Mexico falls to Brazil 2-1 in U-17 World Cup final

Efrain Alvarez - close-up

Mexico's U-17s saw their run at the FIFA 2019 U-17 World Cup come to an end in heartbreaking fashion, as two late goals sent Brazil to a 2-1 victory in the tournament final between the sides on Sunday.


After a scoreless first half, Mexico jumped on top after a goal from Bryan Gonzalez in the 66th minute, putting them on the doorstep of knocking off the host country and completing a magical run. But a hotly contested penalty kick call afforded Brazil the equalizer in the 84th minute before a dramatic winner in second-half stoppage time from Lazaro Vinicius Marquez would seal the 2-1 final.

For fans of MLS, the big storyline to keep an eye on was the performance of Mexico midfielder Efrain Alvarez of the LA Galaxy, who scored a free-kick golazo that allowed Mexico to eventually top the Netherlands in penalty kicks in the semifinals. The wunderkind wasn't able to replicate the feat in this contest, as Mexico struggled to get generate many attacking fireworks outside of the goal, which was the only shot out of 12 that they managed to get on target.