(Football news) Mexico narrowly missed out on qualification into the Round of 16 despite defeating Saudi Arabia 2-1 as Poland progressed due to a superior goal difference along with Group C leaders Argentina. Goals by Henry Martin (47th minute) and a fantastic freekick by Luis Chavez in the (52nd minute) meant that Mexico needed just one more goal to not exit the Group Stage due to an inferior fair play points total. A stoppage time goal by Salem Al-Dawsari all but ended Mexico’s hopes of qualification and provided some respite to Saudi Arabia, who also crashed out of the World Cup.
The result meant that Group C winners Argentina will now take on Australia in the Round of 16 while Poland, who finished runners-up, will face reigning World Champions France. Saudi Arabia made three changes in the match against Mexico following their defeat against Poland with the likes of Hassan Tambakti, Saud Abdulhamid and Ali Al-Hassan featuring in the starting lineup. As for Mexico, Jorge Sanchez, Edson Alvarez, Orbelin Pineda and Henry Martin returned to the team as Gerardo Martino made four changes from the team that were beaten by Argentina.
“We are very frustrated. After the first two games we were left with a lot to do and this last one was not enough for us. We didn’t have any goals and we had a lack of attention at the back today and it ended up leaving us out. We will see what happens next, those of us who have to leave this national team, this cannot happen to Mexico. We had set ourselves the goal of the fifth game and we didn’t even reach the fourth.”
Mexico goalscorer Luis Chavez
“The result does not reflect the reality of the match, as we deserved to lose by more goals had it not been for Al-Owais. He saved us in the third minute and we couldn’t handle Mexico’s intensity and enthusiasm in the duels. We suffered physically, and we had to adapt to the injury of defender Ali Al-Bulaihi. Mexico were the better team, and we knew that they would play aggressively in order to score more goals to qualify for the next round.
Saudi Arabia head coach Herve Renard
“The squad includes 26 players, and we have to deal with what we have. Yes, injuries affected us, but they are not an excuse. Against Poland, we were the better team, but we weren’t efficient in the last third, but today we played poorly.”
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