Mexico needed to beat Ecuador in its final Group B match to advance to the knockout stages of the Copa America, but all it could muster was a 0-0 draw. It almost found a lifeline in the final seconds of added time when the referee initially awarded Mexico a penalty, but after a video review, the decision was overturned.
Mexico managed to score just one goal in 270 minutes in the group stage in a daunting tournament for the 2026 World Cup co-hosts. Toward the end of Sunday’s match, three announcements were also made over the State Farm Stadium loudspeakers warning fans to stop chanting a discriminatory chant. A statement warning the referee that he had the right to suspend the match if the homophobic slur continued was also shown on the giant screen in Spanish.
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And Ecuador’s prize for keeping Mexico at bay? A quarterfinal date with world champion Argentina in Houston on July 4.
Stuart James and Thom Harris assess the key talking points…
Will Argentina be worried about what they saw in this match?
Nerves? Maybe. Enough to worry Argentina? Absolutely not.
This was a must-win game for Mexico, and one that Ecuador would have preferred not to have left to chance, but for long stretches of a tight, tense game, it seemed that neither team had what it took. Bad first touches, directionless long balls, slips, falls and fouls – in particular, the goalless first 45 minutes had it all.
A passage of play on the half-hour mark summed it up, when Alan Franco needlessly bounced a five-yard pass onto Piero Hincapie’s chest. The left-back had no choice but to control and volley wildly down the line. Two minutes later, the usually impeccable Bayer Leverkusen centre-back horribly diverted another long ball out of play. When Ecuador did manage to get into the final third – as they did under Enner Valencia in the 80th minute – it was baffling decision-making that let them down.
Alexander Domínguez celebrates after sealing Ecuador’s place in the quarterfinals (Steph Chambers//Keynote USA/Getty Images)
Mexico was also not full of ideas and, although the intensity increased noticeably in the second half as its need for a goal increased, the best opportunities came from set pieces, pinball in the penalty area and moments of individualism, rather than anything manufactured. In the dressing room. A penalty in the 96th minute, eventually overturned by VAR, would have been the most dramatic get-out-of-jail-free card in the competition.
With the current world champions waiting in the next round, things will have to be put right. Argentina has kept a clean sheet in seven of its last eight competitive matches and will certainly not collapse without a more complex plan.
Santi Giménez’s goalless group stage
Lost causes. Santiago Giménez spent a lot of time chasing them on another frustrating night for the Mexican striker, who leaves the Copa América without a goal to his name and with a streak of 12 games without scoring for his national team.
It wasn’t for lack of trying. A header that went just wide in the first half was followed by a right-footed shot that hit the outside of the post in the second half. In between, Gimenez never stopped roaming the corridors, looking for the long balls that Mexico hoped would bring some joy.
(Steph Chambers//Keynote USA/Getty Images)
His big chance had come in the previous game, against Venezuela, and one wonders how different things would have been for Giménez if he had connected cleanly in front of goal in Los Angeles.
The 23-year-old player, who has shown his great ability in the Feyenoord shirt, has not been able to transfer that form to international football. Inevitably, questions will be raised in Mexico about the decision to leave two experienced forwards, Henry Martin and Raúl Jiménez, at home. But the quality of Mexico’s attacking play overall suggests that any centre-forward would have struggled to make much of an impact here.
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What went wrong for Mexico?
The disappointment will linger for some time for Mexico, whose hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of the Copa America were predictably extinguished.
Predictable because Mexico have had very little attacking threat, with their solitary goal in the tournament scored by left back Gerardo Arteaga in an opening match against Jamaica that seems a long way off now.
The loss to Venezuela, when Orbelín Pineda missed a penalty, meant El Tri needed to beat Ecuador to advance, a result that rarely seemed likely in a game that exposed Mexico’s limitations. It huffed and puffed, but there was a glaring lack of quality.
Mexico failed to advance beyond the group stage in the 2011 and 2015 Copa América, but this latest setback will hurt. Mexico apparently had a favorable draw, but still couldn’t find a way past two CONMEBOL second-division nations.
The spotlight will now fall on Jaime Lozano, the coach who had been assured that he would remain in charge until the end of the 2026 World Cup. Will this team’s elimination in the group stage cause a rethink?
Johan Vásquez dejected after sealing the elimination of Mexico (Chris Coduto/AFP via /Keynote USA/Getty Images)
What’s next for each team?
Argentina vs Ecuador — Thursday, July 4, 9:00 pm ET (NRG Stadium, Houston, TX)
Mexico is eliminated from the tournament.
What did the managers say?
Ecuador coach Félix Sánchez on the match against Argentina: “They are the current world champions, Copa América champions, and they have the best players in the world, playing for the best clubs in the world. They have a solid group, and they have developed a clear idea under the same coach (Lionel Scaloni)… We are going to have to play a perfect match, but we are motivated. It is 11 against 11 and we are going to do everything possible.”
Mexico coach, Jaime Lozano, on his future: “Whenever the objectives are not achieved there will be doubts, but if the players believed until the end it is for a reason, it is not easy to create that union, that circle and that commitment that they had for seven weeks before and during this competition. There is a process and others will decide what comes next, but for me it is clear that we came out and were protagonists.”
Lozano on what Mexico lacks: “We have improved a lot defensively, but now we have to find that balance and work on that patience, on that final touch in the attacking area. We have learned a lot from these players in this tournament and it is an experience that will help us.”
Required reading
(Top photo: Chris Cuduto/AFP via /Keynote USA/Getty Images)
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