Mexico are one of the most popular football teams in CONCACAF. As an international football team, it has a rich history despite not having any FIFA World Cup titles.
Mexico, popularly known as El Tri, were one of the 13 teams who participated in the inaugural FIFA World Cup in 1930 in Uruguay. This country is famous in the football world for their fighting spirit in big global tournaments.
Unsurprisingly, Mexico have qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. So, here we have brought brief answers to some common and important questions related to Mexico’s FIFA World Cup journey.
Q. Did Mexico qualify for World Cup 2022?
A. Yes. In the third round of the FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF), Mexico finished in the second position out of the first three direct spots for the FIFA World Cup 2022.
Q. What group is Mexico in for World Cup 2022 in Qatar?
A. In the FIFA World Cup 2022, Mexico are in Group C along with Argentina, Saudi Arabia and Poland.
Q. Has Mexico won any World Cups?
A. No, Mexico haven’t won any FIFA World Cup yet. In fact, they have never reached the semi-final of a World Cup yet.
Q. What's the farthest Mexico has gone in a World Cup?
A. Mexico’s best World Cup performances came in the 1970 and 1986 editions when El Tri reached the quarter-finals of those tournaments.
In the World Cup 1970, Italy thrashed the hosts Mexico by 4-1. Incidentally, they also hosted World Cup 1986, where El Tri lost the quarter-finals against West Germany in the penalty shoot-out [0(4)-0(1)].
Q. When was the last time Mexico passed the Round of 16 in the World Cup?
A. FIFA World Cup 1986 was the last time when Mexico passed the Round of 16 in a FIFA World Cup. As the hosts in that edition, they reached the quarterfinals before West Germany ended their journey in that tournament by beating them in the penalty shoot-out [0(4)-0(1)].
Q. How many times has Mexico qualified for the world cup?
A. As Mexico have qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2022, it is their 17th time FIFA World Cup qualification, including twice as the hosts (1970 and 1986). They are holding the fifth most appearances record in the complete FIFA World Cup editions. The 2022 World Cup will be Mexico’s eighth consecutive World Cup appearance since 1994.
Here are all the editions when Mexico qualified for the world cup: 1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1978, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022.
Also Read | List of FIFA world cup 2022 venues
Q. When was Mexico banned from World Cup?
A. Mexico was banned from the FIFA World Cup 1990.
Q. Why was Mexico banned from the World Cup 1990?
A. It was popularly known as the Cachirules scandal. The Mexican Football Federation (FEMEXFUT/FMF) was found guilty to have knowingly used at least four overage players (Gerardo Jiménez, José de la Fuente, José Luis Mata, and Aurelio Rivera) in the Mexico U20 side in the CONCACAF U20 1988, where they finished as the runners-up. That tournament was also the qualifier for the FIFA World Youth Championship 1989 as the two finalists would book their place in the World tournament.
FIFA ultimately imposed a two-year ban on the Mexican Football Federation (from 1 July 1988 to 1 July 1990). So, El Tri even missed out on the CONCACAF Championship 1989, the qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 1990.
Q. Has Mexico ever failed to qualify for the World Cup?
A. Apart from withdrawing from the 1938 edition (withdrew FIFA World Cup qualification) and serving a ban for the 1990 edition, Mexico failed to qualify for three more FIFA World Cup editions. Those years were: 1934, 1974 and 1982.
