Mexico hold off South Korea as Hernández brings up his 50

Mexico must secure a point in their final group stage match against Sweden to ensure they reach the last 16 for a seventh straight World Cup after they eased to victory over South Korea in Rostov. Having shocked the world champions, Germany, in their opening Group F game, Mexico secured a 2-1 win as Carlos Vela tucked home a first-half penalty before Javier Hernández clinched the points with his 50th international goal.

South Korea, who pulled a goal back in stoppage time through Son Heung‑min, are all but out after enduring a second narrow defeat. But after Germany’s late victory over Sweden, Mexico face a nervous showdown in Ekaterinburg on Wednesday as they bid to get past the last 16 for the first time since hosting the finals in 1986.

“We came to Russia with a lot of criticism but we’re working hard and have a lot of talent. We have humility but we beat Germany and South Korea and now we have to play against Sweden and stay cool and calm,” Hernández said.

“We cannot afford to get caught up in all this, we have to continue our job and stay humble. Of course we should enjoy this but tomorrow we start working again,” he added after he equalled Luis Hernández’s record of four goals at World Cup finals for Mexico.

South Korea were guilty of committing a number of fouls throughout the match, leading the Mexico coach, Juan Carlos Osorio, to complain his players had not been given enough protection.

“Usually, I don’t like to talk about referees but there was something I didn’t like and that was that there were 24 fouls against us,” said Osorio. “It’s very easy to analyse who committed them. For the good of football, I hope they take the necessary precautions and measures.”

Osorio, who is hoping to break Mexico’s run of six successive last-16 World Cup eliminations, said he spent a lot of time making sure complacency did not creep in after their win over Germany.

“What often happens against teams with less history is that the human being tends to relax but we dedicated all week to making sure we did not let that happen and fortunately the message didn’t get lost among all the praise the team has received,” he said.

“Football is about opinions, it’s very subjective and it changes all the time. The analysis is more about the result so the most appropriate thing for us is to keep preparing and not get carried out. We must prepare for the next game as if it is the last and get as far in the World Cup as we can.”.

Mexico needed only 26 minutes to take the lead after Hirving Lozano initially failed to turn home a low cross. They were awarded a penalty as Jang Hyun-soo was penalised for handball – referee Milorad Mazic not needing to use VAR to point to the spot. Vela stepped up and coolly sent Cho Hyun-woo the wrong way to mark his 70th cap with the opening goal.

The second half began more equally but it was Cho who was once again called into action just before the hour, neatly tipping a deflected Andrés Guardado effort behind for a corner. Vela angled a curling strike just over the bar before Hernández made sure of the win with a landmark goal.

With time running out, Son scored South Korea’s first goal of the finals and it was one worth waiting for as the Tottenham forward bent a 20-yard strike out of the reach of Ochoa and into the corner – but it proved too little, too late.

Juan Carlos Osorio’s side now face a final group game against Sweden in Ekaterinburg on Wednesday, while South Korea take on Germany in Kazan.