Mexico withdraws from the World Cup despite beating Saudi Arabia 2-1
Mexico beat Saudi Arabia 2-1 in an electrifying atmosphere at Stadium 974 tonight, but both teams crashed out of the World Cup after Argentina beat Poland 2-0.
The Halcones could have reached the last 16 with a draw if Poland beat Argentina, while for El Tri, just a win wasn’t enough to give them a chance to progress and they’ll come out nasty.
Henry Martin scored the first goal of the match from close range with a header from César Montes, before Luis Chávez scored a second a minute later when a stunning long-range free kick hit the top right corner with venom.
Saudi Arabia’s Salem Al-Dawsari struck late on to break Mexican hearts, although it was too late for his side, ensuring both countries were out of the competition.
With both teams most likely to win the match to reach the round of 16, it was a head-to-head match from start to finish, with both goalkeepers questioned in the early substitutions.
Alexis Vega had Mexico’s first real chance of the match, but Mohammed Al Owais blocked his shot from the edge of the box.
El Tri surged forward hoping to get a quick goal, which led Saudi Arabia to threaten in the first half with Saud Abdulhamid when Chávez was fouled just outside the box.
Mohammed Kanno was the man who came in to take the free kick, which shot just over the bar and goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa was caught.
Throughout the game, both Managers followed the progress of the second game in Group C, and before Half-time there was a great moment when Lionel Messi missed a penalty, despite Argentina taking the lead shortly after the end. break up with Alexis Mac Allister.
Although the second team in Group C looked to gain momentum in the second half, Mexico and Saudi Arabia were shocked by two goals in quick succession in the opening stages.
Martin was lucky to get an easy shot from the penalty spot after Montes finished, but Chávez’s goal was anything but simple.
The midfielder hit the ball perfectly from at least 25 yards to fire home the free-kick to score his first goal for his country, one of the best ever scored at the World Cup.
Given the circumstances of the second leg, Mexico needed just one more goal to secure their place in the last 16 and they thought they had done so when Hirving Lozano found the back of the net only to be ruled offside by a narrow margin. and the match ended 2:0.
When Argentina added a second goal through Julián Álvarez, Gerardo Martino’s Mexican side were still out of contention as they had picked up more yellow cards than Poland, so he wasted everything on the crucial extra goal.
As the game drew to a close, the Falcons knew their run was over, but Mexico continued to fight for their lives, adding to the pressure as they sent a sea of bodies forward.
Mexico supporters thought their moment had arrived when Uriel Antuna dropped the ball into the back of the net from behind the net, but missed just wide and the goal was ruled out for offside.
That’s not the case for Mexico, who failed to create a last-ditch chance with seven extra minutes remaining and missed the World Cup at the group stage for the first time since 1978, when Al-Dawsari scored from close range in injury time. seal your fate.
Lineups:
Saudi Arabia Replacements: Madu, Otayf, Al-Naji, Al-Abed, Bahbri, Al-Aboud, Al-Aqidi, Nasser Al-Dawsari, Asiri, Sharahili, Al-Rubaie
Mexico Replacements: Talavera, Araujo, Vasquez, Arteaga, Romo, Rodriguez, Jimenez, Funes Mori, Cota, Gutierrez, Herrera, Guardado, Antuna, Alvarado, Kevin Alvarez
Scorers:
90′ Salem Al-Dawsari
47’Henry Martin
52’Luis Chavez
Yellow Cards:
Saleh Al-Shehri
Ali Al-Hassan
Hassan Altambakti
Abdullah Madu
Abdulelah Al Amri
Hattan Sultan Babhir
Edson Alvarez
