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FIFA World Cup: Mexico hopes to break 24-year-long jinx
Mexico faces the toughest of starts — a clash with defending champion Germany in Moscow — as it tries to break a 24-year jinx that has seen it fall at the last-16 stage at each of the last six World Cups.
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Its next two games, against South Korea and Sweden, appear more winnable on paper. But the plausible outcome, a second-place finish in Group F, could lead it straight into a knockout tie with Brazil, the expected victor in Group E. So breaking the curse will be tough for the team known as El Tri, despite the fact it dominated its CONCACAF qualifying group and has posted some promising results in friendlies against tough opponents.
Coached by Colombian Juan Carlos Osorio, it has won 30, drawn eight and lost seven of his 45 games in charge. But some of those defeats have been traumatic — notably a 7-0 massacre by Chile at the Copa America and a 4-1 loss to Germany in the Confederations Cup in Russia last year. Osorio has faced frequent criticism in the national media, especially over his record of experimenting with dozens of different players — a total of 66 to date.
The question is whether he has learned lessons from episodes like the German drubbing, and is getting closer to discovering his best team. There are signs that might be happening. In the past six months, the Mexicans have beaten Poland, Bosnia and Iceland in friendlies.
It held highly-ranked Belgium to a 3-3 draw in November, and spoiled its run of form only with a 1-0 loss to Croatia in late March. Players to watch include spectacular goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, defender Hector Moreno and the attacking pair of Hirving Lozano, 22, and Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez, 29.
Mexico’s fans are also expected to present a colourful spectacle but they will have to watch their step.
World soccer’s governing body FIFA last year warned Mexico over “insulting and discriminatory” chants by a small group of supporters during a 2-2 draw with Portugal at the Confederations Cup in Russia. It had previously fined Mexico for fans’ homophobic chants during the side’s World Cup qualifying games.
Mexican players in 2016 launched their own campaign against homophobic slurs during matches.
FIFA RANKING: 15
PREVIOUS TOURNAMENTS: Mexico has fallen at the last-16 stage in each of the last six World Cups — a record of extraordinary consistency but also a source of deep frustration for a soccer-mad country. Its latest painful exit was a 2-1 defeat by the Netherlands in 2014, after the award of a controversial late penalty.
FORM GUIDE: Mexico has four wins, two losses and two draws from its last eight games — defeats against Honduras, Croatia and Scotland, wins over Poland, Bosnia and Iceland, and draws against Belgium and Wales.
PROSPECTS: Mexico is drawn in Group F with Sweden, South Korea and defending champion Germany, whom it pays in their opening game in Moscow on June 17. With the Germans expected to top the group, Mexico is likely to face a tough path even if it advances to the knockout stage, where it risks coming up against Brazil in the last 16.
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