Mexico will be making its sixth straight World Cup finals appearance at Brazil 2014.
It will face the tournament host in Fortaleza on June 17. The two sides met there earlier this year in the FIFA Confederations Cup, a 2-0 win for the Brazilians.
The Tricolor has been eliminated in the last five World Cups at the Round of 16 stage. Can it do one better next year?
CONCACAF.com takes a World Cup look at Mexico.
MEXICO
All-Time World Cup Record (14 previous appearances…1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1978, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010)
GP – 29, W – 7, D – 5, L – 17, GF – 32, GA – 59
2014 CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying Record (4th place…qualified after defeating New Zealand in a two-legged playoff, 9-3 on aggregate)
GP – 18, W – 10, D – 5, L – 3, GF – 31, GA – 14
Leading Scorer
Oribe Peralta – 10 goals in 11 games
Group A Schedule (all times ET)
CONCACAF – 2014 World Cup Schedule (all times ET)
June 13 – v Cameroon, 12:00 p.m., Natal
June 17 – v Brazil, 3:00 p.m., Fortaleza
June 23 – v Croatia, 4:00 p.m., Recife
All-Time Records v World Cup Opponents
v Cameroon
GP – 1, W – 1, D – 0, L – 0, GF – 1, GA – 0
First meeting
September 22, 1993: 1-0 win at Los Angeles, California, USA
v Brazil
GP – 38, W – 10, D – 6, L – 22, GF – 36, GA – 71
First meeting
June 24, 1950: 4-0 loss at Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Last meeting
June 19, 2013: 2-0 loss at Fortaleza, Brazil
v Croatia
GP – 3, W – 1, D – 0, L – 2, GF – 2, GA – 5
First meeting
October 22, 1992: 3-0 loss at Zagreb, Croatia
Last meeting
June 3, 2002: 1-0 win at Niigata, Japan
Mexico – Fast Facts
- 4 wins, 3 draws, 7 losses (13 GF, 27 GA) in 14 all-time World Cup openers…winless in first 8 (0 wins, 2 draws, 6 losses)…unbeaten in last 4 (3 wins, 1 draw, 0 losses).
- Conceded 1 goal or less in last 6 World Cup openers.
- 0 wins, 0 draws, 3 losses (0 GF, 11 GA) in 3 all-time World Cup games v Brazil (all 3 losses came in World Cup openers).
- 1 win, 0 draws, 0 losses (1 GF, 0 GA) in 1 all-time World Cup game v Croatia (June 3, 2002: Cuauhtemoc Blanco scored game’s only goal on a 60th minute penalty kick…Rafael Marquez captained the squad).
- Never beaten a team from Africa in a World Cup match…0 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss (2 GF, 4 GA)
- Eliminated in Round of 16 of last 5 World Cups (1994: 1-1 draw Bulgaria, eliminated 3-1 on penalty kicks; 1998: 2-1 loss v Germany; 2002: 2-0 loss v USA; 2006: 2-1 loss aet v Argentina; 2010: 3-1 loss v Argentina).