This is the group of Mexico in the World Cup in Qatar 2022 1:55
(CNN Spanish) --
Mexico's senior men's team has played 16 world cups in history and, in Qatar 2022, is going for its 17th FIFA World Cup and for a better participation than in previous editions.
In the last World Cup tournaments, the Mexican team has not been able to advance to the quarterfinals, the famous "fifth match".
This year, the Mexican national team, which is led by the Argentine Gerardo "Tata" Martino, will try to go to that fifth game, but for this they need to go through a difficult path: to go first or second in their group, C, which it shares with Argentina, Poland and Saudi Arabia;
and then win their round of 16 match, which would be against the first or second place in group D (which includes France, Australia, Denmark and Tunisia).
At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which will take place from November 20 to December 18, Mexico will debut against Poland (November 22), then play Argentina (November 26) and close the group stage against Saudi Arabia ( November 30).
This is how the Qatar World Cup groups are: classified countries, matches and dates
Mexico arrives at the World Cup in position 13 of the FIFA ranking.
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Mexico vs.
Argentina, should Mexicans be discouraged?
1:39
Although the coaching staff has not yet defined the final list of players for the World Cup, there are some who practically already have a guaranteed place for having been in most of the "Tata" Martino process and, therefore, it is very likely that we will see in the group stage matches in Qatar.
Who are these players?
Here we present them to you, as well as data on the last preparation matches of the Mexican team before the World Cup and on their participation in other world cups.
5 players from Mexico who will most likely be in Qatar
William Ochoa
He is the goalkeeper and captain of the team.
He is going for his fifth World Cup in Qatar 2022. Before, he attended Germany 2006, South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018, according to data from the specialized site Transfermarkt.
In Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010, Ochoa was a substitute and did not play.
His senior team debut was in December 2005, making him one of the most experienced players.
He has accumulated 129 games since then, averaging almost one goal conceded per game.
He has won the Gold Cup 4 times with the national team.
Edson Alvarez
He has become one of the inevitable of "Tata" Martino.
He has earned the place due to his excellent performance at Ajax, a club that currently plays in the Champions League and where he is a starter.
He has only played one World Cup and it was in Russia 2018, where he played minutes in the four games played by the Mexican team.
He made his senior team debut in February 2017 at age 19.
With Mexico he has accumulated 58 games since then, with three goals and one assist.
He has won the Gold Cup once.
Hirving Lozano
He is one of the benchmarks of the Mexican attack since the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the only one who has played with the senior team.
The Napoli player (also in the Champions League) was for many the best Mexican player in Russia 2018, scoring the only goal in the match against Germany and providing an assist in the victory against South Korea.
He debuted in the senior team in February 2016.
Since then, he has accumulated 58 games, 15 goals and 11 assists.
He has not been able to win titles with the senior team.
Raul Jimenez
Although the starting center-forward position is not assured in Mexico, Raúl Jiménez, a player with England's Wolverhampton, has Martino's full confidence.
Jiménez suffered a skull fracture in 2020 and has slowly been preparing to return to his level.
In the current 2022/2023 season, he has already scored a goal but has also suffered injuries, so he will have to concentrate as much as possible to reach the World Cup.
He has been to the World Cups in Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018, although he has played less than 90 minutes in both, so Qatar 2022 is his big chance.
He made his senior national team debut in January 2013 and, since then, has recorded 96 games, 29 goals and 14 assists.
He has won the Gold Cup once and won the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics.
Andrew Saved
Like his teammate Héctor Herrera, Guardado is one of the most experienced pieces in the Mexican midfield and in general in the entire team.
The 35-year-old Betis player from Spain has not been a starter throughout Martino's process, but he is one of the important replacement chips and, above all, balance in the dressing room.
Along with Ochoa, he is another of Mexico's captains.
He debuted in the senior team in December 2005;
Since that year, he has accumulated 177 games, 28 goals and 31 assists.
Also in Qatar he will play his fifth World Cup.
In the previous four, he had minutes, especially in Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018 (where he was team captain).
He has won three editions of the Gold Cup with the senior team.
Last preparation matches before the World Cup
Mexico vs.
Iraq, November 9, 3:00 p.m. ET
Mexico vs.
Sweden, November 16, 3:30 p.m. ET
recent results
Colombia 3-2 Mexico (September 27, friendly)
Mexico 1-0 Peru (September 24, friendly)
Mexico 0-1 Paraguay (August 31, friendly)
Previous World Cups in Mexico
In Qatar 2022, the Mexican team will play the 17th World Cup in its history.
This makes him a constant participant, since a total of 21 FIFA World Cups have been played and the November-December one will be the 22nd.
The Mexican team played in the first World Cup in FIFA history, which took place in Uruguay in 1930. Their debut match was in the group stage against France and they lost 4-1.
Mexico's first victory in the World Cup for the men's senior team was in Chile 1962, when they beat Czechoslovakia 3-1 in the group stage.
Mexico's best participations in World Cup tournaments have been in the tournaments it organized at home: 1970 and 1986. In the first, the team passed the group stage for the first time and played the quarterfinals (there was no round of 16), where he lost 4-1 against Italy;
and in the second, they had what is perhaps their best participation, as they won Bulgaria in the round of 16 and in the quarterfinals they were about to reach the semis, but lost on penalties against Germany.
Mexico has played all the World Cups from 1994 to date.
And in each of those editions (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018), the team has reached the round of 16 but has not been able to reach the next phase.
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