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Mexico national football team

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Mexico
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)El Tri (El Tricolor)
AssociationFederación Mexicana
de Fútbol Asociación
Most capsClaudio Suárez (178)*
Top scorerJared Borgetti (37)*
FIFA codeMEX
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current19
Highest4 (February 1998)
Lowest19 (November 1994)
First international
Guatemala Guatemala 2 - 3 Mexico Template:Country data Mexico old
(Guatemala City, Guatemala; 1 January, 1923)
Biggest win
Mexico Mexico 13 - 0 Bahamas The Bahamas
(Toluca, Mexico; April 28, 1987)
Biggest defeat
England England 8 - 0 Mexico Template:Country data Mexico old
(London, England; May 10, 1961)
World Cup
Appearances13 (first in 1930)
Best resultQuarterfinals, 1970 and 1986
CONCACAF Gold Cup
Appearances8 (first in 1991)
Best resultWinners, 1993, 1996,
1998, 2003 (*) Active

The Mexico national football team — El Tri — is the national football team of Mexico and is controlled by the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol (FEMEXFUT). The team is currently in 19th place, and has never been outside the top 20, in the FIFA World Rankings.

Since the 1990s, Mexico has been one of the most consistent nations in the world having qualified for four straight World Cups, and reaching the second round on all four occasions. They have also had strong showings in the Copa America ever since their first appearance in 1993.

History

Origins to 1990

Mexico participated in the first World Cup in 1930 but did not appear again in the tournament until 1950. Mexico qualified for six consecutive World Cups including the hosting of the 1970 tournament.

Before 1970 Mexico struggled to make much impact in the World Cup when compared to European and South American teams and won only once in five tournaments (in 1962, a 3-1 win over Czechoslovakia). As a result, the team was sometimes referred to as "Los Ratones Verdes" ("The Green Mice"). However, they undoubtedly showed measurable improvement in each tournament - only one point gained in 1958, two points each in 1962 and 1966. Goalkeeper Antonio Carbajal had the distinction of being the first player ever to appear in five consecutive World Cups. Midfielder Salvador Reyes played in the 1958, 1962 and 1966 tournaments.

In 1970, Mexico was able to make a breakthrough on home soil. Drawn in Group 1, they kicked off with a scoreless draw against the Soviet Union, followed by wins over El Salvador (4-0) and Belgium (1-0). Against Italy in the quarter-finals, they took the lead before going down 4-1.

Unfortunately, progress was not sustained as Mexico failed to qualify for 1974 (Haiti, surprisingly, qualified from the region) but returned in 1978 only to put in a poor showing with defeats to West Germany, Tunisia and Poland. A young Hugo Sánchez played in the 1978 team and later went on to achieve success at Real Madrid. They failed to qualify for 1982, but hosted the 1986 tournament and reached the quarter-finals once again.

Mexico was disqualified from the 1990 qualifiers due to fielding an overage player in the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying youth tournament for 1988 Summer Olympics in Guatemala, but have since qualified for four consecutive World Cups.

Recent years

In the 1990s, Mexican football began experiencing more consistent international success. An important turning point was its participation in the 1993 Copa America, where they surprised many by finishing second in the tournament in only their first appearance, narrowly losing to Argentina 2-1 in the final. Bouyed by this success, Mexico went on to win its group in the 1994 World Cup, emerging from the tournament's "Group of Death" composed of itself, Italy, Ireland, and Norway. Although Mexico eventually bowed out in Round 2 to Bulgaria, this performance began a string of successful showings at football's premier event, as the team also moved on to Round 2 in the each of the Cups of 1998, 2002, 2006.

Since their second place finish in the 1993 Copa America, Mexico has been a regular participant in the South American tournament and has fared very well. It earned third place in 1997 and 1999 and another second place in 2001. In fact, Mexico has never failed to reach the quarter finals of the Copa America and twice has had the leading scorer in the tournament, Luis Garcia in 1995 (sharing the title with Argentinian striker, Gabriel Batistuta) and Luis Hernández in 1997. The amazing growth and success of the national team during the 1990s reached its zenith when Mexico hosted and won the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup. Mexico won its first official FIFA tournament trophy by beating Brazil, no less, in an exciting high-scoring final with a final score of 4-3. Mexico's star, Cuauhtémoc Blanco, shares the tournament's Golden Shoe award as top scorer with Brazilian player, Ronaldinho.

In the 2000s, the United States have proved a credible challenger to Mexico's dominance on the continental football scene, winning the 2002 Gold Cup and disqualifying Mexico from Round 2 in 2002 FIFA World Cup. Despite the disappointing loss, Mexico again hosted the Gold Cup in 2003. In addition, Mexico exacted their revenge on the United States by eliminating them during their qualification run to the 2004 Summer Olympics. In the 2005 Gold Cup tournament, however, Mexico suffered a disappointing early exit, as they were eliminated by guests Colombia in the quarterfinals on a goal with less than fifteen minutes to play.

The parallel emergence of the United States and Mexico on the international stage has helped elevate the status of the CONCACAF region. More importantly, however, it has provided a natural rivalry that has benefited the development both national teams. In fact, Mexico and the United States ran neck and neck during qualification for the 2006 World Cup. Mexico beat the United States 2-1 in Mexico City on March 27, 2005. The Americans then returned the favor by defeating Mexico 2-0 in Columbus, Ohio, on September 3, 2005 thus earning their place in Germany before their archrivals. Nevertheless, Mexico secured their place in the World Cup four days later with a 5-0 defeat of Panama in Mexico City. Ultimately, the two nations finished the qualification campaign with an identical 7-1-2 record — the Americans held a slight advantage in goal differential.

