In Match No. 40 of the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, teams from Group C were in action. The third and final group stage matches were played at the same time in different venues, and despite a hard-fought 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia, Mexico failed to advance to the Round of 16, whereas Poland, even after losing 0-2 against Lionel Messi’s Argentina, made it to the knockout stages of this year’s tournament.
The match between Saudi Arabia and Mexico, which was played at the Lusail Iconic Stadium, was a thriller. Both teams were in contention to secure a place in the next round. While a win would have sealed the deal for the world’s No. 51 team, Saudi Arabia, which shocked Argentina 2-1 in their tournament opener, Mexico’s fate was dependent on the results of other matches as well.
Along with their victory, they had to hope that Poland beat Argentina, or if that game ended in a draw or Poland lost, they would beat both Argentina and Poland on goal difference. But it didn’t happen. Despite securing a win, Mexican players had to pack their bags as they failed to beat Poland in terms of goal difference.
Poland ended the group stage with a goal difference of 0, whereas with a –1 goal difference, Mexico’s hopes were all but over. Both teams finished with the same number of points (4), but Poland advanced because of a better goal difference.
In their match against Saudi Arabia, after a goalless first half, Mexico opened the scoring just two minutes after the change of ends. Henry Martin, who was playing at the center-forward position, broke the deadlock. Mexico earned a corner after 90 seconds, and when it was taken, Cesar Montes set the ball for Martin with a cheeky flick, who found the back of the net with a smart finish.
Mexico scored the second goal in the 52nd minute of the game when Luis Chavez scored from a free kick. The 26-year-old midfielder scored a stunner from 30 yards outside that went straight past the Saudi Arabian goalkeeper. It was a sensational strike from the Mexican player, who is surely one of the favourites to win the goal of the tournament award. It was a beyond glorious strike that found the top left corner and sent the Mexican fans present in the stadium going wild.
Mexico scored two more goals in the 56th and 87th minutes of the game, but both of them were ruled out due to a tight offside call. Had any of them counted, Mexico would have progressed, but it didn’t happen that way, and their hopes of matching Poland in goal difference suffered a big blow when, in the fifth minute of added time after regulation 90 minutes, Al-Dawsari’s late strike put an end to the drama.
