Fidalgo besiegelt Mexikos Kantersieg, die Gastgeber behalten ihre makellose Bilanz und werfen Tschechien aus dem Rennen.

There are ways of leaving a tournament. You can go out with a sheen of glory, having gone to-to-toe with a great opponent. You can be unlucky and go home raging at referees and the fates. You can self-immolate in a blaze of red cards or own goals or spectacular errors. Or you can slink away without leaving a trace – and that was the path followed by Czechia. Nobody in 20 years will remember they were involved in this World Cup, other perhaps than Republic of Ireland fans reflecting on what a mess the Czechs made of the place they pinched from them in the playoff.

A win would probably have taken Czechia though but that never looked likely. Czechia coach, Miroslav Koubek, left out two of his most experienced campaigners in Patrik Schick and Tomas Soucek, and the way was left clear for a 17-year-old to control the game.