Mexico needed to beat Ecuador in their final Group B match to qualify for the Copa América knockout stages but could only secure a 0-0 draw. They nearly found a solution in the final seconds of added time when the referee awarded Mexico a penalty, but after reviewing the video, the decision was overturned.
Mexico managed just one goal in 270 minutes of group play in a dismal tournament for the 2026 World Cup co-hosts. Towards the end of Sunday’s match, three announcements were also made over the tannoy at State Farm Stadium, warning fans to stop a discriminatory chant. A statement warning that the referee had the right to suspend the match if homophobic slurs persisted was also broadcast in Spanish on the big screen.
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And Ecuador’s reward for resisting Mexico? A quarter-final meeting with Argentina, world champion, in Houston on July 4.
Stuart James and Thom Harris assess the key talking points…
Will Argentina be worried after what they saw in this match?
Nerves? Maybe. What should worry Argentina? Absolutely not.
Mexico had to win this match, and Ecuador would have preferred not to leave it to chance, but for long periods of a difficult and tense match it seemed that neither team was really up to the task. Bad touches, long balls without aim, slips, falls and fouls, including a scoreless 45 minutes at the start of the game.
A passage of play on the half-hour mark summed it up, as Alan Franco needlessly bounced a five-yard pass into Piero Hincapie’s chest. The left-back had no choice but to control and launch a wild volley down the line. Two minutes later, the usually impeccable Bayer Leverkusen central defender horribly swatted another long ball out of play. When Ecuador entered the final third – as he did with Enner Valencia in the 80th minute – it was baffling decision-making that let them down.
Alexander Dominguez celebrates Ecuador’s qualification for the quarter-finals (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Mexico were not overflowing with ideas either, and although they noticeably upped the intensity in the second half as their need for a goal grew, the best chances came from set pieces, pinball in the penalty area and moments of individualism, rather than anything manufactured in the dressing room. A 96th-minute penalty, eventually overturned by VAR, would have been the most spectacular get-out-of-jail-free card of the competition.
With the reigning world champions expected to advance to the next round, they will need to get their act together. Argentina have kept seven clean sheets in their last eight competitive games and will certainly not collapse without a more complex plan.
Santi Gimenez blanks group stage
Lost causes. Santiago Gimenez spent plenty of time chasing those causes in another frustrating evening for the Mexican striker, who leaves the Copa América without a goal to his name and whose goalless streak with his country has extended at 12.
It’s not for lack of trying. A header that flew over the goal in the first half was followed by a right-footed shot that hit the outside of the post in the second half. In the meantime, Gimenez never stopped running through the corridors, looking for the long balls that he hoped would bring joy to Mexico.
(Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
His big chance came in the previous game, against Venezuela, and one wonders how differently things might have gone for Gimenez had he connected clearly in front of goal in Los Angeles.
Prolific in a Feyenoord shirt, the 23-year-old has failed to transfer that form to international football. Inevitably, questions will be asked in Mexico over the decision to leave Henry Martin and Raul Jimenez, two experienced forwards, at home. But the quality of Mexico’s attacking play more generally suggested that any centre-forward would have struggled to make a significant impact here.
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What went wrong for Mexico?
Disappointment will linger for some time to come for Mexico, whose hopes of reaching the Copa America quarter-finals have predictably been extinguished.
Predictable because Mexico have had so little attacking threat, with their solitary tournament goal scored by left-back Gerardo Arteaga in an opening game against Jamaica seeming a long time ago now.
The defeat to Venezuela, where Orbelin Pineda missed a penalty, left El Tri needing to beat Ecuador to qualify, a result that rarely seemed likely in a game that exposed Mexico’s limitations. They struggled to get by, but the lack of quality was glaring.
Mexico failed to advance out of the group stage at the 2011 and 2015 Copa America tournaments, but this latest setback will hurt. On the face of it, Mexico had a good draw, but they still couldn’t find their way past two CONMEBOL second division nations.
The spotlight will now turn to Jaime Lozano, the coach who had been assured of staying in his post until the end of the 2026 World Cup. Will a group stage elimination prompt him to reconsider his decision?
Johan Vasquez depressed after Mexico’s elimination (Chris Coduto/AFP via Getty Images)
What’s next for each team?
Argentina vs Ecuador — Thursday, July 4, 9:00 p.m. ET (NRG Stadium, Houston, TX)
Mexico is eliminated from the tournament.
What did the managers say?
Ecuadorian coach Felix Sánchez on Argentina: “They are reigning world champions, Copa America champions, and they have the best players in the world, playing for the best clubs in the world. They have a strong group, and have developed a clear idea under the same coach (Lionel Scaloni)… We will have to play a perfect match, but we are going there motivated. It’s 11 against 11 and we are going to do everything we can.
Mexico coach Jaime Lozano on his future: “When you don’t achieve your goals, there are always doubts, but if the players believed until the end, it’s for a reason. It’s 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 happens next, but for me it’s clear that we came out and were the protagonists.”
Lozano on what Mexico is missing: “We have improved a lot defensively, but now we have to find that balance and work on that patience, that finishing touch in the attacking third. We learned a lot from these players in this tournament and it’s an experience that will help us.
Required Reading
(Top photo: Chris Cuduto/AFP via Getty Images)