Mexico makes three changes from the opening win
Co-hosts Mexico will be chasing a decisive second win in the World Cup when they face South Korea.
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The winner of this match in Guadalajara will be in a perfect position to win Group A, and coach Javier Aguirre has hinted that Mexico will need to step up if they are to continue their good run in this championship.
South Korea’s national team manager Hong Myung-bo believes his team is in a confident mood after coming back and beating the Czech Republic in the opening match.
“In the first game against the Czech Republic, we never gave up until the end, we performed our roles and secured the victory,” said Hong.
Here are the line-ups.
Mexico Team Updates
César Montes has been suspended for Mexico after his red card against South Africa, and there are a total of three changes to the starting eleven.
Jorge Sánchez, Edson Álvarez and Luis Romo come in for Montes, Israel Reyes and Álvaro Fidalgo.
Mexico’s starting eleven: Raúl Rangel, Jesús Gallardo, Johan Vásquez, Edson Álvarez, Jorge Sánchez, Brian Gutiérrez, Érik Lira, Luis Romo, Julián Quiñones, Raúl Jiménez, Roberto Alvarado
South Korea Team Updates
Bae Jun-Ho and Kim Tae-Hyeon (both ankle) are both out for South Korea. Kim Moon-Hwan comes in for Lee Tae-Seok.
South Korea’s starting eleven: Kim Seung-Gyu, Lee Gi-Hyuk, Kim Min-Jae, Lee Han-Beom, Kim Moon-Hwan, Paik Seung-Ho, Hwang In-Beom, Seol Young-Woo, Lee Jae-Sung, Lee Kang-In, Son Heung-min
Where to watch Mexico vs South Korea – TV channel and live streams
Mexico vs. South Korea kicks off at 02:00 on Friday, UK time. The match will be broadcast on BBC Two and is also available to stream on iPlayer and the BBC Sports website.
World Cup 2026: Mexico vs South Korea – statistics
- Mexico and South Korea have met 14 times, with El Tri winning nine of those games (3 draws, 2 losses).
- Two of these games have come in the World Cup. Mexico won 3-1 in 1998 and 2-1 in 2018.
- Raúl Jiménez has scored in each of his last two games against South Korea.
- South Korea are aiming to win their first two matches in a World Cup for the first time.
- Mexico have won only one of their last three matches in Guadalajara (1 draw, 1 loss).
- South Korea are winless in their three games against CONCACAF opponents (1 draw, 2 losses).
- Mexico have won all of their five World Cup matches against Asian opponents.
