexico –

Top 5 World Cup scorers:

1. Vinícius José Paixão de Oliveira Júnior (2, )
2. Ismael Saibari Ben El Basra (1, )
3. Rubén Estephan Vargas Martínez (1, )
4. K. Alajbegovic (1, )
5. Gessime Yassine (1, )

Line-ups:

Next games:

• Czechia will play with . , on .
• Mexico will play with . , on .