With the round of 32 now underway at the 2026 World Cup, plenty of expectation surrounds the three co-hosts, but nowhere more so than in Mexico.
This is a nation with a proud and rich footballing history, unlike their co-hosts, but it has never advanced past the World Cup quarter-finals, without a match beyond the last 16 since 1986. There is hope that 2026 can be a year of firsts.
Football fever has gripped the country as it hosts the World Cup for the third time, and from Monterrey to Mexico City, there is a palpable sense of excitement as they prepare for Tuesday night’s last-32 clash against Ecuador.
open image in galleryOn paper, it’s been a successful tournament for El Tri so far, with three wins from three, no goals conceded and even time for feel-good moments such as Guillermo Ochoa’s cameo against the Czech Republic.
In practice, some of the performances have raised questions, with an unconvincing display in the opening win over South Africa and in their second match against South Korea.
However, the 3-0 win over the Czech Republic – with several key players rested – was an impressive display, while it also highlighted the benefits of a home advantage at somewhere as unique and storied as the Mexico City Stadium, where El Tri host Ecuador and potentially even England in the round of 16.
Indeed, Mexican media has been quick to highlight that this has been one of their most successful World Cup campaigns so far, and one of the best sets of group stage results ever.
open image in galleryOnly a handful of teams have ever won all three group games without conceding a goal at the tournament, and now El Tri have joined that group. At the end of the day, tournament football is about results, and the results make for good reading for Javier Aguirre and co.
However, while Mexico will head into the match as favourites, some are urging caution as they prepare to face an Ecuador side riding their own high after the 2-1 win over Germany.
Sebastian Beccacece’s side looked set to exit the tournament before an inspired display in New Jersey, with Nilson Angulo and Gonzalo Plata the stars as La Tri sealed a deserved win against Germany with a display that was full of intensity, desire and flashes of quality.
Angulo’s superb strike was the highlight, though Plata’s winner highlighted the team’s desire and the displays of their big names – Piero Hincapie and Moises Caicedo chief among them – provided a reminder that this golden generation possesses a lot of quality in less celebrated positions too.
open image in galleryNevertheless, it is difficult to see past Mexico as favourites. For a start, El Tri have lost just two of their 88 official games at the Estadio Azteca, their home cathedral of football that has hosted two World Cup finals and some of the most famous matches in the sport’s history.
Recent years have seen plenty of success for Aguirre’s side too, with Mexico having won the Concacaf Nations League and the Gold Cup as they established themselves as the best side in North America.
There is clearly talent in the side in the form of Julian Quinones, Roberto Alvarado and Edson Alvarez, while Raul Jimenez remains a reliable striker and 17-year-old Gilberto Mora is one of the tournament’s most exciting young talents.
While Mexico are not among the best teams at the tournament on paper, Aguirre seems to have made them into more than the sum of their parts, and with home advantage and the hopes of a nation behind them, El Tri are bidding for history once more.
open image in galleryThe so-called ‘quinto partido’ curse – a ‘curse’ of Mexico having failed to ever get past the fifth game at a World Cup – is still a part of the national psyche when it comes to football, but history is on their side, as El Tri have made the quarter-finals both times when previously hosting the tournament in 1970 and 1986.
And while the expanded format means game five could well bring a round of 16 clash against England at the Mexico City Stadium, there is one more obstacle to overcome before that curse is worth thinking about.
A difficult tie against Ecuador awaits, but a win puts Mexico on the verge of history once more.