Mexico and South Korea target early place in World Cup last 32

GUADALAJARA: Mexico and South Korea meet in Guadalajara on Thursday with both sides in position to secure a place in the World Cup knockout stage after winning their opening Group A matches.

The two teams go into the match at Estadio Akron after Mexico defeated South Africa and South Korea beat the Czech Republic last week. Under the expanded 48-team World Cup format, and with the eight best third-placed teams also progressing, a victory for either side would be enough to confirm advancement to the last 32.

Co-hosts Mexico opened their campaign with a comfortable win over South Africa, but coach Javier Aguirre said his team expected a much tougher contest against South Korea. Speaking ahead of the game, he pointed to the need for caution against the Koreans' quick attacking play.

"“We have to be very wary of the opponents' attacking transitions,” Mexico coach Javier Aguirre said. “When we are attacking, we can't let our guard down; if there are two Koreans up front, there need to be three Mexicans.”"

The build-up to the fixture was also marked by a security incident at South Korea's training base on Tuesday. According to Yonhap news agency, a South Korea team security officer spotted a drone above the training ground, and a Mexican military drone-interdiction specialist stationed at the camp disabled it by sending radio signals. Two men suspected of operating the device then recovered the downed drone and ran from the scene.

South Korea coach Hong Myung-bo described the episode as unfortunate, but said it had not significantly affected his side's preparations. He is also expecting a difficult atmosphere against the hosts, with Mexico set to enjoy home support in Guadalajara.

“We fully understand that it's going to be a match with the home team, and we know that that's going to give benefits to the home team,” Hong said. “But my players have experienced such matches before, so it will be different tomorrow, and we need to control the rhythm and the flow of the match.”

Second round of group games begins

Thursday's matches begin the second round of group-stage fixtures. In Group B, Switzerland will try to recover from their opening draw with Qatar when they face Bosnia-Herzegovina, while co-hosts Canada take on Qatar in Vancouver.

Bosnia coach Sergej Barbarez said his side should draw confidence from its qualifying campaign, during which it eliminated Italy in the playoffs. He dismissed the idea that Switzerland should feel assured because Bosnia are 44 places lower in the Fifa rankings.

“Everyone has the right to their own opinion and show their confidence,” the coach said. “When we were playing against Italy in the playoffs, we had a similar sort of sentiment publicly, but we stayed focused on ourselves,” he added.

England win, Portugal held

On Wednesday, England claimed a 4-2 victory over Croatia in Group L in one of the most entertaining matches of the tournament so far. Captain Harry Kane scored twice, while Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham also got on the scoresheet.

Portugal, however, were held to a 1-1 draw by the Democratic Republic of Congo, a result that brought renewed attention to coach Roberto Martinez's continued backing of Cristiano Ronaldo. The 41-year-old forward, appearing at his sixth World Cup, had an ineffective game and recorded 25 touches.

Martinez defended his decision not to substitute Ronaldo, saying the forward remained the best option for a side looking for goals.

“It makes no sense to take off the best goal scorer in world football in a game that you need goals,” Martinez said.

Ronaldo has now gone 10 consecutive matches in major tournaments without scoring. Portugal's domestic media reacted sharply on Thursday, with sports daily A Bola saying he appeared crushed by pressure and had become a problem, while Publico wrote that the national team remained hostage to its faith in him.