Mexico stuns Germany with thrilling 1-0 win in World Cup opener

WHAT A MATCH. El Tri has three points and the lead in Group F after an absolutely stunning opening 1-0 win over defending World Cup champion Germany. Mexico’s “Chucky” Hirving Lozano scored the game’s only goal in the 35th minute, assisted by “Chicharito” Javier Hernandez.

Watch Chucky Lozano’s game-winning goal for Mexico

OK, now watch Mexico manager Juan Carlos Osorio react to it

The game was a back-and-forth barnburner from the start, with El Tri taking advantage of Germany’s slow midfield. Sami Khedira and Toni Kroos didn’t look like they could deal with the pace of the game, and Germany manager Jogi Löw never fixed the problem. Instead, he just kept throwing on forwards for defensive players.

That got Germany 25 shots by the end of the game, but no goals. El Tri goalkeeper Memo Ochoa was superb, while Mexico always had a way to relieve pressure due to Germany’s lack of midfield.

With Mexico attempting to hold its late lead, Rafa Marquez came on as a substitute. It was a historic moment as he became just the third male player to appear in five World Cups. He joined an exclusive club that includes Antonio Carbajal of Mexico and Lothar Matthaus of Germany.

With the 39-year-old defender helping withstand the final pushes from Germany, Mexico saw out the win.

And Mexico City celebrated, LOUDLY

Mexico’s 1-0 win snapped Germany’s 7-game winning streak in World Cup openers. It was also the biggest upset of World Cup so far, according to the oddsmakers.

How did Mexico’s upset win over Germany happen?

Read our minute-by-minute live game blog to see exactly how it played out.

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90’ — Brandt rips a rocket just wide. Mexico bench is looking nervous.

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86’ — Gomez for Plattenhardt looks like an ill-advised sub. Germany have been less dangerous since making it.

But Löw doesn’t introduce Leon Goretzka or Ilkay Gündogan to balance things out. Instead, Julian Brandt is on for Timo Werner.

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82’ — Another brilliant Mexico counter. Another Layun miss.

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80’ — Germany takes off defender Marvin Plattenhardt for striker Mario Gomez. They’re playing 3-1-6.

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78’ — Raul sets up a spectacular counter. Layun beats his man.

And he blasts over the bar AGAIN.

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76’ — Toni Kroos shoots inches wide. Germany keeps getting closer.

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73’ — Jesus Gallardo is getting treatment after taking a shot to the face, but he looks like he’ll be fine.

Also, the legendary Rafa Marquez is on for Andres Guardado and now playing in his fifth World Cup, tying the record.

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70’ — Chicharito shoved down by Mats Hummels in the box... no penalty? No VAR review? Come onnnnnn.

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66’ — Mexico makes a sub in response, bringing on hard-working target man Raul Jimenez for Chucky Lozano. Great shift for Chucky, but El Tri needs the big man to hold up the ball and start counters.

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65’ — Kimmich is just playing striker now. He gets into the center of the box during the run of play and puts a scissor kick attempt a hair wide.

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60’ — Ultra-attacking sub for Germany. Marco Reus is on for Sami Khedira. Germany playing with maybe the least defensive midfield that a World Cup has ever seen. An astonishing roll of the dice.

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57’ — Mexico blows a golden two-on-two counter attack. Chicharito does the right thing, drawing attention to himself and squaring to Vela in the center of the box, but his pass was just too heavy.

And Juan Carlos Osorio has opted to make a defensive substitution. Edson Alvares has entered for Carlos Vela.

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55’ — Signs of life for the Germans. Mesut Özil feeds Julian Draxler, and his shot from 15 yards is just blocked out for a corner. This has been an even first 10 minutes of the half, but Mexico has slowed down a bit from the first half.

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53’ — Germany settling for 25-yard cracks from Kimmich, the right back. Mexico will take that all day.

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50’ — It’s a bit more measured so far than the first half was. So go relive the excitement of the goal. Juan Carlos Osorio’s reactions were amazing.

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46’ — And we’re back. No substitutions for either team. Think we’ll see more of this in the second half?

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Halftime score: Mexico 1-0 Germany

This has been thrilling. El Tri have 10 shots to Mexico’s 8. There’s been a Formula 1 pace from the first whistle. Each team is sprinting through the other’s midfield. But El Tri’s a little better at this style of match, and they deserve their lead.

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45’ — Vela misses a curling shot by inches. This is amazing.

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LOOK AT THESE FACES.

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39’ — Germany almost get one back! Toni Kroos smacks a brilliant free kick that Memo Ochoa touches onto the crossbar.

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GOAL Hirving Lozano! Mexico leads Germany 1-0 in the 35th minute!

What a counter-attack by El Tri! They rip Germany’s midfield to shreds. Chicharito runs through the middle, passes left to Chucky, he jukes his defender and calmly slots the ball into the back of the net. Mexico has a deserved lead.

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28’ — Mexico keeps finding a ton of space on the counter, and Germany’s defenders keep recovering brilliantly. Carlos Vela and Hirving Lozano have had chances snuffed out by Hummels and Kimmich in the last minute.

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23’ — Just an update to say that Mexico fans rule. They probably have the most fans in Russia — 13,000 came from Mexico itself, and at least that many American citizens who support Mexico traveled from the USA too.

Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images

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18’ — Chicharito is in for a clear chance. He refuses to shoot with his left foot. Why.

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16’ — Nearly an own goal for Mexico. Joshua Kimmich put in a dangerous cross, Hugo Ayala narrowly missed heading it into his own goal, and Carlos Salcedo only touched it out for a corner by inches.

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14’ — Mexico free kick, and Chicharito has a header saved. El Tri is really piling on the pressure.

Against Germany.

Is this real?

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10’ — Hector Herrera takes a rip from distance and Neuer’s save isn’t terribly easy. This owns.

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8’ — The pace of this game hasn’t slowed down a bit, and Carlos Vela has drawn a foul on Mats Hummels 25 yards out. Miguel Layun stands over the ball and... puts it 10 yards over the crossbar. Womp womp.

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3’ — And Mexico answers, with Timo Werner shooting just wide at the end of a fast counter attack. This game looks like it might be bonkers.

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2’ — What a start! Chicharito, Carlos Vela and Hirving Lozano put together a pretty move, ending with Boateng barely getting in front of Lozano’s shot. The resulting corner kick had a bit of a scramble too, with Manuel Neuer eventually claiming the ball.

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1’ — Kickoff! Folks, the Mexican national anthem was spectacular. El Tri supporters probably only make up 25 percent of the crowd, but they sang their lungs out. This sounds like a home game for Mexico.

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Pre-game: — Walkouts coming up. Mexico’s got some incredible support in Russia.

The Mexico vs. Germany lineups

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