MEXICO CITY — Coach Javier Aguirre has been saying for a while now that the key to Mexico’s success at this World Cup is that the country’s men’s soccer team is really a family.
This family, it seems, is on a historic journey.
Mateo Chávez and Julián Quiñones scored in a six-minute span early in the second half, and Mexico beat the Czech Republic 3-0 on Wednesday at Estadio Azteca 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, while Quiñones scored his second goal of the tournament in the 61st. Alvaro Fidalgo added a goal in stoppage time at the end of the match.
“It was something very beautiful, and I’ll take it with me to the grave,” Chávez said of his goal. “I imagined it many times; I dreamed of this.”
Mexico’s previous best group-stage performance was two wins and one draw, done in 1986 and 2002 and both featuring Aguirre, the first as a midfielder and the second as El Tri’s coach. Aguirre is back in that role this year, his third stint leading the team.
After topping Group A to advance to the knockout stage of the 48-team tournament Mexico is co-hosting with Canada and the United States, El Tri will play again at Estadio Azteca on Tuesday in a round-of-32 match against a third-place group finisher, with the specific team still to be determined.
“Now comes the knockout stage; statistics and data don’t matter. We’re achieving things, but what lies ahead is what counts,” Aguirre said. “Neither the players nor I dwell on what we’ve just done; we’re thinking about what’s next.”
Mexico is undefeated at nine World Cup matches at the massive stadium, which was packed with 80,824 fans on Wednesday. El Tri has only two losses at Estadio Azteca, most recently in World Cup qualifying against Honduras on Sept. 6, 2013.
The match Wednesday included nods to Mexico’s past and future. Gilberto Mora, at 17, became the youngest player to start for Mexico in a World Cup. 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.
Mora said “it’s like a dream come true after everything I’ve worked for.”
“Now we have tough opponents ahead,” he added. “We’re going to keep working to stay on this path. We want to keep advancing because the Mexican national team can become champion.”
Mexico’s triumph was marred, however, by the return of a homophobic chant by fans that has previously led to fines and other sanctions against its soccer federation. The chant, a one-word slur, was heard near the end of the first half when Czech goalkeeper Matej Kovar took a goal kick.
The Czech Republic was eliminated, finishing with one point in three games.
Mexico, which beat South Africa 2-0 on June 11 at Azteca and defeated South Korea 1-0 at Estadio Akron near Guadalajara a week later in its first two Group A matches, is unbeaten in 11 games dating to an exhibition loss against Panama last November.
Aguirre has made the most of his World Cup roster, using 25 of 26 players in the tournament. Chávez was one of five starters Wednesday who didn’t start against South Korea.
“Twenty-five of the 26 have played,” Aguirre said. “That is no small detail — nor is it a small detail that everyone celebrates the goals.”
Ochoa, who wears No. 13, played the last 13 minutes in regulation, plus stoppage time, in what’s likely to be his last appearance for Mexico. He turns 41 on July 13 and plans to retire from international competition after the World Cup.
“Life — football — had this farewell in store for me, to cap it all off perfectly. For my part, I’ve left it all out there; I gave everything,” Ochoa said. “I leave with nothing left because I poured it all into my teams and the national squad.”
He was a substitute in the 2006 and 2010 tournaments and started for Mexico in 2014, 2018 and 2022.
“I felt Memo had to play; for how long? I never knew until I said, ‘This is the moment,'” Aguirre said. “These are coaching decisions, but it was a night for Mexico to honor its legend, Memo.”
Raúl Rangel is the starter in goal this year, stepping in for the injured Luis Ángel Malagón, who helped Mexico win the CONCACAF Nations League and Gold Cup last year. Malagón’s injury opened the door for Ochoa’s return.
Ochoa became the oldest Mexican to play in the World Cup. The previous record holder was Cuauhtémoc Blanco, who was 37 when he played at the 2014 tournament in South Africa.
After the match Wednesday, the veteran goalkeeper kissed the goalpost before kneeling down and getting hugged by the rest of the squad.
“Regarding Memo’s appearance, we don’t know if he’s going to say goodbye or not, but it was a nice tribute for his six World Cups,” Aguirre said. “He is a legend. He is Mexican.”