MIAMI, Florida – Mexico defeated New Zealand in emphatic fashion with a 4-0 victory to punch their ticket to the knockout stage of the 2023 FIFA Under-17 Men’s World Cup in Indonesia.

Needing a victory by a wide margin in Group F, El Tricolor pulled through and jumped over Venezuela in the group to finish in second-place.

Fidel Barajas opened the scoring for Mexico in the 42’ on a right-footed rocket from outside the area.

The momentum stayed with Mexico going into the second half and they doubled their advantage to 2-0 in the 47’ when Adrian Fernandez received a pass from Stephano Carrillo and fired into net.

Mexico were flying and Carrillo then got to play the role of goalscorer in the 54’ by slotting home a cutback pass from Brandon Lomeli for a 3-0 Mexico lead.

Carrillo then rounded out the 4-0 scoreline with a penalty conversion in the 67’ after he had been taken down in the area, giving Carrillo his third goal of the tournament.

The U.S. wrapped up their Group E campaign with a 3-0 defeat to France at the Jakarta International Stadium in Jakarta.

The French scored right before halftime to take a 1-0 lead, but the U.S. hung tough and had chances to pull even, but were unable to convert.

France were able to withstand any U.S. advances and tacked on goals in the 82’ and 86’ to complete the 3-0 scoreline, leaving the U.S. with a second-place finish in the group.