Korea’s goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu grabs the ball during the 2026 World Cup Group A football match between Mexico and Korea at the Guadalajara Stadium in Zapopan, Thurday (local time). AFP-Yonhap

ZAPOPAN, Mexico — Korean goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu pointed a finger at himself for a miscue that cost his team in a 1-0 loss to Mexico in Group A action at the FIFA World Cup on Thursday.

The match’s lone goal, scored by Luis Romo in the 50th minute at Estadio Guadalajara in Zapopan, came off a preventable misplay inside the Korean box.

Kim jumped to grab an innocuous header by Raul Jimenez but then crashed into the back of his own defender Lee Gi-hyuk on his way down. The ball was poked loose toward Romo, who scored easily into the empty net.

It was the lone blemish in what was an otherwise strong match for Kim, who made a couple of big saves to keep the final score tight.

“This is the life of a goalkeeper. You can play well, but you will ultimately be judged by the one you give up,” Kim said. “I should have focused better in that situation. When the ball went up in the air, I figured I would only have my teammates around me. I tried to play it safe, but things went wrong there.”

As for how he communicated with Lee on the play, Kim said: “You have to be really quick in those situations. Maybe he didn’t hear my call for the ball. It was just a complicated situation.”

Kim was seen embracing Lee during the second-half hydration break.

“I told him to forget about the play quickly because we still had a match to play,” Kim said of his conversation with the defender, who is playing in his first World Cup. “I said we have to hold down the fort on our end because our attackers will get one for us.”

The equalizer Kim and Lee had hoped for never did come, despite some close calls in the attacking zone.

With the victory, Mexico improved to six points and won Group A with one match to spare. They are the first team to grab a knockout berth at this year’s World Cup.

Korea will join them as the Group A runner-up with either a win or a draw against South Africa in their final group match next Wednesday.

“We all talked about not getting too down on ourselves because we have one more match to play,” Kim said. “I think we are still in a pretty good spot, and we can still qualify for the knockouts on our own. We will use this match to become even tighter as a group.”