Football World Cup 2014 / Mexico

This article covers the Mexican national football team at the 2014 World Cup . Mexico took part in the finals for the 15th time and, alongside Brazil, is the only team to have taken part in all the finals in South America . The Mexicans were eliminated in the round of 16 for the sixth time in a row.

qualification

Mexico qualified through the CONCACAF qualifying games and began qualifying with coach José Manuel de la Torre , who also relied on the players who had won the gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games . The team did not participate until the third qualifying round, when the team met Costa Rica , El Salvador and, for the first time in FIFA-recognized international matches, Guyana . With six wins in six games, the first place in the group was confidently occupied and the fourth qualifying round was reached.

In the fourth round Mexico met Costa Rica again in a group of six, as well as the USA , Honduras , Panama and Jamaica . Mexico started this round with five draws (four of them goalless) and a 1-0 win against Jamaica and then lost to Honduras for the first time in the Aztec Stadium , leading to the sacking of José Manuel de la Torre . But also under Luis Fernando Tena , with whom Mexico had won the Olympic gold medal, the next game was lost against the USA, which was then replaced by Víctor Manuel Vucetich . He brought Rafael Márquez back into the team to stabilize the defense and was able to win against Panama - making Mexico the first team to achieve their 100th victory in a World Cup qualifier. But since the last game against Costa Rica was lost again, the coach was changed again. The fact that Mexico still had the chance to qualify for the World Cup was due to the efforts of arch rivals USA. Because of the victory of the already qualified team from Costa Rica against Mexico, Mexico was dependent on the result of the Panama game against the USA team, which was already group winners. Panama led 2-1 up to the 90th minute and would have qualified for the intercontinental playoffs against New Zealand with the same number of points and goal difference as Mexico, but more goals scored (10 versus 7). Then the USA scored two more goals within two minutes of stoppage time, leaving Panama behind Mexico. After the new coaching change - now Miguel Herrera was responsible for the team - the two games against New Zealand were then won without any problems, so that Mexico qualified as the penultimate country for the World Cup. Like Uruguay, who qualified last, Mexico needed the most qualifying matches of any team qualified for Brazil. Only the unqualified teams Jordan and Panama played more qualifying matches (20 each).

Group stage

Third round

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Mexico	6th	6th	0	0	015: 200	+13	18th
2.	Costa Rica	6th	3	1	2	014: 500	+9	10
3.	El Salvador	6th	1	2	3	008:110	−3	05
4th	Guyana	6th	0	1	5	005:240	−19	01

Game results

date	place	Home team	-	guest	Result	Goal scorers for Mexico
06/08/2012	Mexico city	Mexico	-	Guyana	3: 1 (2: 0)	Salcido (10th), dos Santos (15th), Rodrigues (51./ET)
06/12/2012	San Salvador	El Salvador	-	Mexico	1: 2 (0: 0)	Zavala (60.), Moreno (82.)
07.09.2012	San Jose	Costa Rica	-	Mexico	0: 2 (0: 1)	Salcido (44.), Zavala (52.)
09/11/2012	Mexico city	Mexico	-	Costa Rica	1: 0 (0: 0)	Chicharito (61.)
October 12, 2012	Houston	Guyana	-	Mexico	0: 5 (0: 0)	Guardado (78.), Peralta (79.), Pollard (82./ET), Chicharito (84.), Reyna (86.)
10/16/2012	Torreón	Mexico	-	El Salvador	2: 0 (0: 0)	Peralta (64th), Chicharito (85th)

Fourth round

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	United States	10	7th	1	2	015: 800	+7	22nd
2.	Costa Rica	10	5	3	2	013: 700	+6	18th
3.	Honduras	10	4th	3	3	013:120	+1	15th
4th	Mexico	10	2	5	3	007: 900	−2	11
5.	Panama	10	1	5	4th	010:140	−4	08th
6th	Jamaica	10	0	5	5	005:130	−8	05

Game results

date	place	Home team	-	guest	Result	Goal scorers for Mexico
02/06/2013	Mexico city	Mexico	-	Jamaica	0-0
03/22/2013	San Pedro Sula	Honduras	-	Mexico	2: 2 (0: 1)	Chicharito (28th, 54th)
03/26/2013	Mexico city	Mexico	-	United States	0-0
06/04/2013	Kingston	Jamaica	-	Mexico	0: 1 (0: 0)	De Nigris (48th)
06/07/2013	Panama City	Panama	-	Mexico	0-0
06/11/2013	Mexico city	Mexico	-	Costa Rica	0-0
06.09.2013	Mexico city	Mexico	-	Honduras	1: 2 (1: 0)	Peralta (6.)
09/10/2013	Columbus	United States	-	Mexico	2: 0 (0: 0)
10/11/2013	Mexico city	Mexico	-	Panama	2: 1 (1: 0)	Peralta (39.), R. Jiménez (85.)
October 15, 2013	San Jose	Costa Rica	-	Mexico	2: 1 (1: 1)	Peralta (28.)

