Mexico qualifies for its eighth consecutive World Cup

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Raúl Jiménez celebrates his goal against El Salvador, at the Azteca stadium. Hector Vivas (Getty Images)

Mexico is one of the unlucky fans of the World Cups.

It has only failed to attend five of the 22 editions, the last time it happened at Italy 1990 when FIFA suspended the country for falsifying documents of a youth team.

Since then he has not stopped getting into the tournament, although he has not managed to get past the round of 16, his biggest slab.

This Wednesday, on the last qualifying date, they guaranteed their place in Qatar after beating El Salvador on the pitch of the Azteca stadium 2-0.

MEXMexico

two

Ochoa, Jorge Sánchez, Jesús Gallardo, César Montes (Héctor Moreno, min. 78), Néstor Araújo, Edson Álvarez, Carlos Rodríguez (Luis Romo, min. 72), Erick Gutiérrez, Ernesto Vega (Jesús Corona, min. 72), Carlos Antuna (Hirving Lozano, min. 63) and Raúl Jiménez (Henry Martin, min. 62)

SALT El Salvador

0

Mario González, Bryan Tamacas (Eric Calvillo, min. 65), Miguel Lemus, Eriq Zavaleta (Eduardo Vigil, min. 45), Ronald Rodríguez, Jairo Henriquez, Narciso Orellana, Kevin Reyes, Brayan Landaverde, Styven Vásquez and Enrico Hernández

Goals

1-0 min.

16: Carlos Antuna.

2-0 min.

43: Raul Jimenez.

Yellow cards Miguel Lemus (min. 12), Jairo Henriquez (min. 30), Enrico Hernández (min. 62), Eduardo Vigil (min. 66) and Erick Gutiérrez (min. 90)

Canada overtook the Mexican team on the way to Qatar.

The Canadian team stood up to El Tri to keep the lead in the standings.

At the Azteca stadium, which was the Mexican bunker, the Canadian team tied it 1-1 and in the snowy Edmonton they beat it 2-1.

That served for those of the maple leaf to consolidate their leadership in Concacaf.

The second site was left to the Mexicans and then the United States.

The United States, a long-standing rival, dealt him another defeat as a visitor, 2-0, which put Martino's team on the ropes.

In the match at the Azteca, Mexico survived the US attack for a 0-0 scoreline.

In the rest of the games, El Tri was able to win, although without brilliance.

The only victories that gave certainty were the 3-0 against Honduras and the 2-0 this Wednesday against El Salvador, which meant a redemption before the fans who have been upset with their team and who have resorted to the homophobic cry of "fucking" to punish their own.

In Mexico they still remember with some nostalgia the pristine processes of Ricardo La Volpe, for the 2006 World Cup, and Juan Carlos Osorio, in Russia 2018. With the former, El Tri had no shocks in the tie and placed second;

with the second, they took the lead in the zone, beating the USA on the road and only losing one game.

With Martino there were too many doubts when his team lost the finals of the Nations League and the Gold Cup, both against the United States.

Added to this was the decline of the golden generation, the same one that won the U-17 World Cup in 2005 against Brazil.

Carlos Vela, the magician from Real Sociedad, resigned from the national team;

Giovani Dos Santos faced retirement in a premeditated way and Javier

Hernández was removed from the team due to dressing room problems.

The Argentine coach entrusted the forward to Raúl Jiménez, but in 2020 he suffered a skull fracture that sidelined him from football for more than nine months.

Hirving Lozano, Mexican pearl, was lost in the spiral of Naples.

Martino asked to naturalize Argentine forward Rogelio Funes Mori, who had already made a name for himself in Mexican soccer, although that bet only earned him a single goal in the qualifying rounds against Honduras.

Martino's management, which began at the beginning of 2019, has sheltered two midfielders who have gained momentum such as midfielders Edson Álvarez (Ajax, 24 years old) and Carlos Rodríguez (Cruz Azul, 25), in addition to the obstacle runner Uriel Antuna (Cruz Azul, 24) and Alexis Vega, a striker with feet that pamper the ball (Chivas, 24).

The goal is well defined with Guillermo Ochoa (America, 36 years old).

For 2026, Mexico will not suffer in the qualifiers because its place in the World Cup is already assured by co-hosting with the United States and Canada, in the largest tournament in history with 48 teams.

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