Mexico sweep World Cup group stage for first time ever as Chávez and Quiñones shine

Mexico made World Cup history at Estadio Azteca on Wednesday, beating the Czech Republic 3-0 to become the first Mexican side to win all three of their group-stage matches at the tournament. The victory, watched by 80,824 fans in Mexico City, confirmed El Tri as Group A winners and set up a round-of-32 tie next Tuesday.

Mateo Chávez, 22 and playing in his first World Cup, opened the scoring in the 55th minute before Julián Quiñones doubled the lead just six minutes later — his second goal of the tournament. Álvaro Fidalgo added a third in stoppage time to complete a commanding performance.

“It was something very beautiful, and I’ll take it with me to the grave,” Chávez said of his goal. “I imagined it many times; I dreamed of this.”

Mexico’s previous best group-stage record was two wins and one draw, achieved in both 1986 and 2002 — both campaigns that involved current head coach Javier Aguirre, the first as a player and the second as El Tri’s manager. This is Aguirre’s third stint in charge of the national team, and he has now guided Mexico to their finest group-stage showing in the country’s World Cup history.

“Now comes the knockout stage; statistics and data don’t matter. We’re achieving things, but what lies ahead is what counts,” Aguirre said. “Neither the players nor I dwell on what we’ve just done; we’re thinking about what’s next.”

The match carried both historical weight and a glimpse of the future. Gilberto Mora, at 17, became the youngest Mexican player ever to start a World Cup match. At the other end of the age spectrum, 40-year-old goalkeeper Guillermo “Memo” Ochoa came on in the 77th minute to become only the third player in history — alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo — to appear in six World Cups.

“It’s like a dream come true after everything I’ve worked for,” Mora said. “Now we have tough opponents ahead. We want to keep advancing because the Mexican national team can become champion.”

Aguirre has rotated his squad extensively throughout the group stage, using 25 of his 26 available players. Chávez was one of five starters on Wednesday who had not started the previous win over South Korea. Mexico are now unbeaten in 11 consecutive matches, their last defeat a friendly loss to Panama last November.

The occasion was not without controversy. A homophobic chant from sections of the crowd — a recurring issue that has previously resulted in fines and sanctions for the Mexican football federation — was audible near the end of the first half during a Czech goalkeeper’s goal kick.

The Czech Republic, meanwhile, are eliminated after finishing with just one point from three group games.