World Cup Group F team profile Mexico: How they qualified, star man, World Cup record, fixtures

ByEurosport

Updated 06/06/2018 at 14:14 GMT

With eccentric coach Juan Carlos Osorio driving them on, Mexico are desperate to end a run of six successive last-16 exits. They hope a mixture of experience and potential in attack will take them into the quarter-finals and beyond.

Mexico

Image credit: Eurosport

Honours: 10x CONCACAF Gold Cups; Confederations Cup 1999
FIFA Ranking: 15

HOW THEY QUALIFIED

Mexico had six wins in 10 games in the final stage of CONCACAF qualifying and came top of the fifth round group. Their total of 21 points gave them a five-point lead over Costa Rica.

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They would have enjoyed a large amount of schadenfreude at seeing rivals United States crash to fifth place in the group - missing out on the World Cup as a result.

THE SQUAD

STAR MAN - Javier Hernandez

Now 30, Chicharito may be a fading force at club level but he remains central to Mexico's hopes.

The striker only managed to score eight Premier League goals last season as he took up a regular place on the bench for West Ham.

But for El Tri, the attacker has 49 international goals.

NEXT BIG THING - Hirving Lozano

Mexico's national football team player Hirving Lozano attends a press conference at the High Performance Centre (CAR) on the outskirts of Mexico City

Image credit: Getty Images

Mexico have a very experienced team but PSV Eindhoven striker Lozano is the emerging young star for El Tri.

He made his international debut in 2016 and has already scored seven goals in 26 caps - including a winning goal in the important 1-0 win over Panama during qualifying.

Lozano joined PSV from Pachuca last summer and scored 19 goals in his first season with the Dutch club.

THE COACH - Juan Carlos Osorio

Mexico have a colourful and controversial character on the sidelines.

Osorio, a Colombian, has managed Mexico since October 2015 and has infused the team with an immense fighting spirit and a high level of motivation. He demands intense pressing from his charges.

Sometimes this approach can spill over and Osorio was hit with a six-game ban by FIFA for aggressive behaviour and insulting language directed at a referee at the Confederations Cup last summer.

WORLD CUP HISTORY

Mexico's defender and captain Rafael Marquez (C) and Mexico's goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa (L) react after the awarding of a penalty after a tackle on Netherlands' forward Arjen Robben

Image credit: Getty Images

Mexico have progressed out of the group in the last six World Cups, but no further.

They missed out on the quarter-finals in controversial circumstances four years ago: Mexico were leading Netherlands 1-0 until the 88th minute, when a late equalizer from Wesley Sneijder and then a penalty scored by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, following a notorious dive from Arjen Robben, turned the game.