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Mexico national football team

The Mexico national football team have a long history in FIFA world cup finals tournaments. They have qualified for 15 in total and featured at every one since 1994. The team’s best performance was making it to the quarter-finals in both 1970 and 1986 when the tournament was held in Mexico. Statistically they are the most successful team in their qualifying region and they regularly take part in the Copa America as well.

The Mexico national football team’s home stadium has a long and impressive history. Called The Esadio Azteca, or Aztec Stadium in English, it is also home to Mexican club team Club America. It has a capacity of 105,000 and is the largest stadium in the Americas and the third largest football stadium in the world. It is the only stadium in the world that has hosted two world cup finals , it is where Pele won his last world cup, and where Maradona’s infamous ‘Hand of God‘ occurred.

World cup history

1930
1950
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970
1978
1986
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
1930

Uruguay

The first ever World cup was held in Uruguay and only featured a handful of teams, most from South America. The Mexico national football team were in group 1 alongside Argentina, Chile and France. The tournament was not a success for Mexico as they lost all three games, conceded a massive 13 goals and only scored four themselves. They unsurprisingly finished bottom of the group.

1950

Brazil 

The 1950 was the fourth edition of the World cup and the first since the outbreak of World War Two. In their group this time were hosts Brazil, Switzerland and Yugoslavia. Like their display in 1930, the Mexico national football team failed again to make an impression on the competition. They again lost all three games, this time only scored 2 goals, but on the bright side only conceded 10.

1954

Switzerland 

Four years later the Mexico national football team were again back and again finishing bottom of the group. The format was a little different this time, however, as two seeded teams played two unseeded teams to decide each group. So after their two games against Brazil and France, the team were still looking for their first world cup win having scored two and conceded eight.

1958

Sweden

The World cup in Sweden represented a significant landmark for the Mexico national football team as the picked up their first ever point in the competition. This came in a 1-1 draw against Wales. Despite defeats to both Sweden and Hungary they only finished four points off group winners Sweden.

1962

Chile

Following on from their first draw, the Mexico national football team managed their first ever win in 1962. It came against Czechoslovakia but was not enough to see them progress after defeats to both Brazil and Spain. The 3-1 win did however help the side to a third place finish, above Spain who finished bottom.

1966

England

This improved form was maintained in England four years later. They were actually in a group with the hosts, as well as Uruguay and France. The only game of the three the Mexico national football team lost was to eventual winners England. The side finally took a World cup point off France and did the same against previous winners Uruguay. It was again not enough to progress but the side finished third, above bottom side France.

1970

Mexico

The world cup in 1970 on home soil was a continuation of the steady progress the Mexico national football team had made at finals tournaments. Alongside the Soviet Union, Belgium and El Salvador in the group, Mexico managed a draw and two wins to finish second and progress onto the quarter finals. The two wins were a 4-0 victory over newcomers El Salvador and a 1-0 win over Belgium. In the quarter finals they faced eventual runners-up Italy and, despite taking the lead, were comfortably beaten 4-1.

1978

Argentina

After not qualifying in 1974 the Mexico national football team continued their step-back, in terms of performances on the pitch, despite qualifying this time around. The side lost all three games, including a 6-0 defeat to West Germany. Perhaps the most disappointing result was a 3-1 loss to Tunisia. Unsurprisingly they finished bottom with a minus 10 goal difference.

1986

Mexico

The 1986 world cup was something of a resurgence for the Mexico national football team. After the poor showing in 1978 and not qualifying in 1982, the side topped their group with five points from the three games. They beat Belgium and Iraq and drew with Paraguay, clearly spurred on with the tournament once again being on home soil. Compared to 1970, when the side last visited the quarter finals, there were more teams in the competition. As such, the Mexico national football team navigated past Bulgaria 2-0 in the last-sixteen, before playing West Germany is the quarter finals. Eight years previous the side were beaten 6-0 by the same opposition but this time they took them all the way to penalties before being eliminated. Mexico also claimed to have a legitimate goal incorrectly ruled out in that game which would have seen them through.

1994

United States

After being banned for the 1990 edition for fielding an ineligible youth team player in a previous tournament, the Mexico national football team returned for the 1994 World cup. Similar to eight years before they again topped the group, this time on goals scored as all four teams finished on four points. Also similar to 1986 the team faced Bulgaria in the last sixteen. Unfortunately this time the side could not progress, and Bulgaria got their revenge with a victory on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

1998

France

The Mexico national football team were now in the habit of progressing from their group and they maintained this in 1998. Alongside the Netherlands, Belgium and South Korea the side finished second and unbeaten after a win and two draws. Again they could not progress past the last sixteen as they lost this time to Germany. Although leading until late on, the side conceded in the 75th and 86th minutes to lose out.

2002

Japan and South Korea

2002 saw a strong group stage performance for the Mexico national football team. After wins against Croatia and Ecuador, the side drew with Italy in the final group fixture to finish top with seven points. Moving into the last sixteen Mexico faced a North American derby against the United States. It was a disappointing game for Mexico as they crashed out 2-0 to a side they would have expected to beat, considering the form they had shown in the group.

2006

Germany

At the 2006 World cup the Mexico national football team were presented with what seemed like a relatively straightforward group. Aside from Portugal they were faced with Angola and Iran. After a 3-1 win over Iran in the opener, the team slipped to a disappointing 0-0 draw with Angola. Despite a defeat in the final match they did manage to scrape through in second place with four points. Similar to four years previous the side once again failed to progress to the quarter finals. This time a narrow extra-time defeat to Argentina knocked them out. A wonder strike from Maxi Rodriguez proved to be the winning goal.

2010

South Africa

For the World cup in South Africa the Mexico national football team found themselves playing in the opening fixture of the tournament against the hosts. After a 1-1 draw they went on to defeat a troubled France 2-1, before losing to group winners and eventual fourth placed Uruguay. Four points was enough to see them through in second place where they went on to face Argentina again in the last sixteen. This time it was not quite as dramatic as they lost out 3-1, and continued their inability to impact on the later-stages of the tournament.

2014

Brazil

The Mexico national football team were once again in a group with the hosts. This time it was Brazil. A 1-0 win over Cameroon was followed by a draw with the South Americans. A 3-1 win over Croatia in the final group fixture saw the side through to the knock-out phase. In the last-sixteen the side came up against the Netherlands. Leading 1-0 the team conceded in the 88th minute. It got worse as in injury time they conceded a controversial penalty. The Netherlands scored and Mexico’s tournament was over.

2018

Russia

The Mexico national football team entered world cup qualifying in the fourth round group stage. They will face Honduras, El Salvador, and Canada.

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