Lusail, Dec 1: For a long time after the final whistle, Luis Chavez crouched on the field in anguish.
He had just scored in Mexico’s furious attempt to stay alive at the World Cup, but the 2-1 victory on Wednesday over Saudi Arabia wasn’t enough. Because of Argentina’s 2-0 victory over Poland in a simultaneous match, Mexico failed to advance out of its group for the first time since 1978.
“We had a chance to qualify,” Chavez said glumly.
“We didn’t achieve it.”
Mexico had reached the knockout round at the last seven World Cups, second only to Brazil, which has gone through to the round of 16 since 1986.
El Tri went into the match at Lusail Stadium needing both a victory and help from Poland playing across town against Argentina to advance in Group C. Argentina’s victory meant goal difference came into play – and Mexico didn’t have enough of them.
Henry Martin scored in the 48th minute to give El Tri hope, and the team’s chances got even better with Chavez’s goal on a free kick four minutes later. Uriel Antuna found the back of the net in the 87th minute that was ruled offside. (AP)
