Mexico

Nickname: Le Tricolores or Le Tri (The Three Colors)
FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking: 17

Mexico qualified for the World Cup in second place in the CONCACAF zone behind the USA. They ended their qualification campaign very impressively by winning five of their last seven games and losing just one.

Mexico is making its 14th appearance in the World Cup and has reached the round of 16 in each of the last four World Cups. They are expected to do the same this year, coming out of Group A which features hosts South Africa (ranked 83rd), Uruguay (ranked 16th) and France (ranked 9th). Their fate may be decided on June 22 when they face Uruguay in their last match of the group stage; the victor in this match will likely place second in this group behind France.

Coach

Mexico is once again coached by Javier Aguirre, who took over late in the qualification process and helped lead Mexico’s impressive finishing run. He performed similarly in 2001 when he took over and helped lead Mexico to the 2002 World Cup, where, surprisingly, they won their group (which included Italy, Croatia and Ecuador) before ultimately losing to the USA. Mexicans will hope he can repeat that magic and take it a step further into the quarterfinals and hopefully beyond.

Key Players

Mexico is once again led by forward Cuauhtemoc Blanco, who came out of retirement when Aguirre took over and helped lead the struggling Mexican team back into World Cup qualification. Another forward to watch on this team is youngster Giovanni Dos Santos, who may very well be the future of Mexican soccer. This team is captained by Rafael Marquez, who is considered by some to be the best defender Mexico has ever had.