Ajax forward Luis Suarez's header enabled Uruguay to secure a comfortable berth in the World Cup knockout stage by defeating Mexico 1-0 on Tuesday.

With the victory, Uruguay finished the leaders of Group A, making the South American squad to avoid facing football giant Argentina, the likely top one in Group B.

As host country South Africa beat France 2-1 on Tuesday in another group match in Bloemfontein, Mexico has also outplayed Bafana Bafana to progress into the next round.

Suarez headed the ball into the net in the 43rd minute after receiving a brilliant pass from teammate Edison Cavani from the right wing, when Mexican defense became shaky.

That changed the landscape of the match which saw Mexico gain a slightly upper hand since the beginning of the first half, although both squads unleashed waves of attacks actively.

The most threatening effort of the men of coach Javier Aguirre came in the 22nd minute when midfielder Andres Guardado unleashed a rocket shot from more than 20 meters, rattling the crossbar.

Both sides collided before the net thereafter, leaving Uruguay's midfielder Diego Perez bleeding in the face after being caught by a stray arm. He insisted to continue playing with a light blue bondage over his forehead.

After the interval, Uruguay showed assaults of better quality and almost extended their lead when Diego Lugano's header brought a rushing save from Mexican goalkeeper Oscar Perez in the 54th minute.

Mexico went so close to a draw 10 minutes later when Francisco Rodriguez found the ball from the right and tried to head it home. The header turned out to be too wide.

Prior to the match, Mexico drew 1-1 with South Africa in their curtain-raiser before beating France 2-0. Uruguay came to a scoreless draw with France before defeating South Africa 3-0 in their second group match.