00:04when Mexico qualified for Qatar 2022 it was their eighth successful qualifying campaign in a row
00:14this is a feeling that's difficult to express it's satisfaction it's delight it's a bit of
00:22relief after such a complicated qualifying stage but most of all it's the pride of seeing our
00:27national colors here in Qatar Patel tree were made to work harder than usual in CONCACAF qualifying
00:34scoring fewer goals and earning fewer wins than at any point in this long run reflecting the
00:42shifting dynamics of football in the region and also the extraordinary range of playing conditions
00:50for example qualifying featured back-to-back defeats in the USA and Canada
00:58the second of those away in Edmonton was the coldest match in Mexican football history
01:04kicking off at minus nine degrees I've always seen Mexico as one of the teams that has evolved the
01:13most throughout these last 20 or 25 years the fact that Mexico systematically reaches the last 16 at
01:23World Cups marks the progress with their presence at the 2026 tournament assured as co-hosts the ninth
01:37World Cup in a row is guaranteed you have to go back to 1990 for the last time Mexico failed
01:43to reach the finals and that was after they were disqualified as a consequence of fielding over age players at
01:50the 1988 CONCACAF
01:52the 2020 tournament and what became known is the catchy rules scandal
02:01but you have to go back even further to 1986 for the last time Mexico ventured as far as the
02:08quarterfinals at a World Cup
02:09despite El Tri's consistent qualification and progressing out of their group at the finals the round of 16 has proven
02:18impenetrable with seven consecutive defeats from 1994 to 2018
02:26Mexican fans name it the curse of the fifth game or Quinta partida with its origins dating to the catchy
02:35rule scandal
02:37because four players were found to have falsified their ages the fourth match at each subsequent World Cup ended in
02:44defeat meaning the fifth game never eventuates
02:53what we all want is to play the famous fifth game but it is also true that sometimes results come
02:59down to chance
03:06but what we want is a team with a game plan that is visible to all and if we achieve
03:12that the objective will be closer
03:18this hoodoo feeds into a second jinx known as Moctezuma's curse during Mexico's run of seven consecutive defeats in the
03:27round of 16
03:28six of their opponents lost the subsequent match with the only anomaly the Netherlands in 2014 still failing to lift
03:37the trophy
03:41the season of soccer we thought you might like to look back at some highlights from Mexico's football culture dates
03:47back to the early 20th century
03:50and the country has a place in history as participants in the first ever World Cup match
03:56when they lost 4-1 to France on the opening day of the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay
04:05the following match against Chile they conceded the World Cup's first own goal
04:13and against Argentina they scored the competition's first ever penalty kick
04:18but still lost 6-3
04:24perhaps Mexico have always been destined to play World Cup 4 guys
04:31Mexico made little impression on international football for a number of decades
04:35but during this period goalkeeper Antonio Carvajal earned his place in the record books
04:41becoming the first player to appear at five World Cups
04:45a record he now shares with five other players
04:53Remarkably two of these are compatriots
04:56with Rafael Marquez and Andres Guardado
04:59showing remarkable fortitude in the 21st century
05:06Mexico hosted the World Cup for the first time in 1970
05:10providing the backdrop for Pele to exit the international game at the highest level
05:17then 16 years later they hosted again
05:20with the vast Azteca becoming the stage upon which Diego Maradona would enthrall the world
05:26and score two of the World Cup's most memorable goals
05:30you
05:31you
05:31you
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