DOHA: Mexico are going to have to suddenly find goals — and perhaps even several of them — to extend their knockout-round streak at the World Cup.
Mexico have reached the round of 16 at the last seven World Cups, tied for the longest current streak with Brazil. But in Qatar, El Tri sit at the bottom of Group C ahead of a must-win match against Saudi Arabia on Wednesday at Lusail Stadium.
The last time Mexico played at soccer’s biggest tournament and didn’t advance out of their group was in 1978.
But it’s not quite as simple as winning: El Tri must also get help. They’ll need Poland to beat Lionel Messi and Argentina at the exact same time at Stadium 974.
That’s the easiest way forward for Mexico. Beyond that, it gets complicated. If Mexico do their job and win but Argentina, one of the tournament’s favorites, also win, then goal difference comes into play.
The problem is, Mexico have no goals yet in Qatar.
In fact, El Tri haven’t scored in 384 straight minutes at the World Cup, dating back to their second group match at the 2018 tournament in Russia.
“We believe in our chances. We hold on to our chances,” said veteran Mexico midfielder Andres Guardado, who is appearing in his fifth World Cup. “And obviously we will try until the very end.”
The drought was extended Saturday with a 2-0 loss to Argentina. Neither team scored in the Mexico’s opener against Poland.
Mexico haven’t been eliminated from the group stage since the tournament in Argentina 44 years ago. El Tri didn’t qualify for the 1982 World Cup in Spain, and were banned from the 1990 event in Italy for using overage players at an under-20 tournament.
Since then, Mexico have advanced to the round of 16 in their last seven appearances — but no further. El Tri came to Qatar looking to play in an elusive “quinto partido” — a fifth game — for the first time since Mexico hosted the tournament in 1986.
“In the next game we have no more chances,” Mexico forward Henry Martin said. “We have to score the goals that we can, and not worry what happens in the other game.”
With the lack of goals, the criticism of Mexico coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino grew. He had already been questioned over some of his choices, including his decision to leave all-time leading scorer Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez off the team.
Hernandez, who now plays for the LA Galaxy in Major League Soccer, scored the team’s last goal in a 2-1 group-stage victory over South Korea in Russia. LAFC forward Carlos Vela, who also fell out of favor in the national team, scored the other.
Martino could be looking for a new job if Mexico doesn’t advance after playing Saudi Arabia, a team that pulled off one of the tournament’s biggest upsets ever when they beat Argentina 2-1 in their opener.
“Not getting through would leave a lot of frustration,” Martino said Tuesday. “We need the goals to win, that is what it takes to keep us here.”
Saudi Arabia couldn’t pull off another upset Saturday when they fell to Poland 2-0. The Saudis reached the round of 16 back in 1994, the team’s World Cup debut, but haven’t made it past the group stage since.
“We will play to the last second of this tournament and we will not give up,” Saudi Arabia coach Herve Renard said.
Nawaf Al-Abed sustained an ankle injury against Poland and it was unclear if he would be available against Mexico.
Mexico face early World Cup exit against Saudi Arabia
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Mexico face early World Cup exit against Saudi Arabia
- Mexico have reached the round of 16 at the last seven World Cups
- El Tri sit at the bottom of Group C ahead of a must-win match against Saudi Arabia
Own goal enough for Al-Ahli as Matchday 24 win keeps pressure on Al-Nassr
- Al-Ahli eke out 1-0 win over Al-Riyadh to keep pressure on Al-Nassr
- Milan Borjan own goal separated the sides at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium
RIYADH: Matchday 24 of the Saudi Pro League kicked off on Thursday, less than 24 hours after the conclusion of the delayed Matchday 10. With the FIFA Arab Cup, World Cup Qualifiers and FIFA World Cup sandwiching the 2025/26 campaign, resting periods have been few and far between outside the international breaks.
