Mexico national football team

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  The Mexico national football team walked out in Uruguay on the 13th of July 1930 for the very first match in World Cup history. France won that afternoon, 4-1. Even so, Juan Carreño secured a place in the record books by scoring Mexico's first World Cup goal.

  From that opening day, the side known as El Tri has carried a strange mix of pioneer status and frustration. Why does a team that collects so many trophies in its own region keep running into the same wall on the world stage? How did a single scandal over player ages wipe out a World Cup appearance and ban the country from other competitions? And what happens when the chants of its own supporters cost a federation fines and empty stands?

  710

• 2. Miners And Exiles

  ›

  Miners from Cornwall, England, were among the European immigrants who first organized football in Mexico in the early 20th century. Spanish exiles fleeing the Spanish Civil War did the same in later years.

  The national side played its first match on the 9th of December 1923 at Parque España in Mexico City. Mexico beat Guatemala 2-1. On the 12th it won again, 2-0, and the series closed on the 16th with a 3-3 draw. Rafael Garza Gutiérrez managed the team.

  Four years passed before the national side played another set of friendlies. On the 19th of June 1927, Mexico drew 3-3 with Spain. During that series it also lost 1-3 to Nacional de Montevideo. The same year, the first official governing body of football in Mexico was founded. That body is now the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol, and FIFA admitted it as an affiliate in 1929.

  The 1928 Olympic tournament brought Mexico's first official international competition. It ended in a 1-7 defeat to Spain in the round of 16.

  At the 1930 World Cup, Mexico was grouped with Argentina, Chile and France. After the loss to France came a 3-0 defeat to Chile. Against Argentina, Manuel Rosas scored the first penalty of the tournament. Mexico still lost that match 6-3.

  Maroon dominated the team's kit until the mid-1950s, paired with black or dark blue shorts. The green shirts, white shorts and red socks fans know today come from the tricolor, the national flag.

  Mexico did not return to the World Cup until 1950. Goalkeeper Antonio Carbajal would eventually become the first player ever to appear in five consecutive World Cups.

  4569

• 3. Home Soil

  ›

  Built in 1966, the Estadio Azteca carries the nickname "El Coloso de Santa Úrsula". Its official capacity is 87,523, which makes it the largest football-specific stadium in the Americas and the third largest football stadium in the world. Club América shares it with the national team. It staged the World Cup final in both 1970 and 1986.

  In 1970, Mexico hosted the World Cup and opened with a scoreless draw against the Soviet Union. A 4-0 win over El Salvador followed. A victory over Belgium carried Mexico into the quarter-finals, where Italy won 4-1.

  Bora Milutinović coached the 1986 hosts. Placed in Group B, El Tri beat Belgium 2-1, drew 1-1 with Paraguay and beat Iraq 1-0. That topped the group. Bulgaria fell 2-0 in the round of 16. The quarter-final against West Germany finished 0-0, and Mexico lost the penalty shootout 1-4.

  Outside its own borders, the team has built a second life in the United States under the MEXTOUR branding. From 2000 to 2019 it played 110 friendlies there, and fans criticized them as "cash grabs". In 2022 the team played 15 matches in the United States and averaged over 52,000 spectators at each. Coach Jaime Lozano called AT&T Stadium in Dallas "the second home of the Mexican national team".

  In February 2023, Mexico secured automatic qualification for the 2026 World Cup as co-host, the third time the country has hosted the tournament.

  54555758

• 4. Disqualified And Reborn

  ›

  Players over the age limit in qualifying for the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship set off the "Cachirules" scandal. The punishment reached far beyond the youth tournament. Mexico was disqualified from the 1990 FIFA World Cup, and the ban covered all of its national representatives in every FIFA-sanctioned competition.

  The recovery began in the 1990s with the hiring of coach César Luis Menotti. At the 1993 Copa América, Mexico reached the final and lost 2-1 to Argentina. At the 1994 World Cup in the United States, Mexico won a group containing Italy, Ireland and Norway, taking first place on tiebreakers.

  The 1998 World Cup placed Mexico alongside the Netherlands, South Korea and Belgium. Mexico beat South Korea 3-1, then drew 2-2 with both Belgium and the Netherlands.

  The 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup brought the high point. Mexico became the first host nation to win the tournament, and it was the country's first official FIFA title. The United States fell 1-0 in the semifinals. In the final, Mexico beat Brazil, the runners-up of the 1998 World Cup, 4-3. No other CONCACAF team has won a FIFA global competition.

