Mexico’s knockout stage hopes on the line vs. Saudi Arabia

MIAMI, Florida – Mexico’s hopes of another Knockout Stage appearance will be on the line when they take on Saudi Arabia in their final match of Group C of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 on Wednesday night at the Lusail Iconic Stadium in Lusail, Qatar.

El Tricolor enter the affair with one point following a 0-0 draw in their opener against Poland, followed by a 2-0 defeat to Argentina.

Mexico have a long, decorated history of reaching the second round in World Cups, having done so in every edition of the tournament dating back to USA 1994.

While they do not depend wholly on themselves to reach the Round of 16, a win by a healthy margin of two or three goals could open up the possibility of advancement, should a decisive winner emerge in the Poland-Argentina game.

Mexico have yet to score a goal at Qatar 2022, but they have gotten very good performances in the back, particularly from GK Guillermo Ochoa, who made a save from a Robert Lewandowski penalty kick in the first game and then five saves against Argentina.

It will be imperative for the Mexico attack to start firing, and the likes of FWs Hirving Lozano and Alexis Vega will be among the ones to spearhead the team’s quest for goals.

Wednesday night’s match-up will be the first-ever in a World Cup between the two nations, but Mexico did face the Asian Football Confederation side three times in the FIFA Confederations Cup, with Mexico winning all three encounters, 2-0 in 1995, 5-0 in 1997 and 5-1 in 1999.

It will also be a chance for Mexico to maintain their perfect record against AFC opposition, having won their four previous World Cup meetings against Asian opponents.

Match background

Defeated 2-0 on Saturday by Argentina, Mexico’s long run of FIFA World Cup™ knockout-stage participations is in danger of ending as they face Saudi Arabia aware that only a win, in all probability a big one, can keep them in the competition, whereas their opponents, also beaten 2-0 last time out, by Poland, will clinch a first round-of-16 qualification since their USA 1994 debut with a victory.

Although the teams have never previously met at the FIFA World Cup, they have played in group encounters at the FIFA Confederations Cups of 1995, 1997 and 1999, with Mexico winning convincingly on each occasion.

While this is Saudi Arabia’s first FIFA World Cup encounter with Concacaf opponents, Mexico have won all four previous matches against Asian teams, beating Iraq 1-0 in 1986, Korea Republic 3-1 in 1998, IR Iran 3-1 in 2006 and Korea Republic again 2-1 in 2018.

Key facts

• This is Saudi Arabia’s first FIFA World Cup match against a Concacaf team.

• Saudi Arabia have not kept a clean sheet in their last 15 World Cup matches.

• Mexico have won each of their previous four World Cup matches against teams from Asia.

• Mexico have qualified from their group in each of the last seven editions of the FIFA World Cup (1994-2018) – only Brazil have achieved the same feat.

• Mexico have not scored a goal in their last four World Cup matches. This is their longest run of successive matches without finding the net in the history of the competition.