Mexico one win away from their best start in a World Cup qualifying campaign

The only team that has tallied six points in the final round of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers is Mexico, who are at the top after two games. El Tri now want to finish with a nine-point week ahead of the start of the round-robin tournament.

One win away from their best start

On 2 September, Mexico hosted Jamaica in the first game of the final round and managed to win 2-1 thanks to a late goal from Henry Martin at the Azteca stadium. Three days later they hit the road to face Costa Rica at the Estadio Nacional and Orbelín Pineda scored from the penalty spot to give them the three points.

Now they will travel to Panama for their third match of the final round of the World Cup qualifiers in the region. Mexico will face Panama on 8 September at the Estadio Rommel Fernández and if El Tri win that game they will have recorded their best-ever start in the round-robin tournament by picking up a maximum nine points.

But in recent history, Panama has been a complicated trip for Mexico. On the road to the 2006 World Cup, Panama hosted El Tri and the game ended in a 1-1 draw thanks to a late goal from ‘El Matador’ Tejada for the home side. On the road to the 2018 World Cup, Mexico and Panama ended with a scoreless draw at the Estadio Rommel Fernández.