Angola belied their lowly status to claim a 0-0 draw with Mexico in Hannover.
The African minnows were beaten by Portugal in their opener and many expected a similar result on Friday, but Mexico failed to find any sort of form and Angola claimed a draw in fairly comfortable circumstances.
Mexico came into the tournament with high hopes, but they laboured to victory over Iran and now have to face Portugal knowing qualification is no longer assured.
Angola face Iran in their final game and have a real chance of reaching the knockout stages, which was unthinkable at the start of the competition.
Mexico threw down an early marker, with Carlos Salcido going agonisingly close with a dipping volley from 25 yards.
Niggly fouls disrupted the pattern of play and it was from one such foul that Mexico went desperately close to opening the scoring.
Luis Delgado's foul on Zinha allowed Rafael Marquez to try his luck from distance and his effort cannoned against the post, with keeper Joao Ricardo nowhere near the shot.
Angola took some 23 minutes to register an attempt on goal, although they were far from being overrun, but Figueiredo's strike flew high over the crossbar.
The effort breathed life into Angola and Mendonca shot wide, while Akwa headed wide from a clever free kick from Figueiredo.
Mexico, who did not look the fourth best team in the world on this display, reserved their best moment of the first half for the dying seconds as Angola keeper Joao Ricardo dashed off his line to save at the feet of Guillermo Franco.
Mexico skipper Marquez attempted to shake his side out of their slumber and a couple of rampaging runs down the right forced Angola into some desperate defending.
Angola were certainly not overawed by their North American opponents and Mendonca stung the palms of Oswaldo Sanchez with a rasping drive from 25 yards.
Franco wasted a good opening at the end of the first half and he was even more profligate on 56 minutes as he failed to capitalise on a neat flick down the middle, as Ricardo made a smothering save, while substitute Jesus Arellano scuffed the follow up effort.
The wastefulness was proving infectious in the Mexico ranks, as Omar Bravo shot poorly at Ricardo after being played in by an awful clearance from Jamba.
Mexico were in desperate need of inspiration and Angola midfielder Andre Macanga handed them a lifeline when picking up a second yellow card for a deliberate handball.
Ricardo Lavolpe's men failed to grasp the nettle as Ricardo Fonseca volleyed wide from a fine cross from Arellano.
Fonseca, who is barely on speaking terms with his coach, came close to breaking the deadlock, but his burrowing run into the box was snuffed out by a timely tackle from Kali.
Ricardo is a keeper without a club, but he could well have teams knocking on his door later in the summer as he made a superb save to push a stinging drive from Marquez round the post.
The Angola keeper almost went from hero to zero as he made a sorry attempt at claiming the resulting corner, but Bravo failed to take advantage as he bundled his shot against the post.
Mexico threw caution to the wind in the dying embers, but they could not find a route to goal as Angola held on for the most unlikely of points.
The African minnows were beaten by Portugal in their opener and many expected a similar result on Friday, but Mexico failed to find any sort of form and Angola claimed a draw in fairly comfortable circumstances.
Mexico came into the tournament with high hopes, but they laboured to victory over Iran and now have to face Portugal knowing qualification is no longer assured.
Angola face Iran in their final game and have a real chance of reaching the knockout stages, which was unthinkable at the start of the competition.
Mexico threw down an early marker, with Carlos Salcido going agonisingly close with a dipping volley from 25 yards.
Niggly fouls disrupted the pattern of play and it was from one such foul that Mexico went desperately close to opening the scoring.
Luis Delgado's foul on Zinha allowed Rafael Marquez to try his luck from distance and his effort cannoned against the post, with keeper Joao Ricardo nowhere near the shot.
Angola took some 23 minutes to register an attempt on goal, although they were far from being overrun, but Figueiredo's strike flew high over the crossbar.
The effort breathed life into Angola and Mendonca shot wide, while Akwa headed wide from a clever free kick from Figueiredo.
Mexico, who did not look the fourth best team in the world on this display, reserved their best moment of the first half for the dying seconds as Angola keeper Joao Ricardo dashed off his line to save at the feet of Guillermo Franco.
Mexico skipper Marquez attempted to shake his side out of their slumber and a couple of rampaging runs down the right forced Angola into some desperate defending.
Angola were certainly not overawed by their North American opponents and Mendonca stung the palms of Oswaldo Sanchez with a rasping drive from 25 yards.
Franco wasted a good opening at the end of the first half and he was even more profligate on 56 minutes as he failed to capitalise on a neat flick down the middle, as Ricardo made a smothering save, while substitute Jesus Arellano scuffed the follow up effort.
The wastefulness was proving infectious in the Mexico ranks, as Omar Bravo shot poorly at Ricardo after being played in by an awful clearance from Jamba.
Mexico were in desperate need of inspiration and Angola midfielder Andre Macanga handed them a lifeline when picking up a second yellow card for a deliberate handball.
Ricardo Lavolpe's men failed to grasp the nettle as Ricardo Fonseca volleyed wide from a fine cross from Arellano.
Fonseca, who is barely on speaking terms with his coach, came close to breaking the deadlock, but his burrowing run into the box was snuffed out by a timely tackle from Kali.
Ricardo is a keeper without a club, but he could well have teams knocking on his door later in the summer as he made a superb save to push a stinging drive from Marquez round the post.
The Angola keeper almost went from hero to zero as he made a sorry attempt at claiming the resulting corner, but Bravo failed to take advantage as he bundled his shot against the post.
Mexico threw caution to the wind in the dying embers, but they could not find a route to goal as Angola held on for the most unlikely of points.
