The history of Mexico in its last warm up game before a World Cup
Following the 2-1 loss to Sweden ahead of the 2022 edition in Qatar, we reflect on the pattern leading up to the FIFA tournament for El Tri.
The Mexico national team doesn’t have a great record when it comes to its final preparation game leading into a World Cup. On Wednesday we watched as Gerardo Martino’s side were beaten 2-1 by Sweden and reflecting all the way back to the 1930 World Cup, El Tri have won only three times against other nations: 2-0 against Wales in 1962, 3-0 over Northern Ireland in 1994 and 2-1 against Italy. In all the others, they either played against a club side or failed to emerge victorious over a national team.
The latest defeat against Sweden makes it three in a row, all against European teams. In 2018 it was 0-2 against Denmark and in 2014 a single goal loss to Portugal.
It’s true though, that for manager, players and fans, the warm-up result is unimportant. All that matters now is overcoming the curse of World Cup game 5.
Mexico and World Cup preparations
- 1/6/1930 - Mexico 6-1 Asturias (club)
- 14/6/1950 - Mexico 2-1 Botafogo (club)
- 30/5/1954 - Mexico 3-0 Puebla (club)
- 27/5/1958 - Mexico 0-2 Benfica (club)
- 22/5/1962 - Mexico 2-0 Wales
- 29/6/1966 - Mexico 0-5 Italy
- 17/5/1970 - Mexico 2-0 Dundee (club)
- 23/5/1978 - Mexico 1-1 Sierra O’Caixas (club)
- 17/5/1978 - Mexico 0-3 England
- 11/6/1994 - Mexico 3-0 Northern Ireland
- 3/6/1998 - Mexico 0-0 Saudi Arabia
- 25/5/2001 - Mexico 2-0 Tokio Verdy (club)
- 3/06/2006 - Mexico 3-0 Universidad de Göttingen (club)
- 3/06/2010 - Mexico 2-1 Italy
- 6/06/2014 - Mexico 0-1 Portugal
- 9/06/2018 - Mexico 0-2 Denmark
- 16/11/2022 - Mexico 1-2 Sweden