MX23RW : Friday, March 29 10:12:17| >> :600:340724:340724:
[monks data]
Saudi Arabia national football team
World Cup | Group Stage
Nov 30, 2022 at 7pm UK
 
Mexico national football team

Saudi Arabia
1 - 2
Mexico

Al-Dawsari (90+5')
Al-Shehri (28'), Al Hassan (34'), Tambakti (52'), Madu (81'), Al Amri (90+1'), Babhir (90+7')
FT(HT: 0-0)
Martin (47'), Chavez (52')
Alvarez (16')

Mexico bow out of World Cup despite beating Saudi Arabia 2-1

Mexico bow out of World Cup despite beating Saudi Arabia 2-1
© Reuters
Mexico beat Saudi Arabia 2-1 in the World Cup this evening, but it is not enough for them to progress, with both teams bowing out of the competition.

Mexico defeated Saudi Arabia 2-1 amid an electric atmosphere at Stadium 974 this evening, but both teams were eliminated from the World Cup, as Argentina defeated Poland 2-0.

The Falcons would have been able to qualify for the last 16 with a draw if Poland were victorious against Argentina, while for El Tri nothing but a win was enough to give them any chance of progression, and they go out in cruel style.

Henry Martin notched the first goal of the game, firing home from close range after Cesar Montes headed it down, before Luis Chavez added a second minutes later when an unbelievable long-range free kick was struck with venom into the top right corner.

Saudi Arabia's Salem Al-Dawsari struck late to break Mexican hearts, despite it being all too late for his team, ensuring the two nations exited the competition.

With both teams, in all likelihood, needing to win the match to progress to the last 16, it was an end-to-end affair from the off, and both goalkeepers were called into question in the early exchanges.

Alexis Vega had the first real opportunity of the game for Mexico, but his effort from the edge of the box was kept out well by Mohammed Al Owais.

El Tri committed bodies forward in the hopes of getting an early goal, which led to Saudi Arabia threatening on the break, with Saud Abdulhamid being brought down by Chavez just outside the penalty area.

Mohammed Kanno was the man who stepped forward to take the resultant free kick, which was fired only narrowly over the bar, with goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa left rooted to his spot.

Throughout the match, both managers will have been keeping one eye on how the other game in Group C developed, and there was a huge moment as the game approached half time when Lionel Messi missed a penalty, although Argentina did take the lead just after the break through Alexis Mac Allister.

Although the fellow Group C side appeared to kick into gear in the second half, so did Mexico, and Saudi Arabia were left shell shocked by two goals in quick succession during the opening stages.

Martin was blessed with having an easy finish from inside the box after Montes headed down a cross, but Chavez's goal was far from simple.

The midfielder connected with the ball perfectly from at least 25 yards out to fire home a free kick, scoring his first ever goal for his country with one of the best strikes of the World Cup so far.

Given the circumstances in the other game, at this point Mexico needed just one more goal to seal a place in the knockout stages, and they thought they had it when Hirving Lozano had the ball in the back of the net, but he was offside by a tight margin and the game remained 2-0.

When Argentina added another through Julian Alvarez, Gerardo Martino's Mexico side were still heading out of the competition due to the fact that they had picked up more yellow cards than Poland, so they threw everything at the game to get an all-important extra goal.

As the game reached its finale, the Falcons knew that their race was run, but Mexico continued to fight for their lives, piling the pressure on as they committed a sea of bodies forward.

The Mexico fans thought their moment had come when Uriel Antuna had the ball in the back of the net late on, but he slightly mistimed his run, and the goal was rightly chalked off for offside.

It was not to be for Mexico, who could not craft one final opportunity in the seven additional minutes, and they exit the World Cup at the group stage for the first time since 1978, with Al-Dawsari firing home from close range in stoppage time to seal their fate.

ID:500957:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect6241:No Data Analysis info
Game History

How you voted: Saudi Arabia vs Mexico

Saudi Arabia
39.1%
Draw
15.6%
Mexico
45.4%
983
Collect / Create New Data
Share this article now:
Mexico players pose for a team group photo before the match on November 9, 2022
Read Next:
Saudi Arabia vs. Mexico: How do both squads compare ahead of World Cup clash?
>
Sports Mole Logo
Enter your email address to subscribe to Sports Mole's free match previews newsletter! Updates are sent twice a week.
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS

Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Netherlands Netherlands32107
Q Senegal flag Senegal32016
3 Ecuador flag Ecuador31114
4 Qatar Qatar30030

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England32107
Q United States USA31205
3 Iran Iran31023
4 Wales flag Wales30121

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Argentina Argentina32016
Q Poland Poland31114
3 Mexico Mexico31114
4 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia31023

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q France France32016
Q Australia Australia32016
3 Tunisia Tunisia31114
4 Denmark Denmark30121

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Japan Japan32016
Q Spain Spain31114
3 Germany Germany31114
4 Costa Rica flag Costa Rica31023

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Morocco Morocco32107
Q Croatia Croatia31205
3 Belgium Belgium31114
4 Canada Canada30030

Group G

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Brazil Brazil32016
Q Switzerland Switzerland32016
3 Cameroon flag Cameroon31114
4 Serbia Serbia30121

Group H

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal32016
Q Republic of Korea South Korea31114
3 Uruguay flag Uruguay31114
4 Ghana flag Ghana31023


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!