With fixtures coming thick and fast, Al-Ahli opted to rest Riyad Mahrez and Enzo Millot for their clash with Al-Riyadh in the capital. Ramadan has further challenged the league schedule, with Matthias Jaissle’s side only arriving in Riyadh at 5:30pm — just hours before kick-off.
With their previous outing against Damac still dominating conversation, Jaissle was keen to ensure his players did not fall into the same trap — namely, being caught off guard by an opponent’s unexpectedly proactive style.
To his relief, Al-Ahli were largely in control this time. Yet the absence of Mahrez limited their creative spark. Relying heavily on Wenderson Galeno down the left, Al-Riyadh did well to crowd the Brazilian and deny him space to operate.
The bane of any expansive side is a compact 5-4-1, and that is precisely how Al-Riyadh’s recently appointed Brazilian manager Mauricio Dulac set his team up. A long-time assistant to former Al-Riyadh coach Odair Hellmann, this marks Dulac’s first managerial role.
Al-Ahli’s attacking routes were severely restricted throughout the first half. Al-Riyadh denied them the opportunity to press high, Mahrez’s trademark diagonals were absent, and finding Ivan Toney in the six-yard box proved a difficult task.
On the rare occasions the visitors broke the defensive line, Milan Borjan stood firm in goal — there was no getting past the Canadian.
That was until first-half stoppage time. Al-Ahli had one more weapon in their arsenal: set-pieces. A lofted delivery from Galeno’s free-kick met the head of Roger Ibañez, who nodded the ball towards goal. Borjan pushed it away, but it was too late — the ball crossed the line.
VAR intervened within seconds. Ibañez was a shoulder offside, and the opener was chalked off. It was a notable twist, particulary as the simultaneous fixture between Al-Fateh and Damac in Al-Ahsa featured a celebration aimed squarely at Al-Ahli and VAR.
Earlier in the week, Damac equalised late against Al-Ahli via Yakou Méïté, only for the goal to be overturned. Méïté reacted angrily and lashed out at referees, but Al-Ahli escaped with the three points. Méïté followed up with a goal against Al-Fateh, and celebrated by mimicking the referee’s VAR signal.
Back in Riyadh, Al-Ahli returned for the second half with renewed intensity. Zakaria Hawsawi grew more adventurous from left-back, threading lofted balls over the Al-Riyadh defence.
In the 53rd minute, he found Toney behind the last defender, but the Englishman’s volley was adeptly saved by Borjan. Five minutes later, Galeno latched onto Hawsawi’s cross and thought he had broken the deadlock — only for the linesman’s flag to rise once again.
Al-Ahli pushed, but as time ticked away, it seemed the coveted winner would elude them. However, once again, set pieces proved decisive.
In the 75th minute, a corner from Saleh Abu Al-Shamat was parried by Borjan, only for his effort to be bundled into his own net, sending the travelling supporters into a frenzy.
After last week’s scare, Al-Ahli knew they had to finish the job. Cue Ibañez, who surged forward from deep before slipping the ball through to Toney to seal the game with what would have been his 24th goal of the season. The run itself deserved a goal, but Toney was flagged inches offside.
Despite another difficult outing, Al-Ahli did enough to secure a clean sheet and grind out a 1-0 victory to move top on 59 points — one ahead of Al-Nassr, who are yet to play this weekend.
Elsewhere, Méïté’s equaliser was later cancelled out by a 77th-minute Mourad Batna penalty, in a match that saw fans commemorate him for surpassing 100 goal contributions with Al-Fateh.
Batna had earlier missed from the spot to the frustation of the home fans, but Al-Fateh’s undefeated streak against Damac at home remains intact as the encounter ended 1-1.
Saudi Pro League action resumes on Friday, with Al-Hazem hosting Al-Ettifaq, Al-Ittihad welcoming Al-Khaleej, and one of Riyadh’s top derbies in Al-Shabab and Al-Hilal. All games kick-off at 10:00pm, in the league’s unified Ramadan schedule.
