A last-gasp effort from South Korea, which saw them score two stoppage-time goals in the game’s other match with World Cup holders Germany, meant that despite losing, Mexico also qualified for the tournament’s knockout stages.
A tremendous second-half rally from Sweden saw the team record a 3-0 win courtesy of goals from Ludwig Augustinsson, Andreas Granqvist from the penalty spot, and then an own goal from Edson Alvarez to seal a shock victory against perhaps the strongest team in the group.
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In the first 45, Mexico found it difficult to find a way past a compact Sweden side, a little and large battle up front between Javier Chicharito Hernandez and Andreas Granqvist hugely contributing to a goalless first half.
When Sweden did push forward, Hernandez was accused of handling in the area, but protests were waved away by the referee, cue apoplectic reactions from Sweden coach Janne Andersson and talisman Sebastien Larsson.
Franciso Ochoa tipped over from Marcus Berg at close range from the resulting corner. Mexico were careful in their build-up going forward, but ultimately their end product lacked.
Berg punctuated the match when his shot hit the side-netting in first-half stoppage time, which proved the last kick of the half.
With barely five minutes of the second half played, Augustinsson opened the scoring when Viktor Claesson scuffed his shot to provide an unintentional assist. Although Ochoa got a hand to the shot, the ball ricocheted into the net.
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and just after the hour mark things went from bad to worse for ‘El Tri’, when Hector Moreno was yellow carded for bringing down Berg in the box. Granqvist stepped up to rifle home into the top left-hand corner.
When Edson Alvarez got his legs tangled and turned the ball into his own net, the writing was on the wall for Mexico. But they needn’t have worried, South Korea provided an equally stunning 2-0 win in Kazan to send Germany home to send the holders home.