Mexico at the FIFA World Cup


Mexico's performance at world cups has been lackluster to say the least. Although they always start every world cup with tremendous faith, with each and every Mexican confidently stating that this will be the year Mexico wins the World Cup, Mexico continuously loses in the 4th game. The only exceptions to this rather difficult rule occurred during the two World Cups hosted by Mexico where Mexico was able to reach the quarterfinals.
One of the biggest sources of pain and anguish amongst Mexican fans can be traced back to the 1994 knockout match versus Bulgaria. In the final moments of the game, with a tied game and with minutes left on the clock, Hugo Sanchez was going to be substituted in. As the former shining star of Real Madrid, who better than him to shoot the first penalty. In due Mexican fashion, a misunderstanding between Hugo Sanchez and then-coach Dr. Miguel Mejia Baron occurred and "Hugol," as he was known at the time, was unable to reach the golden star of success for the Mexican people. It's truly a pity. A dark moment. Beto Garcia Azpe missed his first penalty and the then goalie, Jorge Campos, correctly guessed the location of every shot by Bulgaria. Unfortunately, due to Campos' short stature he was unable to reach the balls. Credit should be given to Campos for saving the first goal and to "Emperador" Claudio Suarez who scored the fourth shot.
This is a record of the results of the Mexico national team at the FIFA World Cup. The World Cup is the premier competitive international football tournament, first played in 1930, and then every four years since, except 1942 and 1946, due to World War II.
The Mexico national team has competed in the tournament since the inaugural 1930 World Cup, and has entered ever since, for a total of 16 tournaments, although it has failed to qualify for the finals proper on 3 occasions: 1934, 1974, and 1982. In addition, it withdrew from the finals in 1938, and was banned by FIFA from entering the 1990 World Cup after fielding over-aged players during the 1988 Olympic Games qualifiers, which was a youth tournament.
The tournament consists of two parts, the qualification phase and the final phase. The qualification phase, which currently take place over the three years preceding the Finals, is used to determine which teams qualify for the Finals. The current format of the Finals involves 32 teams competing for the title, at venues within the host nation over a period of about a month. The World Cup Finals is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the 2006 tournament final. In 2018, Mexico created one of the biggest upsets after defeating World champions Germany 1–0 in the opening game of the World Cup. Along with Brazil, Mexico holds the record for most consecutive 2nd round appearances.

Records

By match

Record players

Mexico's record World Cup player, Rafael Márquez, and goalkeeper Antonio Carbajal have appeared in five FIFA World Cups each, a record they only share with German midfielder Lothar Matthäus.
is Mexico's record World Cup player and one of only three players with appearances in five tournaments.
No.NameMatchesWorld Cups
1Rafael Márquez192002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018
2Andrés Guardado122006, 2010, 2014 and 2018
2Javier Hernández122010, 2014 and 2018
4Antonio Carbajal111950, 1954, 1958, 1962 and 1966
4Cuauhtémoc Blanco111998, 2002 and 2010
4Gerardo Torrado112002, 2006 and 2010
7Carlos Salcido102006, 2010 and 2014
8Chava Reyes91958, 1962 and 1966
8Giovani Dos Santos92010, 2014 and 2018
8Héctor Moreno92010, 2014 and 2018

Top goalscorers

No.NameGoalsWorld Cups
1Luis Hernández41998
1Javier Hernández42010, 2014, and 2018
3Cuauhtémoc Blanco31998, 2002 and 2010
3Rafael Márquez32006, 2010 and 2014
5Manuel Rosas21930
5Javier Valdivia21970
5Fernando Quirarte21986
5Luis García21994
5Alberto García Aspe21994 and 1998
5Ricardo Peláez21998
5Jared Borgetti22002
5Omar Bravo22006