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Mexico Eliminated From World Cup on Goal Differential Despite Win vs. Saudi Arabia

El Tri battled to a 2–1 win over Saudi Arabia, but finished third in Group C due to Poland’s superior goal differential.

Andrew Gastelum

Mexico’s streak of making the knockout stage at seven straight World Cups came to an end Wednesday, with El Tri defeating Saudi Arabia but sent home from Qatar on goal differential. 

El Tri entered the match after a scoreless draw against Poland and a 2–0 loss to Argentina, and while their 2–1 win put them level on four points with Poland in second place in Group C, Poland had a goal differential of 0 while Mexico’s was one goal back at –1. 

Mexico’s first-round exit will almost certainly spell the end of manager Gerardo “Tata” Martino’s spell at the helm of El Tri, while the team will head back to Mexico as the first Mexican team since 1978 to not qualify for the knockouts at a World Cup in which it participated.

The Green Falcons were the story of the first matchday when they stunned Lionel Messi and Argentina with a 2–0 victory. But the side lost to Poland and Mexico to finish last in the group on three points.

Mexico kicked off the match with an extremely dangerous chance in the seventh minute when  sent a sharp cross into the penalty area. As Saudi Arabia keeper Mohammed Al-Owais struggled to corral the effort, Henry Martín barreled into the keeper, creating a bit of chaos in the box. 

Saudi Arabia knocked on the door in the 12th minute with a free kick from a dangerous position. But Salem Al-Dawsari, a goalscorer against Argentina, sent the effort just over the crossbar much to Mexico’s relief.

El Tri followed with two chances on target in two minutes, starting with Luis Chávez’s effort from distance that was collected by the Saudi keeper. Then Orbelín Pineda ripped a shot from the edge of the area that looked to be deflected before Al-Owais stopped it. 

Mexico was given a massive favor from Poland when Polish keeper Wojciech Szczęsny saved a penalty from Messi in the 39th minute, keeping the score of Poland-Argentina at a scoreless deadlock. 

Pineda had another chance in the 41st minute inside the penalty area, but his shot was cleared by Saudi Arabia’s composed defense.

Saudi Arabia’s best chance was the last chance of the first half, when Ali Al-Hassan’s booming header was sent just over the crossbar in what could have been a prime opportunity.

But Mexico got on the board right out of the halftime break when Martín latched onto a flicked-on header from César Montes and tapped the chance in for the 1–0 lead.

In the Argentina-Poland match, Alexis Mac Allister gave Mexico hope with his goal for Argentina to take a 1–0 lead.

Mexico added a second goal just five minutes later when Chávez scored an incredible free kick with his left foot, rocketing the ball over the wall and into the top corner to give El Tri a 2–0 lead. 

Minutes later, Mexico looked to have a third goal when Hirving Lozano turned his shot into the net, but the chance was called for offside that replays showed to be mere inches off. 

Julián Álvarez added to Argentina’s lead with a goal for Argentina in the 67th minute, which saw Poland and Mexico level on points, goal differential and goals scored but Poland through to the knockouts on fair play.

Chávez nearly came close to another free-kick goal in the 73rd minute when he sent another rocket of a shot toward the opposite corner, but Al-Owais jumped to make the save.

Mexico had a golden chance in the 78th minute when Lozano broke away from the Saudi defense and sent a dangerous cross into the box for Carlos Alberto Rodríguez, who saw his chance in front of goal pushed away.

Minutes later, Mexico was awarded another free kick from a dangerous position, but Lozano and Chávez saw their set play blocked by the wall. 

In the 87th minute, El Tri seemed to have that coveted third goal that would have seen them advance to the knockout stages when Uriel Antuna scored. But Antuna was immediately called for offside on another goal ruled out for Mexico. 

In yet another free-kick chance for Mexico, Lozano’s free kick in the 92nd minute was drilled straight at the keeper as El Tri continued to threaten. Moments later, Argentina secured a 2–0 victory, giving Mexico four minutes of stoppage time to find a third goal that would send it through.

But Mexico’s chances would end with a Saudi Arabia goal in the 95th minute. Al-Dawsari would break through, taking advantage of Mexico’s full-frontal assault and slotting in the chance after a quick one-two. 

As winners of Group C, Argentina will face Australia in the round of 16 while Poland will take on defending champion France.

Here were the lineups for each team:

Full World Cup squads:

Mexico

GOALKEEPERS: Rodolfo Cota (León), Guillermo Ochoa (Club América), Alfredo Talavera (Juárez)

DEFENDERS: Kevin Álvarez (Pachuca), Néstor Araujo (Club América), Gerardo Arteaga (Genk), Jesús Gallardo (Monterrey), César Montes (Monterrey), Héctor Moreno (Monterrey), Jorge Sánchez (Ajax), Johan Vásquez (Cremonese)

MIDFIELDERS: Edson Álvarez (Ajax), Roberto Alvarado (Chivas Guadalajara), Uriel Antuna (Cruz Azul), Luis Chávez (Pachuca), Andrés Guardado (Real Betis), Érick Gutiérrez (PSV Eindhoven), Héctor Herrera (Houston Dynamo), Orbelín Pineda (AEK Athens), Carlos Rodríguez (Cruz Azul), Luis Romo (Monterrey)

FORWARDS: Hirving Lozano (Napoli), Raúl Jiménez (Wolverhampton), Henry Martín (Club América), Rogelio Funes Mori (Monterrey), Alexis Vega (Chivas Guadalajara)

Saudi Arabia

GOALKEEPERS: Nawaf Al-Aqidi (Al-Nassr), Mohamed Al-Owais (Al-Hilal), Mohamed Al-Yami (Al-Ahly)

DEFENDERS: Saud Abdulhamid (Al-Hilal), Abdulelah Al-Amri (Al-Nassr), Mohammed Al-Breik (Al-Hilal), Ali Al-Bulaihi (Al-Hilal), Sultan Al-Ghanam (Al-Nassr), Yasser Al-Shahrani (Al-Hilal), Abdullah Madu (Al-Nassr), Hassan Tambakti (Al-Shabab)

MIDFIELDERS: Abdulrahman Al-Aboud (Ittihad), Nasser Al-Dawsari (Al-Hilal), Salem Al-Dawsari (Al-Hilal), Salman Al-Faraj (Al-Hilal), Ali Al-Hassan (Al-Nassr), Abdulelah Al-Malki (Al-Hilal), Sami Al-Najei (Al-Nassr), Hattan Bahebri (Al-Shabab), Mohamed Kanno (Al-Hilal), Abdullah Otayf (Al-Hilal), Riyadh Sharahili (Abha)

FORWARDS: Nawaf Al-Abed (Al-Shabab), Firas Al-Buraikan (Al-Fateh), Saleh Al-Shehri (Al-Hilal). Haitham Asiri (Al-Ahly) 

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Andrew Gastelum
ANDREW GASTELUM

Andrew Gastelum is a programming editor and writer at Sports Illustrated who specializes in soccer, the Olympics and international sports. He joined the SI staff in March 2021 and previously contributed to Howler Magazine and NBC Sports. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame alum and is currently based in Italy.

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