Ecuador’s Piero Hincapie shown red card for covering his mouth during 2-0 loss to Mexico

Wednesday, 1 July 2026

Ecuador defender Piero Hincapié has been shown a red card in added time of Mexico’s 2-0 win in their FIFA World Cup round of 32 match.

Hincapie became the second player at this year’s World Cup to be sent off for covering his mouth during a confrontation.

Following a check on VAR, Hincapie was clearly shown to have committed the offence and referee Slavko Vinčić gave him a red card.

In a spicy encounter that began over an hour late due to thunderstorms in Mexico City, Mexican fans allegedly used a homophobic chant in the first half of the match on Wednesday (NZT).

The chant, a one-word slur that means male prostitute in Spanish, usually occurs when the opposing goalkeeper is taking a goal kick.

The fans did it at the five minute mark when Hernán Galíndez was doing his first goal kick of the match.

Mexico went on to win the match 2-0, thanks to first half goals from Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez, to advance to the final 16.

It is the second time in the tournament that fans used the chant, which has cost the Mexican Federation several fines by FIFA.

The chant originated during a match between Mexico and the United States in an Olympic Games qualifying tournament held in Guadalajara, but it went viral at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Hincapié became the second player at this year’s World Cup to be sent off for covering his mouth during a confrontation, following Paraguay's Miguel Almirón in his side’s 1-0 group stage win over Turkey.

The atmosphere was tense in Mexico City long before kick-off.

Mexico fans gathered late last night and into the early hours of Tuesday outside of Ecuador's hotel in Mexico City, where they used horns, drums, motorcycles and cars, alongside DJ's to make noise for their rivals.

The tension between the fan bases reflects a deeper geopolitical rift. Diplomatic relations between the two nations have been severed since April 2024, when Ecuadorian police raided the Mexican embassy in Quito to arrest former Vice President Jorge Glas, who had been granted political asylum there.

While Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa recently expressed a willingness to mend ties, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum stated last Monday that she would not discuss the matter until after the high-stakes match concluded.

– with AP.