Saudi Arabia vs Mexico: Can the Falcons soar to make history?
Saudi Arabia will be looking to make history when they face Mexico on matchday three of the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Wednesday. The Green Falcons shocked the world on opening day, when they came from a goal down to beat 2021 Copa America winners Argentina 2-1. While Herve Renard’s side were unfortunately on the wrong end of a 2-0 score line against Poland, they are still in the running to qualify for their first round of 16 appearance since 1994.
With three points, Saudi Arabia are in contention to secure a spot as at least one of Poland and Argentina will drop points in their match being played simultaneously. They will need Poland to do them a major favor and beat Lionel Messi and his colleagues, as if that happens, then Renard’s men will simply need to avoid losing to Mexico to book their spot in the round of 16 as Group C’s runners-up.
When this group was announced, no one really gave Saudi Arabia much of a chance of progressing, and predicted that the Green Falcons would simply be there to make up the numbers. Indeed, ahead of their match against Argentina, the expectation was for that tie to be all one-way traffic, and the best the Middle Eastern nation could hope was to keep the score-line as respectable as possible.
However, as we learned, the underdogs can bite back, and Saudi Arabia did just that, putting on a brilliant second half performance to get a deserved victory and shake things up at the World Cup. They were given a dose of reality in their second game, but in watching how Mexico have really struggled to make the grade, the Green Falcons will fancy their chances at picking up a result here and potentially earning a spot in the knockout rounds.
Mexico, for their part, will need to win this game to have a shot at progressing, and will need Poland to also make sure that Argentina fail to ignite. Gerardo Martino’s reunion with his country of birth didn’t go exactly as planned, as El Tri were beaten 2-0 in a match that they struggled to establish a foothold in. To date, Mexico have gotten to the knockout rounds of every single World Cup since 1994 and haven’t crashed out early since 1978, but the North American powerhouse are looking in danger of joining Canada on an early flight home if they can’t turn things around.
They will also need Poland to do them a huge favor. On matchday one, Mexico held Poland to a scoreless draw thanks to the brilliant performance of Guillermo Ochoa – namely his stop to deny Lewandowski from the spot – but saw all their hard work come undone following their 2-0 loss to Argentina. It will be a bitter result, as Argentina really didn’t turn up until the second half, and Martino will be ruing missed opportunities as now, Mexico not only will need to beat Saudi Arabia, but also will need Poland to defeat Argentina.
In short, they are in a similar boat to Saudi Arabia, who, as mentioned before, will also need Poland to help them out against Argentina. Of course, from Poland’s perspective, they are through if they avoid a loss and Mexico don’t beat Saudi Arabia by a huge margin, so a point will be just enough to see them over the finish line.
Will Saudi Arabia’s dreams of making it to the round of 16 for the first time in nearly 30 years come to pass? Or will Mexico, seemingly against all odds, avoid matching an unpleasant record set decades ago?
