Population: 123.7 million
Capital: Mexico City
Team Colors: Green and White
How Qualified: Won CONCACAF Hexagonal
Nickname: El Tri
16th World Cup
Head Coach: Juan Carlos Osorio (COL)
Key Players: Javier Hernandez (West Ham United), Andres Guardado (Real Betis), Oribe Peralta (América), Guillermo Ochoa (Standard Liege)
Best Performance: Quarterfinals (1970, 1986)
Can they finally win a knockout match outside their home country? Of courses, Mexico must first get through the group stage which won’t be easy given the group, but the goal for them is to get to the quarterfinals of a World Cup that is outside their own country. They got to the quarterfinals in 1970 and 1986 when they hosted the World Cup.
They have made the knockout stage of every World Cup since 1994, only to get knocked out of the second round. It was Bulgaria in 1994, Germany in 1998, the USA in 2002, Argentina in 2006 and 2010, and the Netherlands in 2014. There have been controversial calls along the way (*cough*Arjen Robben*cough*), but the fact of the matter is that Mexico has not reached the last eight outside their home country and potentially be mentioned as among the elite in World Soccer.
Mexico qualified for the World Cup much more comfortably than they did four years ago. However, they now have injury worries leading up to the World Cup. Andres Guradado is going to have surgery “ASAP” and hope to get healed in time for Russia. Nestor Araujo and Diego Reyes are also hurt as are the brothers dos Santos.
The preliminary squad is experienced, but how healthy they are by the time of their first match with Germany will be vital to determine how far can El Tri go in this World Cup.
It’s being called “The Curse of the Fifth Game” in Mexico. They have not played a fifth game at at single World Cup since 1986 when they went out on penalties to West Germany. They’ve come close many times since, only for something to happen. They will need all hands on deck for this tough Group F, or there may not be fourth match this time around.
Schedule:
June 17: vs. Germany in Moscow (Luzhniki) (10am CT on FS1/Telemundo)
June 23: vs. Korea Republic in Rostov-on-Don (10am CT on FOX/Telemundo)
June 27: vs. Sweden in Yekaterinburg (9am CT on FOX/Telemundo)
Mexico
2018 World Cup
October, 2018
September, 2018
