MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mateo Chávez and Julián Quiñones scored goals in a six-minute span early in the second half, and Mexico beat the Czech Republic 3-0 on Wednesday night to win all three of its World Cup group-stage matches for the first time.
The 22-year-old Chávez, in his first World Cup, opened the scoring in the 55th minute and Quiñones scored his second goal of the tournament in the 61st. Alvaro Fidalgo added a goal in second-half stoppage time.
Mexico’s previous best group-stage performance was two wins and one draw, done in 1986 and 2002 and both featuring Javier Aguirre, the first as a midfielder and the second as El Tri’s coach.
Already the winner of Group A, Mexico will play again at Azteca Stadium on Tuesday in a round-of-32 match against an opponent to be determined.
The Czech Republic was eliminated, finishing with one point in three games.
The match included nods to Mexico’s past and future. Gilberto Mora became the youngest Mexico player to start in a World Cup at age 17. And 40-year-old goalkeeper Guillermo “Memo” Ochoa entered in the 77th minute, joining Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo as the only players to appear in six World Cups.
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