Mexico Out Despite Victory Over Saudi Arabia | Football/Soccer

The first half was one to forget, the drama in the second will live long in the memory.

It was absolute chaos before the game, with thousands of Saudi fans making the trip across the border for a game in which victory would have secured a place in the knockout stage.

But they never really managed to put Mexico under pressure and ultimately both sides went out of the competition.

At one stage, Mexico was set to be knocked out because they had collected more yellow cards (seven) than Poland (five), with the two teams level on points and goal difference.

While Al Dawsari's late goal changed little, Mexico fans were still left dejected at full-time, with some staying long after the final whistle with their head in their hands.

Martin's opener from close range and Chavez's peach of a free-kick gave them hope, but two disallowed goals crushed any optimism of advancing out of the group.

The result ends a sequence of progression to the round of 16, having done so at the previous eight World Cups, a run stretching back to 1978.

For Saudi Arabia, the tournament ends in disappointment by finishing bottom of the group despite an opening game victory over Argentina that will go down as one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history.

Mohamed Kanno had his chances, shanking wide from the angle and curling a free-kick narrowly over, while Ali Al Hassan almost headed in on the stroke of half-time.

The stadium was filled mostly with raucous Saudi supporters and they went home with one final cheer as Al Dawsari coolly converted late on.