World Cup 2026

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Matchday 8 · Group A · 2026-06-18
Mexico
xG 1.45
HT 0–01 – 0
South Korea
xG 2.00
Mexico Luis Romo 50′
Estadio Akron · 45,522 attendance
The story

A mild upset: Mexico (49% pre-match) got past South Korea. The xG race tells a different story though: South Korea created more (2.00 vs 1.45) and will feel hard done by.

Expected goals race
0.511.520′15′30′45′60′75′90′1.45Luis Romo 50′2.00
Mexico South Korea ● goal

Cumulative expected goals, minute by minute. ESPN's free feed has no xG, so each shot's xG is estimated with a naive distance-and-angle logistic model fitted on shot coordinates from the play-by-play.

Shot map
Roberto Alvarado · 7′ · xG 0.07 · Shot Off TargetBrian Gutiérrez · 7′ · xG 0.07 · Shot Off TargetJulián Quiñones · 20′ · xG 0.25 · Shot On TargetSeol Young-Woo · 41′ · xG 0.18 · Shot Off TargetLee Kang-In · 44′ · xG 0.07 · Shot BlockedJesús Gallardo · 49′ · xG 0.14 · Shot Off TargetRaúl Jiménez · 50′ · xG 0.22 · Shot BlockedLuis Romo · 50′ · xG 0.27 · Goal - VolleyHwang In-Beom · 58′ · xG 0.07 · Shot BlockedRaúl Jiménez · 75′ · xG 0.35 · Shot On TargetLee Kang-In · 78′ · xG 0.07 · Shot Off TargetObed Vargas · 85′ · xG 0.08 · Shot On TargetCho Gue-Sung · 87′ · xG 0.33 · Shot On TargetYang Hyun-Jun · 87′ · xG 0.56 · Shot On TargetLee Han-Beom · 90'+2′ · xG 0.25 · Shot Off TargetCho Gue-Sung · 90'+4′ · xG 0.23 · Shot BlockedOh Hyeon-Gyu · 90'+4′ · xG 0.24 · Shot Off Target
Mexico (attacking →) South Korea (attacking ←) size = xG · star = goal
Mexico  ·  match stats  ·  South Korea
42.3 Possession 57.7
8 Shots 9
4 On Target 2
1 Corners 2
9 Fouls 7
3 Offsides 6
2 Saves 3
0 Yellows 2
0 Reds 0
What the model expected
Mexico 49%draw 25%South Korea 26%ACTUAL

Pre-match Elo: Mexico 1879, South Korea 1841. The model priced this Mexico 49% / draw 25% / South Korea 26%, most likely score 1–1. A plausible-but-not-favoured outcome. The result moves 19 Elo points from South Korea to Mexico — that flows straight into the next round of tournament simulations.

Timeline
4' YELLOWLee Kang-In (Korea Republic) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
50' GOALGoal! Mexico 1, Korea Republic 0. Luis Romo (Mexico) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal.
57' SUBSubstitution, Korea Republic. Hwang Hee-Chan replaces Lee Jae-Sung.
57' SUBSubstitution, Korea Republic. Oh Hyeon-Gyu replaces Son Heung-Min.
58' YELLOWPaik Seung-Ho (Korea Republic) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
71' SUBSubstitution, Mexico. Orbelín Pineda replaces Brian Gutiérrez.
71' SUBSubstitution, Mexico. Obed Vargas replaces Luis Romo.
71' SUBSubstitution, Korea Republic. Eom Ji-Sung replaces Kim Moon-Hwan.
71' SUBSubstitution, Korea Republic. Yang Hyun-Jun replaces Seol Young-Woo.
77' SUBSubstitution, Korea Republic. Cho Gue-Sung replaces Paik Seung-Ho.
80' SUBSubstitution, Mexico. Israel Reyes replaces Roberto Alvarado.
80' SUBSubstitution, Mexico. Santiago Giménez replaces Raúl Jiménez.
84' SUBSubstitution, Mexico. César Huerta replaces Julián Quiñones.
Lineups
Mexico
4-3-3
  • 1Raúl Rangel G
  • 5Johan Vásquez CD-L
  • 4Edson Álvarez CD-R
  • 23Jesús Gallardo LB
  • 2Jorge Sánchez RB
  • 6Érik Lira CM
  • 7Luis Romo LM
  • 26Brian Gutiérrez RM
  • 9Raúl Jiménez F
  • 16Julián Quiñones LF
  • 25Roberto Alvarado RF
Subs: Orbelín Pineda, Obed Vargas, Israel Reyes, Santiago Gimenez, César Huerta
South Korea
3-4-2-1
  • 1Kim Seung-Gyu G
  • 4Kim Min-Jae CD
  • 3Lee Gi-Hyuk CD-L
  • 2Lee Han-Beom CD-R
  • 8Paik Seung-Ho CM-L
  • 6Hwang In-Beom CM-R
  • 22Seol Young-Woo LM
  • 15Kim Moon-Hwan RM
  • 7Son Heung-Min F
  • 10Lee Jae-Sung CF-L
  • 19Lee Kang-In CF-R
Subs: Hwang Hee-Chan, Oh Hyeon-Gyu, Eom Ji-Sung, Yang Hyun-Jun, Cho Gue-Sung
← Fixtures, table & predictions

Generated automatically from public match data. Stats: ESPN · Results: openfootball · xG: own naive model (distance + angle).