Neymar, Firmino score as Brazil ousts Mexico
Five-time World Cup winner Brazil is off to the quarter-finals for the seventh time on the spin after bouncing Mexico on Monday in Samara.
Neymar scored for Brazil six minutes after the interval courtesy of a dazzling bit of interplay between the Paris Saint-Germain star and Willian. Second-half substitute Roberto Firmino cemented the 2-0 win when Neymar played provider for the Liverpool star, whose straightforward tap-in relegated El Tri to a familiar fate.
The result marks the seventh consecutive time that Mexico has exited the World Cup at the last-16 stage.
It was a deserved victory boosted by a stellar second-half showing after the two teams entered the break scoreless.
Willian was the catalyst for much of what Brazil did in attack, successfully completing seven dribbles and three key passes, including the assist on Neymar's 57th Brazil goal in 89 appearances. Firmino, who was brought on late for former Reds teammate Philippe Coutinho, bagged his first competitive goal since scoring against Bolivia in October 2016.
Mexico will feel aggrieved that it didn't convert any of its 14 attempts, with just one coming on target. Hirving Lozano and Co. had eight shots blocked by Brazil's rigid backline, were dispossessed on 17 occasions, and made several curious decisions in the final third. The CONCACAF giant has been eliminated by South American sides in three of the last four World Cups, pairing Monday's defeat with successive losses to Argentina in 2006 and 2010.
Brazil now awaits Belgium and Japan's match later Monday to determine its quarter-final foe.