Mexico - 6th time lucky?

Mexico have qualified for fourteen World Cups and have qualified consecutively since 1994; Mexico played France in the very first match of the first World Cup on 13 July 1930. Their best progression was reaching the quarter-finals in both the 1970 and 1986 FIFA World Cups, both of which were staged on Mexican soil. In 2002 and 2006 they reached they round of sixteen and they matched that in 2010. Miguel Herrera, the coach, led them to World Cup qualification but can he be the man to take them to the quarter finals?

In qualifying they finished 4th in their group behind, Honduras, USA and Costa Rica. They beat New Zealand 9-1 on aggregate in the playoff which secured their place in Brazil. Oribe Peralta was Mexico's top scorer with 10 goals and they need him to keep on scoring if they want to progress through the group.  

Personally, I don't think they will qualify, they may be used to the South American temperatures but they don't have as much quality as Brazil or Croatia. If they do get through then I think the round of sixteen is a likely finish. 

Player to watch- Many people outside of Mexico would say Javier Hernandez or Giovani dos Santos but in my opinion, Oribe Peralta is the player people should be looking out for. Just secured a $10 million move to América and has been a goal-scoring machine on the international stage of late and can propel Mexico to new heights this summer if he can continue to deliver in the final third. He was Mexico's top scorer in qualifying and also fired them to Olympic success two years ago. At 30 years old, could the 'late bloomer' be the vital part of Mexico's success. 

Possible Starting XI- 5-3-2

Ochoa; Marquez, Rodriguez, Aguilar, Hector Moreno; Layun, Jimenez, Medina, Giovani dos Santos; Peralta, Hernandez

Written by Henry (@FoulkesFootball)