Julian Quinones and Raul Jimenez struck within a nine-minute spell in the first half as Mexico defeated Ecuador 2-0 on Tuesday night, ending a 40-year wait for a knockout-stage win and advancing to the Round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup. Quinones opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, while Jimenez doubled the lead in the 31st minute for Mexico, who had not won a knockout match since defeating Bulgaria in the Round of 16 when they hosted the tournament in 1986. Since then, Mexico had suffered seven consecutive eliminations at the same stage, exiting in the 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 World Cups.
