Mexico vs South Korea live: updates, score, goals and highlights | 2026 World Cup Group A

It is a mad house outside of the Guadalajara Stadium. Just wait until kick off. 

The Mexico fans have been more than welcoming for their Korean, guests but tonight it's a battle for the top of the group. No room for friends. No time for hospitality. 

Tonight's venue

We are at the Estadio Guadalajara from Zapopan, Mexico. This is usually called the Estadio Akron and it's locate in Jalisco. Chivas Guadalajara is the team that calls this stadium home. Mexico No. 1 Raul Rangel plays his club soccer here at Chivas, so does Brian Gutierrez and Roberto Alvarado. These players will have even more of a sense of playing on their home soil as they take on Korea. Look for Gutierrez to have a big game tonight. He has looked like his best version on this Mexico side, and is going to be a fan favorite here from Zapopan 

WHAT'S LEFT 

After this match there will be one more match day for these teams to settle scores. Korea Republic will play against South Africa while Mexico will play Czechia. The top two teams from this group are guaranteed to move on to the round of 32, and depending on the rest of the groups, there could be as many as three teams qualifying for the next round of the tournament out of this group. 

CHICARITO ON MEXICO 

It was an impressive performance from Mexico in the first match of their World Cup campaign. They scored a couple of goals, they took care of business on the defensive end but former El Tri striker says there is one thing they can do a bit better. "The only thing that I'll say they need to improve is being more offensive, more ruthless." They had plenty of chances to extend the lead against South Africa and if they are that wasteful this time around, Korea could punish them. 

Mexico XI

This is Javier Aguirre's starting XI. He's going with his same top three that put two on South Africa and created so many more chances. Alvarez steps in for Montes and takes the captains band in the center of defense. 

OCHOA TO RETIRE AFTER WORLD CUP 

While Messi and Ronaldo are getting all of the attention for participating in their sixth World Cup, we mustn't forget that Memo Ochoa is also in his sixth World Cup. He is unlikely to play much of a role for El Tri, but he is a legend in Mexico and the legend is set to hang up his boots at the end of this World Cup. The Club America product started his first team career in 2003, and has been all around the world since. From France, to Spain to Belgium to Italy and lastly Cyprus Ochoa has been a staple of the Mexican national team. He has 154 caps for El Tri, and would love to end his career with a historic run through the World Cup. 

Origins at the embassy

The origins of the love story between Mexico and South Korea goes far beyond this World Cup. Let's take you back to 2018. World Cup in Russia. On the final day of group stages, Mexico needed a favor from South Korea. They needed their future besties to beat Germany in order for Mexico to go through. South Korea delivered with a 2-0 win with both goals coming in stoppage time. The first thing the Mexican fans did was go to the South Korean embassy and celebrate at the doorstep. Since then the relationship between the two countries has blossomed. 

JIMENEZ SPECIAL GOAL 

You could see the emotion hit Raul Jimenez almost immediately after scoring his first World Cup goal. There are a couple of reasons for the wave of tearful joy. The goal was dedicated to his dad who he recently lost. His dad was the one that stuck with him,  that encouraged him to keep fighting and to keep recovering after fracturing his skull in a Premier League match when he was playing with Wolves. His career wasn't just in jeopardy, his life was in the balance for quite a while. It took him a long time to fully recover, both mentally and physically. His dad passed in March of this year, and just three month later, Jimenez scored his first World Cup goal, a header on his home soil. 

Here is the XI of Korea for their massive match up with Mexico from Guadalajara. 

Fan affair 

One of the coolest things about the World Cup doesn't happen in the stadiums, it doesn’t happen on the pitch, it happens in host cities and countries. People come flocking from all over the world to watch their team play in the biggest tournament but what the fans both domestic and from abroad find is the meshing of cultures, ideas, food and festivities. We may be from all over the world. We may speak different languages. We may look different. But we are people. People who love soccer. Who love a good time and the Mexicans and Koreans have been a perfect embodiment of everything that is great about the World Cup. 

