28 June 2018 10:21 am
Sweden finished top of Group ‘F’ on goal difference, with both teams on six points ahead of South Korea and Germany on three apiece.
After pressing hard for most of the first half and wasting numerous chances, Sweden finally found the net when left-back Ludwig Augustinsson charged up the field in the 50th minute and angled home a left-footed volley.
Twelve minutes later, Captain Andreas Granqvist kept his concentration in the face of deafening boos and whistles from the Mexican fans to blast a penalty into the top left corner after Hector Moreno had brought down Marcus Berg.
Mexico's misery was complete when the ball trickled in off the leg of Edson Alvarez for a tame own goal on 74 minutes.
The Mexicans were a shadow of the team that had beaten Germany and South Korea and had pundits speaking of them as potential world champions.
Sweden, by contrast, look like a side capable of going further in the tournament - a turnaround for a team that struggled to score in their pre-World Cup games and whose chances have been dismissed out of hand by their outspoken former star Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Needing only a draw to be sure of advancing, Mexico started tentatively but somehow managed to reach the break on level terms after surviving a Swedish aerial bombardment and a VAR review when Javier Hernandez appeared to handle the ball in his penalty area.
The game was packed with incident from the opening whistle, with Mexican midfielder Jesus Gallardo booked within seconds of the start for misjudging an aerial challenge on Ola Toivonen.
The Swedes were guilty of wasteful finishing in the opening 45 minutes, with Emil Forsberg in particular blazing several shots over the bar.