Doha, November 10 (QNA) – Mexico appears in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 for the 17th time in its history. The team will hope they can overcome the stubborn last-16 obstacle for the first-time, having been knocked out of the last 16 in 2018 in Russia.
The Mexican team will compete in the World Cup in Qatar in Group C with Argentina, Saudi Arabia, and Poland. Three teams seem to have equal chances, with an advantage on paper for the Argentinian team led by star Lionel Messi, to qualify for the next round.
The Mexican team will begin the World Cup in Qatar, the first in the Middle East and the Arab world, by facing their Polish counterpart on Nov. 22 at Stadium 974. They will then face Argentina on Nov. 26 at Lusail Stadium. Their third and final group stage match will be against Saudi Arabia on Nov. 30 at Lusail Stadium.
The Mexican Federation chose the Simaisma, a Murwab Resort, 45 km north of Doha, as their residence during the World Cup in Qatar. They will train at the Al Khor Sports Club stadium.
Mexico officially qualified for the World Cup finals in Qatar after defeating El Salvador in the last round of the qualifiers for North, Central America, and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), where it came second with 28 points from 8 wins, 4 draws, and 2 defeats.
The Mexican never won the title but they do have a unique historical record with the World Cup, being one of the few countries that won the honor of hosting the world’s largest football event twice.
Mexico’s best achievement in the World Cup was reaching the quarterfinals only twice. The first time was in 1970, and then in 1986 when they lost to Germany on penalties without losing a match in the tournament.
Mexico has qualified for the World Cup finals on 17 occasions. They are one of six teams that qualified to the World Cup 17 times.
Just as Mexico has historically been characterized by hosting the tournament twice, they also have two negative incidents on their record.
The Mexican team withdrew from the 1938 edition of France and was banned from participating in the 1990 edition of Italy after accusations of lying about the ages of players in the Olympic qualifiers in 1988. The team failed to qualify for the 1934 edition in Italy, 1974 in West Germany, and 1982 in Spain.
They played a total of 57 World Cup matches. They won 16, drew 14, and lost 27 matches. They scored 60 goals and conceded 98 goals.
Apart from the World Cup, Mexico is one of eight nations to have won two major international football events, winning the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup and the gold medal at the 2012 Olympics.
At the continental level, Mexico is one of the leading teams that made history after winning 11 titles in the CONCACAF Gold Cup for the countries of North America and the Caribbean.
Hugo Sanchez is considered the best Mexican player of all time. The most-capped player is Claudio Suarez, who played 177 international matches. The all-time top scorer is Javier Hernandez (Chicharito), with 52 goals.
Most of the current led by Argentine coach Gerardo Martino, who took over the job in January 2019, play abroad. The most famous players are Hector Herrera, Erick Gutierrez, and Raul Jimenez.
(QNA)