The participation of the Mexican national team in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup confirmed Mexico as a rising football power. Mexico began the tournament by defeating defending World Cup Champions Brazil by a score of 1-0 with an impressive display of tactical intelligence and discipline. Mexico garnered further accolades with impressive performances against traditional heavyweights Argentina and Germany. Although Mexico was leading Argentina in extra time of their semifinal match, they ultimately lost in a highly contested penalty shootout, 6-5. In the third place match, Mexico twice came from behind against Germany, eventually losing 4-3 in extra time.

The notable growth experienced by the Mexican national team since the early 1990s could arguably be attributed to the increased competitiveness of its domestic league, the Primera División de México. Due in large part to lucrative television contracts, Mexican football clubs are amongst the richest outside of Europe. This has made Mexico an attractive destination for many quality international players, in particular from South and Central America. In addition, Mexican clubs have done very well in international tournaments such as CONMEBOL's Copa Libertadores. In fact, in four of the last six editions of the tournament, a Mexican club has finished among the top four, including Cruz Azul's second place finish in 2001. The influx of high level foreign players, together with increased participation in international tournaments has helped compensate somewhat for the fact that traditionally, Mexican players have not sought opportunities in other countries. Still, a few Mexican players have enjoyed distinguished careers in European leagues, notably Hugo Sánchez with Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid in the 1980s and 1990s and more recently Rafael Márquez, who won a title with France's AS Monaco and is currently a key member of the two-time defending La Liga champion and current UEFA Champions League winner FC Barcelona and with Francisco Fonseca of SL Benfica being what many consider the two best players in Mexico's squad.

Further evidence of Mexico's bright football future is the title obtained by the national team in the Under-17 World Cup held in Peru in the 2005 Under-17 World Cup. A crop of emerging Mexican stars, including Giovanni Dos Santos and Carlos Vela, defeated reigning champion Brazil by an emphatic score of 3-0, thus claiming the first FIFA Youth World Championship for the North American continent (and CONCACAF).

After Germany 2006, El Tri has become one of the most regular teams in the world stage, having secured their passage to Round 2 in the last four World Cups. However, the goal of reaching the latter stages of the tournament, and thus equal or surpass their best showings when they reached the quarterfinals of the 1970 and 1986 tournaments on home soil.

2006 World Cup

Mexico played a series of friendlies in preparation for the World Cup in the United States of America, seeking to maximise revenue by appealing to Mexicans living in the USA.

Mexico was one of eight top seeded teams in the first round at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. This was the first time a non-hosting CONCACAF nation was seeded. They were put in group D with Iran, Angola and Portugal.

Mexico won their opening match 3-1 against Iran, with two goals from Omar Bravo and one by Antonio Naelson. In their second match, Mexico played in a 0-0 draw match against Angola. Mexico joined Portugal as a qualifier in the Round of 16, despite losing to the Portuguese 2-1. During the match, Mexican striker, Omar Bravo missed a penalty shot.

In their final match of the tournament, Mexico played against Argentina. The Mexicans scored in the 5th minute with a goal by captain Rafael Márquez. Four minutes later, an own-goal by an injured Jared Borgetti allowed Argentina to equalize. The score remained 1-1 after 90 minutes, and in extra time, an exceptional volley by Maxi Rodríguez in the second period of extra time brought about a 2-1 win for Argentina.

Argentine-born coach Ricardo Lavolpe stepped down as coach after the tournament.

Current Squad

See also: 2006 FIFA World Cup (squads)

The following players have recently been called up to the Mexico squad as of July 24, 2006.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Club
1 1GK Oswaldo Javier Sánchez Ibarra 21 September 1973 74 Mexico Guadalajara
2 2DF Claudio Suárez Sánchez 17 December 1968 178 United States Chivas USA
3 2DF Carlos Arnoldo Salcido Flores 2 April 1980 36 Netherlands PSV
4 2DF Rafael Márquez Álvarez (c) 13 February 1979 69 Spain Barcelona
5 2DF Ricardo Osorio Mendoza 30 March 1980 43 Germany Stuttgart
6 3MF Gerardo Torrado Diez de Bonilla 30 April 1979 59 Mexico Cruz Azul
7 3MF Antônio Naelson Matias 23 May 1976 36 Mexico Toluca
8 3MF Pável Pardo Segura 26 July 1976 129 Germany Stuttgart
9 4FW Jared Borgetti 14 August 1973 77 Saudi Arabia Ittihad
10 4FW Guillermo Franco 3 November 1976 10 Spain Villarreal
11 3MF Ramón Morales 10 October 1975 48 Mexico Guadalajara
12 1GK Jesus Corona 26 January 1981 6 Mexico U.A.G.
13 1GK Guillermo Ochoa 13 July 1985 1 Mexico América
14 2DF Gonzalo Pineda 19 October 1982 34 Mexico Guadalajara
15 2DF José Antonio Castro 11 August 1980 14 Mexico América
16 2DF Mario Mendez 1 June 1979 36 Mexico U.A.N.L.
17 4FW Francisco Fonseca 2 October 1979 33 Portugal Benfica
18 3MF Andres Guardado 28 September 1986 8 Mexico Atlas
19 4FW Omar Bravo 4 March 1980 36 Mexico Guadalajara
20 3MF Rafael García Torres 14 August 1974 52 Mexico Cruz Azul
21 3MF Jesus Arellano 8 May 1973 70 Mexico Monterrey
22 2DF Francisco Javier Rodríguez 20 October 1981 33 Mexico Guadalajara
23 3MF Luis Ernesto Pérez 12 January 1981 54 Mexico Monterrey

International Competiton Records

FIFA World Cup

FIFA U-20 World Cup

FIFA U-17 World Cup

CONCACAF Gold Cup

CONMEBOL America Cup

FIFA Confederations Cup

Notable players

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