Mexico has not been given a very easy group, but they should be able to get out of it if the team rallies together. The Mexico squad is a very physical team, but are also very tough to beat. If everything goes as expected, Mexico should finish second behind Argentina but in front of Poland, passing through to the knockout stage where Raul Jiménez teammates will likely come up against the French team, assuming they take first place in their group. With that said, it’s hard to see Mexico going any further than that.
Mexico is a historic nation in world football. Certainly, the Mexicans have never won a World Cup, nor even got to the final in the competition, but having competed in the knockout stages a number of times (7) and in the quarter-final a few times (2). The Mexican team, who will, in 2026, become the country to have hosted the World Cup the most (3 times), is a team that always shows up in big clashes such as this one.
The World Cup qualification campaign:
Just like the United States, Mexico, the leading nation in the CONCACAF zone, was exempt from the first two qualification rounds. The Mexicans second in the third round with 28 points, but with a lower goal difference than Canada. Mexico otherwise had exactly the same record as Canada, with 8 wins, 4 draws, and 2 defeats. Nevertheless, the Mexicans scored fewer goals and conceded more than the Canadians. This allowed them, in spite of everything, to qualify for the World Cup, which is what’s important.
Mexico’s key players:
- Guillermo Ochoa (36 years old). The symbolic goalkeeper of the Mexican team (with close to 130 appearances) has been playing for his country since 2005. He performed very well in the last World Cups he participated in.
- Raul Jiménez (31 years old). The Wolverhampton attacker has come back well since his serious head injury at the end of 2020. With around 30 goals for the team, he will be the principal offensive weapon for the Mexicans, who will do everything they can to get out of the group stage.
- Hirving Lozano (26 years old). The Napoli player really hurt Germany in 2018, knocking down the reigning champions of the world on the very first day of the competition. The most expensive player on the team will surely want to continue knocking over giants, so why not start with Argentina this year?
