World Cup, Group F, South Korea vs Mexico as it happened: Chicarito and Vela score in Mexico victory

That’s all from us. Head over to the last game of the day, where Germany take on Sweden in a match that sees the Die Nationalmannschaft under immense pressure after that opening day loss. Jogi Low has made four changes, including Marco Reus and dropping Mesut Ozil.

You can follow it all here.

South Korea had more shots, 17 to Mexico’s 13, but only 6 of those were on target. Their passing improved in the second half, but they didn’t do enough to unsettle Ochoa and his defence.

FT: 2-1 Mexico.

Truth be told, Mexico weren’t as sharp as they were against Germany, but South Korea’s inability to break the defence down meant that Chica, Layun, Lozano and co. didn’t have to stretch themselves to beat the Asians. Son was their only outlet but he was expertly marshalled for the first 93 minutes.

Full-time and it ends 2-1 to Mexico.

Carlos Vela and Chicarito on target for El Tri, while Son Heung-Min reduced the deficit for South Korea with a superb injury time strike. Mexico are virtually through while South Korea are on the verge on progression to the Round of 16.

90+3’: GOAAALL! Son scores. 2-1 Mexico.

The South Korean has toiled and toiled, and finally he has his reward, as a left-footed hit goes in beyond Ochoa.

88’: Son takes a shot but it goes over. 2-0 Mexico.

The number 7 has tried and tried but it hasn’t been his day. He looks tired after a long season and his World Cup hopes are fast fading.

85’: Substitution for Korea as Kim Min-Woo goes off. 2-0 Mexico.

Did all of you watching at home wonder why the Korean left-back saluted on being substituted? That is because the 28-year-old is currently doing his mandatory military service.

81’: South Korea attack but are thwarted. 2-0 Mexico.

The Asians attack down the left but Alvarez is solid and keeps the Korean attacker out. Shin Tae-Yong can’t bear to watch his team struggle. Meanwhile, Javier Hernandez became the first Mexican to reach 50 international goals.

75’: Calamity in the Mexican defence. 2-0 Mexico.

Rafa Marquez with a terrible back-pass puts Ochoa in trouble, but the Mexican goal-tender is brave and he keeps their goal safe. The outstanding Carlos Vela is replaced by Giovanni Dos Santos.

72’: Booking for South Korea. 2-0 Mexico.

Lee Seung-Woo hacks down Miguel Layun and the former Barcelona attacker, a 20-year-old now at Verona, is booked.

68’: Substitution for Mexico as they lead 2-0.

Rafael Marquez comes on and takes the armband as Andres Guardado’s 150th international appearance comes to an end. Lozano is replaced by Jesus Corona, who gives Chucky a cheers before substituting him.

Mexico’s record goalscorer looks happy.

65’: Chicarito scores. 2-0 Mexico.

Mexico break at pace as Javier Hernandez receives the ball, cuts in and shoots it beyond Ju. That’s his 50th goal for Mexico.

62’: Vela curves a shot beyond the keeper. 1-0 Mexico.

Carlos Vela cuts in from the right, takes a touch and curls one with his left foot. Jo watches it go above the bar as the score remains the same.

59’: Chucky’s through but his shot is blocked. 1-0 Mexico.

Lozano breaks from the right and controls the ball superbly but Ki’s there with an equally good last-ditch block to deny the Mexican number 22.

57’: Ki drills a shot directly at Ochoa. 1-0 Mexico.

The Swansea midfielder takes a shot from the left, but it is straight at the Mexican goalkeeper. Ochoa was a busy man against Germany, making 9 saves in the opener.

52’: South Korea have a shot but it’s blocked. 1-0 Mexico.

Hwang slips it in for Moon Seon-min who shoots but it is blocked by a Mexican player for a corner. They take it short, but the execution is poor. Not the first they’ve tried to break down Mexico intricately and failed.

49’: South Korea break down the left through Hwang Hee-Chan. 1-0 Mexico.

The left-sided attacker has been described as the most exciting player in this South Korean line-up, Son included. The 22-year-old helped Red Bull Salzburg to the Europa League semi-finals and is being tracked by Spurs, Liverpool and a host of other major European sides.

46’: We have kick-off in the second half. 1-0 Mexico.

Son Heung-Min is pushed forward to play as a second striker. South Korea-Mexico could very well be the Los Angeles derby.

66% passing accuracy for South Korea as they’ve preferred the Route One stuff.

Mexico have completed 88% of their passes but only a quarter of their shots, 2, have been on target.

HT: 1-0 Mexico

Clear penalty for Mexico as Jang Hyun-Soo’s hand was outstretched while he dived in an attempt to block Guardado’s cross. The East Asians can have no complaints about that.

Half-time and the Mexicans on their way to a fairly comfortable victory. 1-0

Carlos Vela’s penalty gave El Tri the lead but South Korea’s best hope has to been to hand the ball to Son Heung-Min. The number 7’s direct running has given the opposition centre-backs Salcedo and Moreno some head-aches but they have dealt with him well.

45’: Son earns another corner. South Korea trail 1-0.

The Korean number seven wins a set-piece but his team waste it. Huge pressure on him to win a major tournament or he goes off to compulsory military service.

43’: Chucky breaks but blazes over. 1-0 Mexico.

