Mexico made light of a storm delay to blow away Ecuador and win their first World Cup knockout game since 1986 to set up a last 16 tie back in Mexico City against either England or DR Congo.Ecuador complained to FIFA before the game after videos emerged online of Mexico fans staging an impromptu fan fest outside their team hotel the previous night. It was thunder and lightning that was disturbing the peace before kick-off, leading to a one-hour delay.When the game finally got going it was Mexico who made a hot start with Julian Quinones racing from his own half to collect a long pass and smash it into the top corner and Raul Jimenez firing past Hernan Galindez to put the World Cup co-hosts 2-0 up in 31 minutes.By then, Gilberto Mora had almost scored the opener with a curling shot and at 17 years and 259 days old he became the youngest player to start a World Cup knockout game since Pele (17years and 239 days) in 1958.Ecuador showed few signs of staging a comeback, with Mexico securing only a second World Cup knockout win in their history. They will return to the famous Estadio Azteca for a last 16 game on July 5. England play DR Congo in Atlanta on Tuesday for the right to play them.The game ended with Ecuador and Arsenal’s Piero Hincapie being sent off for covering his mouth in a “situation of confrontation” as Ecuador went down fighting.Here The Athletic’s Jack Lang and Felipe Cardenas break down the key talking points.Should Mexico be ‘making the final’?In the days ahead of this game, there were divided opinions in Mexico over the potential of this team. A couple of the players came out with spunky public statements (“If you ask me, we should be making the final,” said midfielder Obed Vargas) but that level of optimism was not quite replicated in the local press. “People are trying to inflate a product that’s only average,” Rene Tovar, the editor of sports newspaper Record, wrote on social media. “We need to keep our feet on the ground.”That directive looks irrelevant now. This was the night Mexico took flight, gravity be damned. And beyond all the light and magic of their goals, this was just a very commanding team performance.Raul Rangel was excellent in goal. The two centre backs, Johan Vasquez and Cesar Montes were brick-wall solid. Quinones and Alvarado provided vastly different but equivalent threats out wide. Jimenez hustled. The returning Erik Lira, perhaps their most important player, dominated the midfield battle.Estadio Azteca has been a superb home for Mexico (Reuters)This is not a perfect side. There is a slight lack of pace, Quinones aside. Relative to some of the real heavy hitters in this competition, Mexico are not stacked with unimpeachable star power.That, though, might turn out to be their biggest strength. This is a team that scraps, all together, all the time. Javier Aguirre, the manager, has created a family atmosphere. And the Azteca crowd, when it gets going, adds a few percentage points of its own. Whoever comes here next, be that England or DR Congo, will have to produce something special to derail the co-hosts.Jack LangHow vital is Mexico to this World Cup?Mexico didn’t want to be the first co-host to be eliminated from the World Cup. On Tuesday, El Tri played with an intensity that devoured Ecuador from the onset and increased the belief among Mexicans that this team could make history. Mexico had not won a knockout game since 1986, the last time they hosted the tournament. The home crowds in Mexico City and Guadalajara have been a major factor in the team’s success thus far.Now, Mexico will wait to see if England defeat DR Congo and set up one of the most-anticipated round of 16 matches in recent World Cup history. Canada has booked its place in the round of 16. The U.S. hopes to do the same tomorrow versus Bosnia and Herzegovina. But Mexico staying alive has arguably an even greater impact.A major talking point in North American football is Mexico’s dominance on the U.S. market. El Tri regularly sellout NFL stadiums for friendlies. And the Mexicans are often the home side in a cup tie against the U.S. There are nearly 40 million Mexicans living stateside. The national team is the link that keeps them close to home. On Tuesday, Mexico passed its first major test against Ecuador. They can now dream about a historical run in 2026.Felipe CardenasHow did Mora perform in matching Pele?Gilberto Mora can now say that he has something in common with Brazilian legend Pele. In 1958, a scrawny 17-year-old Pele led Brazil to a World Cup title. It would be the first of three that the great Brazilian would claim in his illustrious international career.Mora can only dream of matching such accomplishments. Still, it’s a major feat to start for your country at a World Cup as a teenager, much less as someone who cannot yet vote in his country’s elections. Mora was clean and decisive on the ball against Ecuador before exiting the match in the 59th minute. The