Relegation

November 13, 2013: Mexico - New Zealand 5: 1 (2: 0), goals for Mexico: Aguilar (32.), R. Jiménez (40.), Peralta (48., 80.), Márquez (84.)

November 20, 2013: New Zealand 2-4 Mexico (0-3), goals for Mexico: Peralta (14th, 29th, 33rd), Peña (87th)

A total of 46 players, including five goalkeepers, were used in the 18 games, making Mexico, along with South Korea, the most players of all qualified teams. No player was used in all games. With 16 out of 18 appearances, Chicharito was the most frequently used player, who was also the second top scorer with five goals. The top scorer was Oribe Peralta with 10 goals, five of them in the playoff games against New Zealand, making him, along with two other players, the second top scorer in CONCACAF. Eleven other players scored the remaining goals. Mexico also benefited from two own goals by opposing players.

preparation

Test matches:

• January 29 in San Antonio against South Korea : 4-0, goals: Oribe Peralta and Alan Pulido (3)
• 0March 5 in Atlanta against Nigeria : 0-0
• 0April 2 in Glendale against the USA : 2-2, goals for Mexico: Rafael Márquez and Alan Pulido
• May 28 in Mexico City against Israel : 3-0, goals: Miguel Layún (43rd and 61st), Marco Fabián (84th)
• May 31 in Arlington against Ecuador : 3-1, goals for Mexico: Montes (33.), Fabián (69.) and dos Santos (76.)
• 0June 3 in Chicago against Bosnia and Herzegovina : 0: 1
• 0June 6 in Foxborough against Portugal : 0-1

Finals

The squad was named on May 9, 2014. Nine players were also in the squad for the last World Cup when Mexico were eliminated in the round of 16. The most experienced player was Rafael Márquez , with 12 World Cup games Mexico's record holder at World Cups. Ten players (marked with "*") were members of the Mexican squad that won the gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Luis Montes broke his right shin and fibula in the friendly against Ecuador shortly before the World Cup and was injured as a result.

Squad

No.	Surname	Club before the start of the World Cup 1 , 2	International matches 3	Länderspiel- gates 3	birthday	Games	Gates				World Cup participation	World Cup games (total)	World Cup goals (total)
goalkeeper
01	Jesús Corona *	CD Cruz Azul	034	00	January 26, 1981	0	0	0	0	0
13	Guillermo Ochoa	AC Ajaccio A	057	00	July 13, 1985	4th	0	0	0	0	2010	0	0
12	Alfredo Talavera	Deportivo Toluca	014th	00	September 18, 1982	0	0	0	0	0
Defender
22nd	Paul Aguilar	Club America	029	03	March 6, 1986	4th	0	1	0	0	2010	1	0
18th	Andrés Guardado	Bayer 04 Leverkusen	104	014th	September 28, 1986	4th	1	1	0	0	2006, 2010	4th	0
07th	Miguel Layún	Club America	014th	02	June 25, 1988	4th	0	0	0	0
04th	Rafael Marquez	Club León MA	122	015th	February 13, 1979	4th	1	1	0	0	2002, 2006, 2010	12	2
15th	Héctor Moreno	Espanyol Barcelona	053	01	17th January 1988	4th	0	1	0	0	2010	2	0
16	Miguel Ángel Ponce *	Deportivo Toluca	06th	00	April 12, 1989	0	0	0	0	0
05	Diego Antonio Reyes *	FC Porto	014th	00	19th September 1992	1	0	0	0	0
02	Maza	Club America	092	01	20th October 1981	4th	0	0	0	0	2006, 2010	5	0
03	Carlos Salcido *	UANL Tigres	119	010	April 2, 1980	2	0	0	0	0	2006, 2010	8th	0
midfield player
20th	Javier Aquino *	Villarreal CF	022nd	00	February 11, 1990	1	0	0	0	0
17th	Isaác Brizuela	Deportivo Toluca	007th	00	August 28, 1990	0	0	0	0	0
08th	Marco Fabián *	CD Cruz Azul	015th	05	July 21, 1989	3	0	0	0	0
06th	Héctor Herrera *	FC Porto	013	00	April 19, 1990	4th	0	0	0	0
21st	Carlos Alberto Peña	Club León MA	015th	02	March 29, 1990	1	0	0	0	0
23	José Juan Vázquez	Club León MA	005	00	March 14, 1988	3	0	1	0	0
striker
10	Giovani dos Santos *	Villarreal CF	074	015th	May 11, 1989	4th	1	0	0	0	2010	4th	0
14th	Chicharito	Manchester United	061	035	June 1, 1988	4th	1	0	0	0	2010	4th	2
09	Raúl Jiménez *	Club America	023	04th	May 5, 1991	1	0	0	0	0
19th	Oribe Peralta *	Santos Laguna	028	017th	January 12, 1984	4th	1	0	0	0
11	Alan Pulido	UANL Tigres	006th	04th	March 8, 1991	0	0	0	0	0
Coaching staff
	Miguel Herrera	Trainer	14 4	0 4	February 18, 1968 5	4th
		Assistant coach
		Goalkeeping coach
		Fitness trainer

