Mexico bounced back from their first defeat to claim a key victory after beating Ivory Coast 1-0 at the 2025 Under-17 World Cup. In a must win match, Mexico took three points in a match where they again had to struggle during the match, especially in the 2nd half. Mexico must now try to secure another result against group leaders Switzerland in their final group stage match as they hope it won't be their last game of the tournament.
The first half began with Mexico making just one change from the opening 11 to the starting 11. Humberto Mansilla took the place of Karin Hernandez. 30 seconds into the game, Luis Gamboa overtook a defender and fired a right-footed shot that forced Ivory Coast goalkeeper Christe Kouassi to save the shot. He wanted to leave the ball to Gael Garcia, but the defender knocked the ball away from the Mexican striker. After a counterattack, Ismael Toure fired a shot with his right foot, but it was saved by Mexico's defenders. A through ball found Alinho Haidara, but his shot went past Mexico goalkeeper Santiago Lopez before eventually going wide of the goal. Garcia's left-footed shot from outside the area forces Kouassi to make a good save. From the free kick, Garcia struck with his right foot, but Kouassi saved the shot. Ivory Coast were very physical, especially against Garcia, and although many fouls were called, no cards were given to allow the Africans to get away with their fouls. Hubert Yao's right-footed shot from outside the penalty area went straight to Lopez. A cross into the penalty area was headed by Yao but straight to Lopez. Inigo Borgio's shot from outside the penalty area went wide of the goal. A mistake by Lopez coming off his line from a free-kick allowed Yao to head in from close range, which was blocked by Michael Corona. In the ensuing corner kick, Oscar Pineda appeared to have handled the ball, but after a call to VAR, the referee ruled it was not a penalty and it was a controversial decision. The half-time whistle blew and Mexico were marginally better, although they didn't really create much of a chance when in full possession.
The second half began with Mexico replacing Aldo Denigris Jr. and Jonathan Grajales with Ignacio Lopez and Adrian Villa. Haidara entered the penalty area and fired a right-footed shot that went wide of the goal. Unlike the first half, it was Ivory Coast who dominated the game, with Mexico defending and not controlling possession. From the free kick the ball fell to Abubakar Meite who was wide open but missed his left foot shot, missing a great chance. Yao's cross into the penalty area turned into a shot straight towards Lopez. Mexico replaced Humberto Mancilla with Kenneth Martinez. Vabu Doumbia's shot into the box would have been blocked by the Mexico defence. From the free kick, Garcia's excellent cross found a wide-open Ian Olvera, who headed it past Kouassi to score and give Mexico a surprise 1-0 lead. Despite the progress of the game and when Mexico was having the most difficulty, a set-piece goal opened the scoring for Mexico. A cross into the penalty area was headed in by Borgio. Ivory Coast replaced Tape Touali with Bakary Kebe. Mexico replaced Gael Garcia and Luis Gamboa with Karin Hernandez and Maximo Reyes. Ivory Coast replaced Ismael Toure with Allassane Toure. A cross into the box appeared to be headed in by Toure, but the goal was immediately disallowed due to a foul on Lopez. After contacting VAR, it became not only clear that it was a foul, but Toure didn’t even score with his header, but sent it into the net. Reyes threw a shot with his left foot, but Kouassi parried the shot. Ivory Coast replaced Wabu Doumbia with Geu Tikoman. Kebe's shot deflected out of Yao's range and if he had gotten there it would have been a close range chance. It was the last chance as the final whistle blew and Mexico took the vital three points.
After a very disappointing debut, Mexico claimed their first win at the 2025 Under-17 World Cup. In the first match against South Korea, Mexico had a good first half but a terrible second half which ended in a 2-1 loss. The same thing happened against Ivory Coast where they had an even worse second half but took advantage of a free kick to score. Mexico will need to get a result against Group F leaders Switzerland, which thrashed Ivory Coast 4-1 but could only manage a goalless draw with South Korea. Mexico will need to improve significantly, although a draw would likely give them enough to qualify for the playoffs as at least the best 3rd place team. It's still not a good sign that they struggled so much in both matches, but the emotional boost from the win should help the team improve in the next do-or-die match.