sellout crowd and high-stakes did not affect him in the slightest.He took on opponents and was fearless in tight spaces, playing quick one-touch football like a seasoned veteran. Mora is without a doubt the darling of the Mexican team. He is adored by the fans and respected as a mature professional by Aguirre. At 17, the baby-faced Mora isn’t close to becoming a football legend, but at this World Cup, he’s must-see TV.Felipe CardenasDid Hincapie not learn from Almiron?Earlier in the competition, Paraguay’s Miguel Almiron received a red card that looked inexplicable upon first viewing. Over the course of a few minutes, it became clear that the referee had punished him for covering his mouth during a confrontation with an opponent. One of the rules that came in for this tournament is that doing so is now a sending-off offence.Hincapie after being sent off (Photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)Was Ecuador’s Piero Hincapie watching that match? Probably not, for he fell foul of the same rule here. The Arsenal man said something to Mexico’s Santi Gimenez, but covered his mouth. The referee, after watching a video replay, produced a red card, adding one final layer of misery to Ecuador’s evening.Jack LangHow did Quinones start the party?Mexico played some slick football in the group stage, but the quality of their opposition meant a lot of it had an asterisk next to it. South Africa did not turn up in the first game. South Korea were poor in the second and the Czech Republic melted like an ice cube in the desert. This, really, was the co-hosts’ first real test of the competition.The way they played in the opening stages here put a lot of the doubts to bed. Mexico flew out of the traps, playing with speed and intent, stretching Ecuador’s defence — hitherto so impressive — to breaking point.Quinones’ goal summed it all up. Mexico patiently passed it around at the back, inviting Ecuador onto them. Johan Vasquez found Jesus Gallardo, who nudged it down the line to Quinones. His pass to Luis Romo was perhaps a little short but the midfielder kept his cool, finding Roberto Alvarado, who clipped a gorgeous, inviting pass over the top.Quinones, on the left touchline, breaks clear from inside his own half and is about to receive the ballThere was still a lot for Quinones to do, but he made the finish look easy, jagging inside and clattering a shot into the top corner of Hernan Galindez’s net. Beer rained down from the stands. What could so easily have been a tense evening turned into the mother of all parties.Jack LangHow good was Jimenez’s goal?Raul Jimenez nearly broke the scoreless draw early in the game when his diving header went wide of the Ecuador goal. The crowd at the Estadio Azteca was already in a frenzy due to Mexico’s hot start. Had Jimenez scored, the ground would have been bedlam.The miss caused a momentary feeling of “what if we lose?” among the Mexicans. Several stood in disbelief with their heads in their hands. Not long after, however, Quinones broke the deadlock with a wonderfully taken strike. If Mexico could envision their qualification to the round of 16 then, Jimenez’s moment officially booked their place.Eleven minutes after Quinones scored, he provided Jimenez with a scrumptious ball just outside the Ecuador penalty area. The Wolves forward took a touch towards goal and rifled the ball top bins. Ecuador was deflated. Mexico was elated. And for Jimenez, the heart and soul of this Mexico squad, it confirmed his stature as one of the tournament’s elite finishers. His World Cup fairy tale continues.Felipe CardenasDidn’t FIFA say it had cancelled the hydration breaks?Kick-off at the Estadio Azteca was delayed by an hour after severe weather conditions hit Mexico City moments before the game was supposed to begin.Tournament rules mean play is delayed in the event of any extreme weather conditions with the electrical activity around the stadium ahead of the planned 7pm local kick-off time more than enough to qualify.Both sets of players were unable to warm up as planned with FIFA soon confirming the stoppage and the amended start. It’s not the first time weather has played a role at this tournament, of course.France’s group-stage win over Iraq was paused for more than two hours after thunderstorms in Philadelphia, while FIFA’s newly-mandated in-play hydration breaks were introduced ahead of the tournament because of the high temperatures that many of the games are expected to be played in.In announcing the delay at the Azteca, FIFA said that as a result the controversial cooling breaks would not happen.Yet, the referee stopped play around the 23rd minute. Players walked to their sidelines in customary fashion, and the partisan Mexican crowd jeered briefly before singing “Mexico lindo” to pass the time.And on FIFA’s website, the line that read “No hydration breaks will take place during this match” had been removed from its statement.Felipe Cardenas