  Thirteen years later, the under-23 team won the 2012 Olympic football tournament. That gold, combined with the Confederations Cup, makes Mexico one of eight nations to have won two of the three biggest FIFA-recognized global competitions.

  101123

• 5. Kings Of CONCACAF

  ›

  Fifteen continental trophies sit in Mexico's cabinet: ten Gold Cups, three CONCACAF Championships, one Nations League and one CONCACAF Cup. No other team in the confederation has won as many. The first came in 1965, when Mexico won the CONCACAF Championship to become continental champions for the first time.

  In July 2009, Mexico won its fifth Gold Cup, and its eighth CONCACAF Championship overall, by beating the United States 5-0 in the final. Two years later, Mexico won its 2011 group with three wins and no losses. Five players tested positive for the banned substance clenbuterol and were suspended from the tournament. Guatemala fell 2-1 in the quarter-finals and Honduras 0-2 in the semi-finals. For the third straight year, the final pitted Mexico against the United States, and Mexico won 4-2.

  In 2013, Panama beat Mexico twice at the Gold Cup, once in the group stage and again 2-1 in the semifinal. Those were the first two Gold Cup victories Panama had ever recorded over Mexico.

  The 2015 Gold Cup came with controversy. Mexico won both the quarterfinal against Costa Rica and the semifinal against Panama under disputed circumstances. A 3-1 win over Jamaica in the final secured the title. Two days later, coach Miguel Herrera was released after an alleged physical altercation with TV Azteca announcer Christian Martinoli. On the 10th of October 2015, Mexico beat the United States 3-2 to win the inaugural CONCACAF Cup. That month's result sent Mexico to the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia. In November, Juan Carlos Osorio became Mexico's 16th manager, replacing interim manager Ricardo Ferretti.

  Osorio's side arrived at the Copa América Centenario in the United States on a 19-match unbeaten streak that dated from June 2015. Mexico topped Group C. Then Chile beat it 7-0 in Santa Clara, California, ending the streak at 22 matches. Osorio apologized to Mexico's fans and called the result an "embarrassment, an accident of football".

  In January 2019, Gerardo Martino became the third Argentine to coach the team. That year's Gold Cup ended in a title. Mexico won all three group matches and beat Costa Rica 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the quarter-final. A win over Haiti in the semi-final set up a 1-0 victory over the United States in the final.

  The 2021 Nations League final and Gold Cup final both ended in losses to the United States. Diego Cocca arrived in February 2023 as the fourth Argentine coach. That year's Nations League semi-final brought a 0-3 defeat to the United States and widespread outrage in Mexico. Mexican fans largely boycotted the third-place match, a 1-0 win over Panama. The next day, Cocca was dismissed. Jaime Lozano took over on an interim basis and won the Gold Cup, beating Panama 1-0 in the final. Lozano was then made permanent. After a group-stage exit from the 2024 Copa América, he was dismissed on the 16th of July. Six days later Javier Aguirre was named coach, his third spell with the national side.

  In March 2025, Aguirre's team beat Panama 2-1 at SoFi Stadium to win Mexico's first Nations League title.

  5312141923

• 6. The Round Of Sixteen Ceiling

  ›

  Eighteen World Cup appearances sit on Mexico's record, and it has qualified consecutively since 1994. Only six countries can say the same. Yet from 1994 to 2018, one barrier stopped it every time.

  In 1994, Mexico lost to Bulgaria on penalty kicks in the round of 16. In 1998, Germany won 2-1. At the 2002 World Cup, Mexico beat Croatia 1-0 and Ecuador 2-1, then drew 1-1 with Italy. The reward was a round-of-16 meeting with rival United States, which won 2-0.

  One of eight seeded teams at the 2006 World Cup, Mexico entered Group D with Iran, Angola and Portugal. It beat Iran 3-1, drew 0-0 with Angola and lost 2-1 to Portugal. Argentina then won 2-1 in the round of 16. Coach Ricardo Lavolpe stepped down after the tournament, and Hugo Sánchez succeeded him.

  In 2010, Mexico beat France 2-0 in Group A, which also held host South Africa and Uruguay. Argentina again ended the run in the round of 16, winning 3-1.

  Mexico won only two of ten matches in the fourth round of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. Even so, it finished as the fourth-highest placed team in the CONCACAF region. An intercontinental play-off followed, and Mexico beat New Zealand 9-3 on aggregate to reach a sixth consecutive World Cup. The Netherlands then won 2-1 in the round of 16.

