Mexico
The Road to the 2018 FIFA World Cup
As one of the strongest teams in Central and North America, Mexico made relatively light work of their route to Russia 2018. They lost just once in the qualification stages, and that defeat – against Costa Rica – came after they had already secured their place in Russia.
Mexico will be no strangers to Russian football venues. They qualified for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, and eventually reached the semi-final of the tournament in Russia, having knocked out the hosts in the group stage. They went out to eventual winners Germany on that occasion.
Stars
Mexico will pin their hopes on Javier Hernandez Balcazar, commonly known by his nickname, Chicharito. At the age of 29, he is the national team’s top scorer, with a total of 49 goals and counting. He is poised to win his 100th cap for his country.
His club career, however, has been less glorious: Chicharito was neither Manchester United’s nor Real Madrid’s main forward despite finding the net consistently for both clubs. In summer 2017, he left Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen for West Ham United in the English Premier League.
Other ‘El Tri’ stars expected to shine at the tournament include long-serving goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, who will be remembered by fans for his spectacular saves at World Cup 2014. His club career has been in decline since then, however, having moved from Spanish side Malaga FC to Belgium’s Standard Liege.
PSV Eindhoven winger Hirving Lozano is another one of the national team’s key players. At the age of just 21, Lozano became the team’s top scorer during the 2018 World Cup qualifications, and many are backing him to flourish in Russia.
Porto’s 27-year-old midfielder Hector Herrera will be indispensable for ‘El Tri’ in midfield, where he has a reputation as a tough box-to-box player, who missed just one of the team’s qualification games.
Coach
Columbian Juan Carlos Osorio has been managing Mexico’s national team since 2015, having turned down a job in club management at Brazil’s Sao Paolo FC to take the role. Osorio became a coach early in his career due to a serious injury that he sustained as a player at just 26. He turned his attention to coaching and attained a diploma from Liverpool’s John Moores University, as well as a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science from Southern Connecticut State University. He began his coaching career as an assistant coach in the US A-League before joining England’s Manchester City in 2001. Osorio’s biggest coaching success to date has been in Columbia – winning four national championships and two Copa Colombia trophies.
Past Achievements
Mexico are World Cup regulars, and Russia 2018 will be their 16th appearance at a Finals. They have twice made it to the quarter-final stages of the FIFA World Cup, although both occasions were in years that the tournament was hosted on home soil in Central America. In 1970, both Mexico and the Soviet Union progressed from their group after producing a goalless draw in their opening match. Hosts Mexico were drawn against eventual finalists Italy in the quarter-final. They took the lead through Jose Luis Gonzalez but ultimately lost the tie 4-1. Sixteen years later, Mexico were again hosts and progressed to the quarter-finals once more by beating Bulgaria 2-0 in the second-round. The hosts faced tougher opposition in the quarter-final against Germany, however, and lost 4-1 on penalties after drawing 0-0 after extra time. At the six most-recent World Cups, Mexico have always managed to progress from the group stages, but have been knocked out at the next phase each time.