The Mexican national soccer team of the U-17 juniors is a selection team of the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación , which consists of Mexican soccer players who have already started the age of 16 and have not yet reached the age of 17. The U-17 soccer players in Mexico are one of the most successful national teams in this age group , having won two world championship titles in 2005 and 2011 . Only the U-17 national teams of Nigeria with five and Brazil with three world championship titles as well as the selection of Ghana with also two titles are more successful or just as successful in this regard. (Status: 2017)
After a 0-0 win against Hungary and a 3-1 win against Qatar, a draw against Brazil would have been enough to advance, as the Seleção had previously lost 1-0 to Hungary. But Mexico lost 2-0 (0-0) and were eliminated in third place.
After a 2-2 defeat against Bolivia and a tough 7-0 defeat against the Soviet Union, a 1-0 win against reigning world champions Nigeria was no longer enough to advance, but was still enough to make it to third place. How difficult the Mexican group was, becomes clear when you keep in mind that the two group opponents, the Soviet Union and Nigeria, also faced each other in the final.
Disappointing performance of the Mexicans, who finished last in the group for the first time at a U-17 World Cup. After a 3: 4 against Australia and a 1: 0 against Qatar they failed with a 1: 2 in the last game against Congo.
The 2: 1 in the first game against Italy ultimately only secured third place in group A, the Ghana with 9: 1 goals and 6: 0 points (4: 1 against Mexico) before hosts Japan (2: 1 against Mexico) won.
After a 2: 3 against Spain and a 5: 0 against New Zealand a draw against Mali would have been enough to get through for the first time, but lost with 1: 3 and took third place once again.
Mexico survived the group stage for the first time. After a 4-0 win against Thailand and a 4-0 win against Ghana, Mexico had to beat Spain, who already had four points, to make it 1-0. In the quarter-finals, El Tri lost 3-2 to the USA. As a consolation, the FIFA Fair Play Awards were awarded as the fairest team at the World Cup.
After a 0-0 win against Colombia and a 2-0 win against hosts Finland, Mexico were top of the table and could hope to become group winners at a U-17 World Cup for the first time. But a 3: 3 in the last game against the bottom of the table China and a simultaneous 9: 1 victory of the Colombians against the Finns banished El Tri to second place. Again they were eliminated in the quarter-finals, this time with 0-2 against Argentina.
The “golden generation” of Mexican football around superstar Giovani dos Santos , who started the tournament with a lot of confidence, missed group victory due to a 2-1 defeat against Turkey and needed extra time in the quarter-finals to prevail 3-1 against Costa Rica , but really got going towards the end of the tournament and overtook the Dutch 4-0 in the semifinals and the Brazilians 3-0 in the final. In addition, the Mexican Carlos Vela became the tournament's top scorer with five goals.
After a 2-0 win against eventual group winners and world champions Switzerland, El Tri achieved second place in the preliminary group and qualification for the round of 16, where Mexico beat on penalties with two wins against Brazil (1-0) and Japan (2-0) South Korea lost.
In their own country, Mexico managed to win the preliminary group for the first time and became world champions for the second time with a flawless record of seven wins in seven games. In addition, the Mexicans Julio Gómez were awarded the gold, Jorge Espericueta the silver and Carlos Fierro the bronze ball as the three best players of the tournament.
Mexico experienced the biggest defeat that a defending champion has ever suffered in an opening game with a 1: 6 opening defeat against Nigeria. Mexico won the next five games (including an 11-10 win on penalties against Brazil) and advanced to the final. There Nigeria again proved to be an insurmountable hurdle and El Tri lost 3-0. The best Mexican player was Iván Ochoa, who scored the most goals for the Mexicans with four goals and was also awarded the bronze ball.
Again Mexico failed at eventual world champions Nigeria: this time with 2: 4 in the semi-finals. In the game for third place, El Tri lost 3-2 to Belgium.
Mexico didn't win a single game and, with two points scored in the preliminary round, qualified fourth-best in the group for the round of 16, where El Tri was eliminated by Iran (1: 2).