The Mexico U-17 national team continues to back up its label of tournament favorites by advancing to the semifinals of the U-17 World Cup.
El Tri defeated Ecuador 2-0 at the Estadio Francisco Sanchez Rumoroso in Coquimbo, setting up a rematch of the last U-17 World Cup final against Nigeria.
When the South Americans started to look like the more balanced side, the group led by Mario Arteaga scored the first goal in the 41st minute.
Claudio Zamudio took advantage of a headed pass from Bryan Salazar to send the ball past Jose Gabriel Cevallos and give Mexico the lead.
At the restart, Mexico started to gain control of the match, and in the 53rd minute, a foul on Jose Gurrola was called inside the area. Bryan Salazar asked for the ball and capitalized on the penalty to make it 2-0.
The Ecuadorians did not give up and went searching for a goal. Despite their urgency, however, the South Americans caused little danger on Abraham Romero's goal and had to settle for a quarterfinal exit.
With the result, Mexico reached their third consecutive U-17 World Cup semifinals and must now face Nigeria, the top-winner of U-17 World Cup titles with four.