Chucky Lozano makes this look like child’s play as he parts open the South Korean defence. The finish leaves much to be desired as he hammers it into orbit.

37’: South Korea have a sustained spell of possession. 1-0 Mexico.

This possession game could actually hurt Korea. While they keep the ball well, they tend to turn the ball over in the final third, springing Mexican breaks, essentially playing into El Tri coach, Juan Carlos Osorio’s hands.

31’: Son’s free-kick goes way over the bar. 1-0 Mexico.

The South Korean scored 7 times in qualifying but he is yet to open his account in Russia. Meanwhile, Carlos Vela’s penalty was the 14th of this VAR-infused World Cup, more than the total at the 2014 World Cup (13).

Ochoa looks content with the current state of the match.

28’: Layun drives it towards goal. 1-0 Mexico.

That goal seems to have rocked South Korea’s confidence as the Mexican number 7 takes a shot from distance but Jo is equal to the task. He gratefully clutches the resulting corner.

25’: GOAAALLLL!! Carlos Vela nets the spot-kick. 1-0.

Some time wasting by the Korean goalie but that does not put Vela off as he sends Jo the wrong way. The Asians were penalised for Jang Hyun-Soo’s handling of the ball inside the box.

24’: PENALTY! 0-0

South Korea are penalised for a handball inside the box.

22’: Son threatens Mexico on the counter! 0-0.

A long, roving ball down field caught both Mexican centre-backs by surprise as Son raced clear. Salcedo and Moreno block the Spurs man. Ki Seung-Yun makes Ochoa save the resulting corner.

19’: Salcedo brings down Son Heung-Min, who must do better today. His country’s hopes rest on the Tottenham man, and so do coach Shin Tae-Yong’s. 0-0.

14’: Fantastic work by Hirving ‘Chucky’ Lozano to block a South Korean shot. That attack looked dangerous as the Taeguk Warrior broke down Mexico’s right but they were able to keep the Group F underdogs at bay. 0-0.

11’: Ki Seung-Yung with a rash tackle on Carlos Vela. The Korean captain is not booked for it but he’s given a talk by the referee. 0-0.

4’: Miguel Layun has a free-kick but South Korea clear it easily 0-0.

1’: We have kick-off in Rostov. Mexico in white while South Korea line-up in red.

08:25 pm: South Korea have only two wins outside their country in the last two years. But they did defeat Mexico 1-0 in the Olympic football tournament a couple of years ago. The coach, on that occasion was the senior men’s current head coach, Shin Tae-Yong. The teams are in line for the national anthem. We are barely five minutes away from kick-off.

08:20 pm: Captain Ki Sung-Yeung makes his 104th appearance for the national team. That makes him South Korea’s sixth-highest capped player ever.

This Mexican grandmother really wanted her team to win:

08:10 pm: One of the best stories to emerge out of this World Cup has been the story of Javi, who couldn’t make it to the World Cup. His friends ensured that he was there with them in cardboard form.

“Javier told us ‘My wife won’t let me come’ and so he couldn’t join us, but we decided to bring him along without her permission. The truth is he is having an awesome time,” the group posted on their Facebook page. Truly, a cut-out above the rest.

08:00 pm: Ted Mosby look-alike Guillermo Ochoa and the defence will look to extend South Korea’s winless streak to seven games, including two draws and five losses. The East Asians’ last win came against Greece in 2010, when they won 2-0.

07:50 pm: Mexico have won all three of their World Cup matches against Asian opposition, including a 3-1 win over today’s opponents in 1998.

South Korea have faced North American opposition twice, drawing 1-1 against the USA in 2002.

07:40 pm: More on Korea’s keeper Jo Hyeon-Woo, who was a surprise inclusion and only had six caps to his name prior to his encouraging display against Sweden.

Jo though wasn’t satisfied with the result. “I can’t even count the moments that I should have done better when I look back now. This is a disappointing result for me. But I’ll have to be ready for a chance to come in the next games.”

Daegu FC’s number one is nicknamed ‘Dae-Gea’ due to the similarities with Spain’s leading goal-keeper and was awarded the best goalkeeper for the K-League 2 in 2015 and 2016, before winning the same for K-League 1 in 2017. A call-up for South Korea’s number 23 was just the latest chapter in his meteoric rise.

07:30 pm:

South Korea expectedly make 3 changes as Kim Min-woo, Ju Sejong and Kim Young-gwon come in for Park Joo-Ho, Kim Shin-Wook and Koo Ja-Cheol go out.

07:15 pm: Mexico’s eleven has been declared and no surprises here, as Hector Ayala is replaced by Edson Alvarez. Lozano starts as does Javier Hernandez, who starts up top for them.

El Tri were superb in their 1-0 victory and none more so than Hirving Lozano. The 22-year-old winger is expected to start today after his goal-scoring exploits in the opener. Read a recap of Germany versus Mexico here.

Welcome to the live blog of South Korea vs Mexico, the second match for both of these sides in Group F. Mexico, quite famously, beat the holders Germany 1-0 in a pulsating contest where they were clearly the better team on the day.

South Korea need to pick themselves up after a tame display in a 0-1 loss to Sweden. Their goalkeeper was kept busy and was the one that kept the Asians in the match, a pattern which needs to change this afternoon in Rostov.