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Mexico usually hits a wall when playing on the opening day of the World Cup.
In the previous seven events, El Tri’s record is five defeats and two draws. Mexico will get another chance Thursday when it hosts South Africa to kick off the 48-team tournament.
“We have to break this trend,” coach Javier Aguirre said during a press conference on Wednesday at the Azteca stadium.
“I didn’t know about it,” he said of the winless streak, “but I’m going to tell the guys about it. It’s a good reason to tell them we need to go out there and win the game. Hopefully we’ll break that trend tomorrow.”
Thursday’s match is a rematch of the opening match of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. This match ended in a 1-1 draw in Johannesburg.
Aguirre, in his third term as Mexico coach, has the team playing its best football in years and going on a seven-game unbeaten streak. El Tri’s last defeat dates back to November against Paraguay.
“This could be a big day for us; whatever happens, it will be a celebration that will last for decades,” said Aguirre, who played for Mexico in the 1986 World Cup on home soil, when the Mexican team did not participate in the opening match of the tournament but reached the quarterfinals.
“I hope we get off to a good start, like we did back then,” he added. “The players know: tomorrow could be a historic day for many of them, as it is unlikely that they will ever experience a World Cup at home again.”
Mexico lost its opening matches in 1930, 1950, 1954, 1958 and 1962 and drew in 1970 – at home – and in 2010.
(Photo by PEDRO UGARTE / AFP via Getty Images)
Some of these tournaments had matches starting simultaneously on the opening day, such as Uruguay in 1930 when France beat Mexico 4-1 while the United States beat Belgium 3-0.
At the 1986 World Cup, reigning champions Italy played the opening match of the tournament against Bulgaria – a 1-1 draw in Mexico City. The Mexican team played its first group stage match two days later and won 2-1 against Belgium.
Old rivals
(Photo by Carl de Souza and Phill Magakoe/AFP via Getty Images)
Aguirre and Hugo Broos, former Belgian international now coach of South Africa, clashed that day.
“I remember very well the confidence with which we entered the field to face Belgium. We were sure that the match would not go badly; we understood the challenge that Belgium represented and the South Africa coach, who played in that match, learned from that experience,” added Aguirre.
Broos, appointed in May 2021, took South Africa to their first FIFA World Cup in 16 years and also secured a third place finish at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
“Of course it’s a big challenge to play in front of 87,000 Mexicans, but I will tell the players to concentrate on the match. The Mexicans (fans) in the stadium are not playing, they are just shouting, singing and dancing,” Broos said. “We have to concentrate on the match (and) if we can do that and not be disturbed by the noise of the Mexicans, we can have a good match tomorrow.”
After losing to Mexico in 1986, Broos and Belgium rallied to reach the semifinals. Mexico lost to Germany on penalties in the round of 16.
“We don’t have the pressure that belongs to the host,” Broos said. “We are very well prepared for tomorrow’s match.”
Associated Press reporting.