¹For the first time since the 1930 World Cup, no current player from the Mexican record champions CD Guadalajara is represented in the Mexican World Cup line-up.

² MA - The club became champions of Apertura in the 2013 season, A - The club was relegated from the highest league in the country.

³ only the games and goals that were played or scored before the start of the World Cup are given.

^4th As a player

⁵ FIFA names 1968 as the year of birth, the Mexican Federation 1969.

Group stage

natal Recife Santos Fortaleza

Preliminary round venues (red), preliminary round and round of 16 venues (green) and quarters (blue)

When the final round was drawn on December 6, 2013, Mexico was drawn from Group A with hosts and group leaders Brazil, as well as Cameroon and Croatia. Mexico also played against Brazil in the preliminary rounds of the World Cup in 1950, 1954 and 1962 (record: 0:11 goals, 3 defeats). Most recently, they lost 2-0 at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup . Before that, however, they won the final at the 2012 Olympic Games against a Brazilian team with a large number of current senior national players. Brazil is the third most popular opponent of the Mexicans after the USA and Costa Rica. The pre-World Cup balance is negative with 10 wins, 6 draws and 22 defeats. There was only one friendly match against Cameroon, which was won 1-0 on September 22, 1993 in Los Angeles . Croatia was the opponent three times before. The previous only win with two defeats came in the preliminary round of the 2002 World Cup.

The team's quarters were the Hotel Parque Balneário in Santos .

All three venues were on the Atlantic coast. In Fortaleza , Mexico also played against Brazil in the Confederation Cup. Mexico had never played in the other two venues before the World Cup.

rank	country	Gates	Points
1	Brazil	7: 2	7th
2	Mexico	4: 1	7th
3	Croatia	6: 6	3
4th	Cameroon	1: 9	0

• Fri., June 13, 2014, 1:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. CEST) in Natal Mexico - Cameroon 1: 0 (0: 0)
  

The Mexican national team won their first World Cup game in 2014 against the Cameroonian selection coached by Volker Finke . "El Tri" was the determining team for a long time and scored two regular goals in the first half, which the Colombian referee team refused to recognize. It took until the 61st minute before Giovani dos Santos shot again on goal (he was also the scorer of both previously unrecognized goals) and thus laid the groundwork for the decisive 1-0 through Oribe Peralta , who put the Cameroonian goalkeeper Charles Itandje could transform the saved ball in the margin.

• Tue., June 17, 2014, 4:00 p.m. (9:00 p.m. CEST) in Fortaleza Brazil - Mexico 0: 0
  

Mexico confirmed in the second group game against the hosts why they are the opponents of fear of the record world champions; because of the previous 15 games since 1999 Mexico won eight, Brazil only four and three games ended in a draw.

Against an early attacking opponent, the Seleção had only a few chances, all of which were destroyed by the outstanding Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa . After just under half an hour, he defused a dangerous Neymar header with a spectacular save and as the game continued, Ochoa parried several shots from close range. As a result, Ochoa, whom his team captain Rafael Márquez thanked (“Our keeper saved us”), was voted “Player of the Match”. Ochoa himself said afterwards: “I thank God for this game. I've worked hard and I'm very happy now. "

• Mon., June 23, 2014, 5:00 p.m. (10:00 p.m. CEST) in Recife Croatia - Mexico 1: 3 (0: 0)
  

