In the continental battle of the North American hosts, Mexico stand on top after three rounds. The question now is: who can stay in the heat of battle the longest?
It is undeniable that any World Cup is a better spectacle when a second-tier host nation comes to the party: be it Sweden in 1958, South Korea in 2002 or Russia in 2018. The beauty of this year’s tournament is that there are three and while all of them have progressed rather comfortably to the last-32 , only the Mexicans have a perfect record to their name. For the United States, this was not so much a reality check as a reminder of how quickly a contest can drift into the hands of your opponent, especially when chances are not converted at this level.
