World Cup preview: Mexico
El Tri brings a battle-tested core to Qatar
Previous World Cup appearances: 1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1978, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018
Best finish: Quarterfinals (1970, 1986)
Group stage schedule: vs. Poland (Nov. 22), vs. Argentina (Nov. 26), vs. Saudi Arabia (Nov. 30)
Note: All stats accurate as of Sept. 7, 2022.
The breakdown
How they qualified: Mexico automatically earned a spot in the final round of Concacaf qualifying and finished second out of eight teams with eight wins, four losses and two draws. They finished with the same number of points as Canada but lost the goal difference tiebreaker.
Names to know:
Edson Álvarez (Ajax) — Álvarez made his national team debut in 2017 at the age of 19 and started three times at the World Cup just over a year later. He is now up to 57 caps for his career and widely regarded as one of the best players in Concacaf1. The 24-year-old cemented himself as a regular starter at Ajax in 2021-22 and has won the Eredivisie each of his first three seasons with the club.
Héctor Herrera (Houston Dynamo) — A mainstay in the Mexican midfield since 2014, Herrera is one of two outfield players to start every game of the past two World Cups for El Tri. He started 39 times in the Champions League for Porto and Atlético Madrid in his nine seasons in Europe. Herrera returned to North America this summer and made his Major League Soccer debut July 7.
Raúl Jiménez (Wolves) — The Wolves striker is also a veteran of two World Cups, though he played only 63 minutes in them. Each of his team-high three goals during qualifying came from the penalty spot, and he hasn’t been the same player since suffering a terrifying head injury in 2020. Jiménez joined Wolves upon their promotion to the Premier League in 2018-19 and netted 30 league goals in his first two seasons with the club.
Hirving Lozano (Napoli) — Now in his fourth season with Napoli and seventh in Europe, Lozano is among the most accomplished players in the Mexican squad at the club level. The 27-year-old had a goal and an assist at the 2018 World Cup and made nine starts in this qualifying cycle. He posted back-to-back 17-goal seasons in the Dutch Eredivisie with PSV and scored 11 Serie A goals in 2020-21.
Guillermo Ochoa (Club América) — Ochoa’s been part of Mexico’s last four World Cup squads but did not appear in a game at a World Cup until 2014. He played every minute in 2014 and 2018 and is still a regular starter in net for both club and country in his 20th professional season. The two-time Olympian made 112 starts in Ligue 1 and another 48 in La Liga between his two stints with Club América.
Potential breakout star: Alexis Vega (Guadalajara)
One of three players to net multiple goals during qualifying, Vega may have a much larger role than expected in Qatar due to the absence of Jesús Corona. The Guadalajara winger is in his eighth season in Liga MX and recorded a career-high 10 assists in 2020-212. Everything is set up for Vega to be one the biggest breakout stars of the entire tournament.
The bottom line
Reason for optimism: They’ve done this before
While this will be the first World Cup experience for many of the players representing Mexico’s two Concacaf rivals to the north, El Tri’s core hasn’t changed all that much since 2018. Even manager Tata Martino has coached at a World Cup, leading Paraguay to the quarterfinals in 2010.
Biggest question: Will the streak ever end?
Mexico has reached the knockout stage of seven consecutive World Cups and lost in the round of 16 every single time. Their last knockout stage win came in 1986. It is one of the strangest streaks in sports and the main topic of conversation surrounding this team at every World Cup.
Here’s the deal:
Corona’s injury is a massive blow for a team short on reliable options in attack, and Martino is under major pressure following a frustrating qualifying and losses in two tournament finals to the United States. They’ve had disappointing qualifying campaigns before and still made it out of their group, so don’t put too much stock into their recent struggles.