This is Mexico's 9th straight World Cup (they were banned for one), they have made it through the group stage all 8 times, but lost in the R16 in the last seven.

 

 

At the 2018 World Cup in Russia I noted .............They (Mexico) are VERY experienced, just one of their 23 man squad has played less than 21 games for his country and 14 have made 50-150 appearances ( nine still being at their international peak aged 25-30) and six have scored 18+ goals. An incredible 15 were in the 2014 squad, to give that some context (only 4 of the current England squad went to Brazil) and this is a group who have grown up together, eight were even in the 2010 WC squad ! They are used to success and it is demanded at home and they picked up valuable experience of playing in Russia last year in the Conferation Cup, coming through the group stage ( level on points with Portugal) before losing in the semi-finals to Germany, with pretty much a B+ squad. They are very fluid , play a variety of formations, some not often seen and with a high defensive line and lots of pace and dribbling skills, they are unafraid to take chances and will be fun to watch. Mexico officially have 26,000 supporters at the WC, but almost 20,000 tickets were sold also in the US and many are said to have gone to Mexicans and they will have a very large presence at the finals.

 

Ten of the squad played at the last World Cup and did so with pace, verve and inventiveness, 19 have 25+ international appearances and 10 have played 50+ times, with four boasting 10+ goals . Those are at the upper end of squad experience at these championships and are worthy of further note as 16 are aged 23-28 and probably still improving. Argentine head coach Gerardo Martino (Tata) took his own national team to two Copa America finals and also won the MLS coach of the year in between that and taking charge of El Tri in January 2019, which has given him almost a full four years in the job. His teams like to press high and hard and are very offensive minded, usually pleasing on the eye and fun to watch and to be honest, that is normally what we expect from Mexico in any case. He has made some brave decisions, for example, he left out Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, despite being the all time Mexico top goalscorer and his huge season for LA Galaxy ,18 goals and 3 assists. Up top he has gone with Hirving Lozano (Napoli) , Raul Jimenez (Wolves) and three domestic players who have been in outstanding form (Mori has been on fire!). They have a lot of experience in goal and the backline, along with some youthful talent and in midfield , Tata will base his options around Andres Guardado , Hector Herrera (the pair have 278 caps between them!) and Ajax star Edson Alvarez (who is constantly being courted by some EPL big names). I really like the mix and as a minimum, expect El Tri to reach their usual last 16 spot, where they will face either France or Denmark, both FIFA ranked top 10. We have landed this bet twice before, but no excuses in going for the hat-trick .............

 

2.5 units Mexico to lose in the R16 @  2.75-2.875 general quote.

 

Good luck!