In the first half, which was poor in highlights, the Mexicans had the best chance of scoring when Héctor Herrera pulled away from around 20 meters in the 16th minute, but only hit the crossbar. The substitution of Chicharito (for Dos Santos ) in the 62nd minute as the second nominal tip next to Oribe Peralta acted as the initial spark for "El Tri", which now developed "opportunities every minute". After Mexico in the 64th minute a hand penalty had been denied, as Srna a shot from Guardado in the style of a goalkeeper had cleared, headed Ćorluca a minute later, an otherwise directly transformed corner of the line and again a minute later rescued Croatian goalkeeper Pletikosa against Aguilar . The spell was broken in the 72nd minute. Márquez headed a corner kicked by Herrera to make it 1-0 and Guardado made it 2-0 with a hard shot three minutes later. The final decision was made when Chicharito, who had been substituted 20 minutes earlier, scored the 3-0 header in the 82nd minute. The consolation goal for the Croats scored Perišić against not quite as attentive Mexicans in the 87th minute. It was the only goal conceded in the group stage for Mexico's goalkeeper Ochoa , who was thus granted the opportunity to set the domestic Mexican record of his compatriot Ignacio Calderón , who had survived the preliminary round of the 1970 World Cup without conceding.

Knockout round

• Round of 16: Sun. June 29, 2014, 1:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. CEST) in Fortaleza Netherlands - Mexico 2: 1 (0: 0)
  

The Mexicans met the Dutch six times before (2 wins, 1 draw and 3 defeats), but only once at World Championships: 1998 in the preliminary round , where they split 2-2.

The Netherlands started out cautiously and Mexico took over the game for much of the first half. "El Tri" had the best chances through Herrera in the 17th minute, when he narrowly missed the goal from around 15 meters, and in the 42nd minute, when Holland's goalkeeper Cillessen blocked a shot from Dos Santos from a tight angle with his knee. Immediately before the break, Robben was brought down by a "double foul" by Márquez and Moreno , but the penalty whistle did not materialize. In the third minute of the second half Dos Santos put “El Tri” in the lead with a hard shot from around 23 meters. In the 57th minute, Mexico's outstanding goalkeeper Ochoa reflexively parried a De Vrij ball from four meters away, and in the 72nd minute he defused a dangerous shot by Robben from a tight angle. In the closing stages, the pressure from the Dutch got stronger and after a corner kick kicked by Robben in the 88th minute , Huntelaar headed down on Sneijder , who equalized with a hard shot from around 14 meters. After another foul by Márquez on Robben in the second minute of stoppage time , referee Proença decided this time on a penalty , which Huntelaar converted to 2-1 for "Oranje". Mexico was eliminated for the sixth time in a row in the round of 16 of a World Cup ( 1994 on penalties against Bulgaria, in 1998 also after a 1-0 lead and two late goals against Germany with 1: 2, in 2002 with 0: 2 against arch rivals USA and 2006 and against Argentina in 2010 ).

Trivia

• No goals were scored in the first half of any of the Mexicans' four World Cup games.
• All the goals conceded for the Mexicans fell after the 86th minute.
• In all “El Tri” World Cup games, a Mexican was chosen as the “Player of the Match”. Goalkeeper Ochoa has received this award twice.

Sports impact

In the FIFA World Ranking , Mexico climbed 2 places from 20th to 18th place.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Federación Mexicana de Fútbol: La Selección Mexicana Jugará Ante Bosnia & Herzegovina y Portugal ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ Federación Mexicana de Fútbol: En su Camino a Brasil, México Jugará en Atlanta y Arlington ( Memento of the original from January 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Federación Mexicana de Fútbol: Lista de Convocados de la Selección Mexicana Para Brasil 2014 ( Memento of the original from May 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ http://www.weltfussball.de/news/_n1117961_/mexiko-gewinnt-und-verliert-montes/
5. ↑ Source (as of May 16, 2014) , as of: Round of 16
6. ↑ FIFA: Participating Teams at the 2014 FIFA World Cup ( Memento of the original from June 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ↑ Federación Mexicana de Fútbol: Noticias relevantes
8. ↑ FIFA: Team Quarters
9. ↑ Mexico defies the referee ( FR article of June 13, 2014)
10. ↑ Game of the day: Brazil - Mexico / Reunion with Peralta ( FAZ article from June 17, 2014)
11. ↑ First damper for Brazil: Ochoa saves Mexico 0: 0 ( memento of the original from July 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ( PZ article from June 18, 2014)  
12. ↑ Mexico's World Cup hero Ochoa: The Brick Wall from Guadalajara (article from June 18, 2014 in Spiegel Online )
13. ↑ fifa.com: "World Champion Germany takes over the top position"

Web links

• All matches of the preliminary round at a glance
• All Mexico qualifiers in the group stage