Mexico continued their perfect ​start to the World Cup with a 3-0 romp against a hapless Czech Republic on Wednesday, finishing their group-stage campaign with ‌a flourish and killing off their tame opponents' hopes of making the knockouts.

The co-hosts had already ​booked their spot in the last 32 as Group A winners but showed no mercy at ⁠the Azteca stadium to complete a third straight victory that left the sorry Czechs bottom of the standings and out of the tournament.

The game looked to be drifting towards a stalemate before Mexico exploded in the second half, with Mateo Chavez opening the ‌scoring before Julian Quinones grabbed his second of the tournament and substitute Alvaro Fidalgo dealt the final blow.

Mexico's reward for a faultless opening stage will be a knockout clash with a third-placed side ‌from Group C, E, F, H or I with the match again in front of their fans at the ‌Azteca, ⁠where they are unbeaten in nine World Cup matches, on Tuesday.

New hope

Mexico's superb start to the ⁠tournament has kindled the fires of hope in their fervent supporters that this team could be the one to finally put to bed the so-called curse that has seen them fail to reach the quarter-finals since 1986.

The omens suddenly look auspiciously favourable - unbeaten in 11 games having sauntered ​through the group stage at a World Cup ‌back on home soil, the hope is that this Mexico side could put years of turmoil and under-performance behind them.

The numbers are also starting to stack up.

This was their biggest World Cup win since a 4-0 victory over El Salvador in 1970, while at the other end their rock-solid defence ensured they became the first ‌team with three clean sheets in the group stage since Uruguay in 2018.

This apparent new dawn is ​perfectly symbolised by 17-year-old midfield prodigy Gilberto Mora, who is the youngest player to start in the tournament since 2002, and produced a superb display with his every touch loudly appreciated ⁠by the crowd.

"To be honest, I believed I could achieve it, but not this soon," he said when asked if he imagined reaching this stage so quickly. "Now that I'm here, I'm just trying to enjoy it, take it day by ‌day and give my best whenever I'm on the pitch."

Sparked into life

With their fate riding on the outcome, the Czechs were predictably more eager in the opening exchanges, with Denis Visinsky snatching at an early effort when space opened up in front of him.

It took 35 minutes for Mexico to conjure a shot and when they did it was a rather improbable overhead kick from centre back Israel Reyes that drifted harmlessly wide.

The game had all the hallmarks of a stalemate before Mexico sparked into life and found the breakthrough to bring the Azteca to its feet ‌after 55 minutes.

Luis Romo emerged with the ball in midfield and slipped a pass through to full back Chavez who skipped past one ​challenge and bore down on goal before calmly opening his body up to sidefoot his finish past goalkeeper Matej Kovar. The second goal six minutes later had Mora's fingerprints all over it ⁠as the youngster dribbled deep into Czech territory before playing a delightful ball through to Jorge Sanchez.

He bundled his attempted finish ⁠over the keeper and after a brief scramble Quinones followed up to poke the ball home.

While the crowd needed little encouragement to turn up the decibels, probably the loudest cheer of the night was ‌reserved for a late substitute appearance from 40-year-old keeper Guillermo Ochoa earning his 154th cap at his sixth World Cup.

There was time for a final flourish, however, as Mexico's third goal arrived deep in stoppage time when ​Fidalgo blasted the ball into the top corner from 18 metres to complete a resounding win and another impressive display by the co-hosts.