Rocio Robles
The fifth match is currenly the great ambition of the Mexican National Team, which will be participating in its 17th World Cup in history, having not reached this stage for 36 years.
The Qatar 2022 World Cup will be the #22 edition in history. Brazil is the only team that has competed in every World Cup since Uruguay 1930, while the Mexican National Team is one of the teams with the most attendances at the World Cup, having been out of the tournament on only five occasions.
But despite having been present in 16 of the 21 World Cups, the Aztecs have never been able to take the cup, and have only advanced as far as the quarterfinals on two occasions. Curiously, “El Tri” made it to that stage in the World Cups that Mexico hosted. In 1970, they lost 4-1 to Italy, and in 1986, after a 0-0 draw with Germany in regulation time, they lost on penalties.
It has been 36 years since the last time the Mexican National Team reached the fifth match and since then, the team has only missed one World Cup: Italy 1990, due to the famous “Cachirules” scandal.
Ever since the 1994 World Cup in the United States, the four Aztecs have reached the Round of 16 in seven consecutive editions, always with the goal of reaching the fifth match.
What does the Mexican National Team need to get to the fifth game?
“Ya merito” is a popular Mexican saying that means “nearly there, but not quite there” and it is often used in every World Cup, along with the statement “we played like never before and lost as we always do” to justify the Mexican National Team’s latest defeat.
Ultimately, “Tri” fans have come to believe that the failure to reach the fifth match is the result of a curse. Mexico may have had a mediocre to average qualifier record, but when they are faced with a major powerhouse in World Cup matches, they surprise by playing head-to-head with them, as they did in Russia 2018, defeating Germany 1-0.
Perhaps it’s not so much a curse as a lack of self-assurance. If Mexican players are only thinking about reaching the fifth match in each World Cup, they have already lost: this is so because their aspiration is not to win the title, but only to equal their best participation in the competition.
This has worked against them because, while they have had outstanding performances in some round of 16 matches, at least in the last two World Cups, they have also had some really awful performances where there was no way to keep going.
The players rely on the fans’ support, who go to considerable measures to follow them to the World Cup’s host country and they even become the majority in the stands to make their team feel at home. Maybe they just need to believe it: not just picture themselves in the fifth game, but in the seventh. The mentality with which they approach the tournament will be key to be able to pass the pending subject: the fifth match.
