Mexico is heading back to the World Cup for an eighth straight time. Whether it can improve on any of those past appearances is the big question for El Tri now that the hard part of qualifying is over.
With a 2-0 win vs. El Salvador Wednesday night, Mexico has punched its ticket for the 2022 competition in Qatar, doing enough to continue its streak of qualification despite a process that was uneven at best over the last six months.
In the eight-team Concacaf table, Mexico finished in second, behind Canada and ahead of the United States. El Tri’s only losses came to those two teams away from home and those came in consecutive matches in November as part of a run of four straight road qualifiers.
Nevertheless, it hasn’t been a dominant qualifying run for Mexico. Under head coach Tata Martino, Mexico won the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup; however El Tri struggled in the summer of 2021 against the rival U.S., losing in the Concacaf Nations League and Gold Cup finals. It also dropped points on three occasions in qualifying at Estadio Azteca—including a 0-0 draw with the U.S.—while confronting fan sanctions for continued homophobic chants. Martino was absent for Sunday’s narrow win over Honduras, advised not to travel by flight following a retinal detachment procedure on his right eye. His assistant, Jorge Theiler, took his place, but Martino returned to the bench for Mexico’s home finale and clinching effort.
Mexico has not missed a World Cup since 1990, when the team was banned by FIFA after fielding overaged players for a 1988 Concacaf U-20 tournament. The last one it failed to qualify for on merit came in 1982. In 2026, when the World Cup expands to 48 teams, Mexico will be expected to receive an automatic bid as one of the hosts alongside the United States and Canada.
Mexico’s World Cup history is complex. No country has lost more games in World Cup history than Mexico (27), which also has the worst goal-differential at –38. At the 2018 World Cup, Mexico was eliminated by Brazil in the round of 16—marking the seventh straight World Cup in which El Tri fell in the first knockout match. Reaching the fifth game at a World Cup—el quinto partido—remains elusive and is the chief target in Qatar.
Mexico, like the rest of the field, will learn its group fate during Friday’s draw. Like the U.S., it will occupy a place in Pot 2, with its slim chances of being in the top pot being extinguished once Portugal clinched its berth.