  On the opening day of the 2018 World Cup, a single goal from Hirving Lozano gave Mexico its first World Cup win over defending champion Germany. Goals from Carlos Vela and Javier Hernández secured a 2-1 win over South Korea. A 3-0 defeat to Sweden still left Mexico in the round of 16 for a seventh consecutive tournament. Brazil won there, 2-0. For the seventh World Cup in a row, Mexico had failed to reach a quarter-final since last hosting in 1986. On the 28th of July, Osorio left as head coach when his contract expired.

  At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Mexico finished third in Group C behind Argentina and Poland, losing out on goal difference. It was the first group-stage elimination since 1978, if the 1982 and 1990 tournaments, which Mexico missed, are set aside. The streak of round-of-16 appearances ended after seven World Cups, and Martino stepped down immediately.

  4032363844

• 7. Four Rivals

  ›

  The first meeting between Mexico and the United States took place in 1934. For decades it was not considered a major rivalry. That changed in the late 20th century, when the United States emerged as a solid international side.

  The two teams have since met 78 times. Mexico has won 37, drawn 17 and lost 24, scoring 147 goals and conceding 92. Through 1990, Mexico held a 27-9-5 record. Since 2000, the series has favored the United States 18-8-9, and Mexico has been outscored 48-33.

  On the 15th of August 2012, the United States won at the Estadio Azteca, its first victory over Mexico on Mexican soil in 75 years. On the 11th of November 2016, Mexico returned the favor in Columbus, Ohio, in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup. At home, Mexico has never lost a competitive match to the United States. All 19 meetings there have been wins (15) or draws (4).

  Costa Rica supplies a growing rivalry. It was the first country in CONCACAF to beat Mexico on Mexican soil in World Cup qualification, a result known as the Aztecazo. Costa Rica is also widely seen as the only Central American team with the quality to compete globally. Mexico still holds a dominant record in the series, with 32 wins, 20 draws and 6 losses.

  Brazil brings frequent, high-stakes matches across the World Cup, the Confederations Cup, the Copa América, the Olympics and the Gold Cup. Mexico is one of the few non-South American powers that consistently challenge the Brazilians.

  The rivalry with Argentina is unusual because it crosses confederations, Argentina being part of CONMEBOL. Mexican supporters feel it more keenly than Argentines do, who typically see Brazil, Uruguay, England and Germany as bigger rivals. Some Argentines do not count Mexico as a rival at all. The record explains why: Mexico has won only 4 matches, drawn 12 and lost 16.

  7778798084

• 8. A Chant Under Sanction

  ›

  "¡Eh, puto!" is the vulgar chant Mexico's fans direct at an opposing goalkeeper who is about to take a goal kick. Its roots may be harmless. In the 1980s in Monterrey, fans at little league American football games chanted "¡Eh, pum!" during the opening kickoff, and the word pum was attributed to an impact of some sort.

  The current form is widely thought to have started between 2000 and 2003 with supporters of Atlas, aimed at former Atlas goalkeeper Oswaldo Sánchez. No primary sources support that claim, and it counts as an urban legend. The earliest documented use came on the 22nd of May 2004, in the second leg of the 2004 Clausura repechage between Cruz Azul and Pachuca. Pachuca fans chanted it each time Óscar Pérez took a goal kick.

  The word puto is a vulgar term for a male prostitute in Mexican Spanish, and it carries a homophobic meaning. The chant drew negative attention at the 2014 World Cup. Mexico's fans defended it as a tradition from the Liga MX. On the 23rd of June 2014, FIFA dropped its investigation, concluding the chant "was not considered insulting in the specific context". Football Against Racism in Europe called the ruling "disappointing".

  In 2017, ahead of the 2018 World Cup, FIFA fined the Mexican federation over the chant and introduced escalating sanctions. Those sanctions were first applied in Liga MX games in 2019.

  In 2021, fan behavior halted three Mexico international matches in the United States. One was the CONCACAF Nations League final against the United States, where fans also threw objects onto the pitch and Giovanni Reyna was hit in the face by a heavy object. On the 18th of June 2021, FIFA announced that spectators would be barred from Mexico's first two qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup. The penalty came from the chant's use at a pre-Olympics tournament in Guadalajara. During that tournament's semifinals, the match between Mexico and the United States was stopped at the 90th minute and ended early because of the chants.

  6769736674