What Qatar 2022 left for Mexico

Qatar 2022 is over for Mexico, a World Cup that ended in a huge disappointment. El Tri got eliminated in the Group Stages for the first time in 44 years, an embarrassing outcome for a team whose objective was “El quinto partido”. 

The journey started with a bittersweet 0-0 draw against Poland, a fantastic penalty save from Ochoa and an improved performance from previous games fueled the flame of positivism among Mexican fans, but a shameful presentation against Argentina shattered the morale of everyone, nobody understood what Tata Martino wanted to do with that line up without a striker. 

Then it all came down to the last game, Mexico needed to score over 3 goals against Saudi Arabia and even though they played a great game with a fantastic stunner free kick from Luis Chávez, the lack of a number 9 in good form prevented México from advancing, too many missed chances and questionable substitutions from Martino ended El Tri’s dream. 

But it wasn’t only Tata’s fault, the overall performance of the team didn’t meet expectations. Sure, Luis Chávez was the best player on the team and a big revelation, also Hirving Lozano, Cesar Montes, Alexis Vega, and Jesus Gallardo had decent tournaments, but Mexico looked old and out of form. Players like Héctor Herrera, Andrés Guardado, Guillermo Ochoa, Raúl Jiménez and Rogelio Funes Mori should never be on the team again. It’s time for new blood. 

The Future

Mexico needs a deep restructuring, plenty of things have to change in order to build a winning project for United 2026. 

Picking a good coach and replacing executives is a start, but the makeover has to go deeper than that. 

A few precise things that can be done to improve the situation are: 

•  Bringing back relegation, that should be a priority, it adds competition and a sense of urgency that is much needed. 
•  Lowering the number of foreign players in Liga MX is a must, the Mexican youth needs opportunities. 
•  Investing significantly more in infrastructure for the academies and new methods of training. 
• Exporting young talent to Europe is imperative 
• Returning to the Copa America and Copa Libertadores to regain that competitive edge could be a big step in the right direction. 

And even though the failure was unquestionable, and a lot has to be done, the future looks bright. Hirving Lozano and Edson Alvarez are top-tier players that will be in their prime for 2026, they’ll have to lead the way. Luis Chávez, Alexis Vega, and Cesar Montes must take the next step and go to Europe, they’ll be leaders as well, other players like Santiago Giménez, Diego Lainez, and Kevin Alvarez have a promising future and will be key for the project.

Added to the fact that the World Cup will be played on North American soil, Mexico can do historic things, but failing to make the much-needed structural changes, will kill the project before it even starts.