Luis Romo's 50th-minute goal — after a Kim Seung-gyu error — gave Mexico a 1–0 win over South Korea and made the hosts the first team to clinch a knockout berth at this 48-team World Cup: the very first side into the newly introduced Round of 32.

Winning Group A means El Tri play their knockout match at home in Mexico.

Weird & wonderful

The 48-team format added a whole new knockout round — the Round of 32 — and a co-host was the first to reach it, on home soil, at the Estadio Akron.

South Korea were statistically the better side — 58% possession and a higher xG (0.91 vs Mexico's 0.53) — yet lost 1-0, a result built entirely on a goalkeeping error rather than open-play dominance, as Luis Romo lobbed into an empty net after Kim Seung-gyu spilled a cross. Despite out-shooting Mexico and creating more big chances, Korea managed only 2 shots on target from their volume of attempts, and Mexico's keeper Raúl Rangel preserved the clean sheet with late double saves around the 87th minute. The low combined xG (just 0.22 across the entire first half) underlines what the analysts called a lacklustre game decided by a single moment. Mexico's discipline (0 cards to Korea's 2 yellows) and clinical 50% shot-on-target accuracy let them win Group A and become the first team into the knockouts despite being out-possessed.