MONTES SUSPENSION

The first match of the 2026 World Cup was explosive. There was passion, there were goals and there were red cards. Three red cards, in fact. Just one short of the total of red cards shown in all of Qatar's 2022 World Cup. Two were shown to the Bafana Bafana, and one was shown to Cesar Montes for an bit of a needless challenge on one of the South Africa players in stoppage time of a 2-0 game. Now El Tri will enter this match without their captain and one of their top defenders. 

AGUIRRE AFTER WIN 

Javier Aguirre is now in his third stint with El Tri during a World Cup. You would think after this many goes around, the nerves would have settled a bit. But this is a World Cup hosted on Mexican soil, and the nerves will only amplify as the matches get more and more important. “I've been in football for 50 years and I still get butterflies in my stomach before every single match. I get nervous,” said the manager on Thursday in Guadalajara. “It's hard to explain it. The one day I don't feel that, I'd rather go home.”

FIFA RANKINGS 

The FIFA Rankings chance on a daily basis, so as your World Cup insider, I feel the need to keep you updated on the rankings each and every day. Mexico has jumped up a few spaces after their win over South Africa. They come into tonight's match in 13th but still some how trail Italy who are 12th and not even in this tournament. Figure that out. Anyway, Korea moved up the standings after their round 1 win over Czechia. They are 22nd on the rankings and the second highest ranked Asian side behind Japan in 17th. 

Star watch: Korea

Every soccer fan in the world knows Son Heung-Min. He is now making his name known in the MLS with LAFC, but long before that the Korean was one of the top players on a top Premier League side. Before leaving for LaLa Land, Son was one of the top goal scoring threats for Tottenham. He's not too far removed from his career high 23 goal season he had at Tottenham back in the 21/22 season. Last year was his first in the MLS and he scored 12 goals in 13 matches to prove that he can still be a valuable addition to any team even though he may not be in in his prime. The 33 year old was subbed off in the 69th minute last game, but should be up for a full 90 in a must win match up here from Guadalajara. 

Star watch: Mexico

If you watched Mexico's opening match, you know that Julian Quinones was the most involved, and the most intent on making his mark on the match. The Al Qadsiah striker had a remarkable return of 33 goals in 31 matches in the Saudi League and he looks to have carried that form into the World Cup. He was involved in almost everything that Mexico did in the attacking third and maybe have been unlucky not to have another goal or two to his name by the end of the night. 

Last match: Mexico

You really couldn't have asked for a better debut for a co-hosting nation. With the weight of the world on their shoulders, and a prematch spectacle that would rival any festival or concert around the world, Mexico still had to deliver the goods in their opening match against South Africa. Julian Quinones started the party with an opening goal in the 9th minute. There were plenty more chances for Mexico in the first half as they dominated possession and created loads of chances but it wasn’t until a South Africa was shown a red card that Mexico doubled their advantage. Yaya Sithole was sent off in the 49th minutes and not long after Raul Jimenez scored a header to solidify the three points in their World Cup kickoff.  

We are live from Guadalajara  

Hello everyone and welcome to Zapopoan, Mexico where we are set for a battle at the top of the Group A table. It's only the seventh day of the tournament but we could see one of these two teams qualify for the round of 32 by the end of the night after each of them won their opening match last week. While the match will be played on the pitch, off the pitch these two countries have become the romance of the tournament. The Mexicans have welcomed the Koreans to their home, and the Koreans have fully embraced the their hosts hospitality but tonight, they will go head to head and put their friendship on hold for 90 minutes.  

Mexico vs. Korea Republic live 

We are officially a week removed from Mexico's win over South Africa and tonight we start round 2 of the group stages with qualification for the next phase of the tournament already up for grabs. The co-hosts, Mexico, looked great in their opener and will be hoping to build upon that performance against a Korea team that won their first game, and aiming to spoil the party for the co-hosts from Estadio Guadalajara. AS English will be with you all day providing live coverage, stats, highlights and analysis of tonight’s Group A match at the top of the table.