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(2nd LD) (World Cup) S. Korea fall to Mexico for 1st loss in Group A

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(2nd LD) (World Cup) S. Korea fall to Mexico for 1st loss in Group A

South Korea fell to co-host Mexico 1-0 on Thursday for their first loss in Group A at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, unable to clinch a knockout berth early.

Luis Romo scored the lone goal for El Tri in the 50th minute before a delighted home crowd at Estadio Guadalajara in Zapopan, western Mexico.

South Korea, after beating Czechia 2-1 to begin the competition last week, remained at three points and now sit in second place behind Mexico, who improved to six points to win Group A with one match to spare.

Czechia and South Africa, who played to a 1-1 draw earlier Thursday, are each at one point, with Czechia occupying third place thanks to their superior goal difference.

South Korea will close out the group stage against South Africa next Wednesday in Monterrey, northeastern Mexico, while Mexico will do so against Czechia on the same day in Mexico City.

With the tournament having expanded to 48 nations, the top two teams from each of the 12 groups will progress to the round of 32, joined by the eight best third-place teams.

South Korea will qualify for the knockouts and finish second in Group A with a victory or a draw against South Africa.

South Korea may end up tied with Mexico at six points, but Mexico will hold the tiebreak edge in that scenario by virtue of this victory. The head-to-head record between the tied teams is the first tiebreaker.

South Korea and Czechia will both finish with four points if South Korea play South Africa to a draw and Czechia beat Mexico. In that case, South Korea will have the tiebreaker over Czechia thanks to their victory last week.

South Korea head coach Hong Myung-bo made one lineup change from the previous match, with wingback Kim Moon-hwan drawing in for Lee Tae-seok. Seol Young-woo, who played as the right back against Czechia, slid over to left, with Kim taking over on the right side.

Kim Seung-gyu earned his second straight start in goal, with Lee Gi-hyuk, Kim Min-jae and Lee Han-beom lining up in front of him in the back-three system.

Hwang In-beom, named the Man of the Match against Czechia with a goal and an assist, started in midfield with Paik Seung-ho. Lee Jae-sung and Lee Kang-in were the attacking midfielders behind captain Son Heung-min.

The teams were goalless in a mostly cautious first half.

South Korea had their first dangerous look in the 16th minute, with Lee Kang-in floating a pass over the top of the Mexico defense for Son, who beat goalkeeper Raul Rangel to the ball and volleyed it toward the gaping net. Not knowing Son would be ruled offside, Mexico defender Edson Alvarez pulled off an acrobatic overhead clearance off the line.

Some four minutes later, Julian Quinones tested Kim Seung-gyu with a header set up Roberto Alvarado’s cross, and Kim was up to the task by lunging to his right for the save.

Seol found himself with the ball behind the defense on the left side of the box in the 41st minute but airmailed his effort. It was South Korea’s first shot attempt of the match.

With the clock ticking down, Lee Han-beom’s cross nearly connected with Lee Jae-sung in the goalmouth, with the latter fanning on a sliding volley attempt.

Mexico broke the deadlock five minutes after the restart, thanks to a miscue by their opponents.

Kim Seung-gyu came off the line to grab a harmless header from Raul Jimenez. But on his way down, Kim fell on defender Lee Gi-hyuk, who had his back turned to the goal. The ball spilled out to Romo, who volleyed the loose ball into the empty net.

Son tried to pull South Korea level in the 56th minute, when he received a pass from Kim Moon-hwan inside the box. But multiple Mexican defenders converged on him before the South Korean talisman could get a shot off.

It ended up being Son’s last opportunity, as he was subbed out for Oh Hyeon-gyu in the 57th minute.

Hong made more aggressive substitutions in the second half, replacing two wing defenders, Seol and Kim Moon-hwan, with more offensive-minded midfielders Yang Hyun-jun and Eom Ji-sung in the 71st minute.

Then in the 77th minute, striker Cho Gue-sung came on for Paik, giving South Korea two scoring options up front in Cho and Oh.

Mexico nearly doubled their lead on 75 minutes as Quinones delivered a cross toward the far post for Jimenez, whose sliding effort was turned aside by Kim Seung-gyu.

The South Korean goalkeeper made another big save on Obed Vargas in the 85th minute to keep South Korea’s hope alive to salvage at least a point.

And Kim’s teammates nearly came through moments later, but it was Rangel’s turn to play the hero for the home side.

Cho met Eom’s cross sent to the back post but Rangel went down to keep the initial header out of the line. The rebound bounced to Yang, but Rangel, still down on the goal line, stretched out his right arm and grabbed the follow-up effort, somehow holding on to the ball even as teammate Johan Vasquez fell on top of him.

South Korea kept pushing for the equalizer that never came, with Lee Han-beom’s header off a Lee Kang-in corner bouncing wide during stoppage time.

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