Mexico vs. Saudi Arabia World Cup Preview

Mexico will face Saudi Arabia in the third round of the group stage and el-tri must win to have a chance at making it to the first knockout round of the World Cup. Mexico is fresh off a loss to Argentina, but they did show signs of improvement. To say Mexico had it tough going in is an understatement sharing the same group as Poland and Argentina, but given their poor performance leading to Qatar, Mexico is actually poised to still make an impact in this World Cup, but they will still need help from the result of the match between Argentina and Poland that will happen at the same time.

What Mexico Needs to Advance.

There is still hope for Mexico to advance to the knockout stages, but having only 1 point at the bottom of the group C table every possible scenario required them to advance. They will play at the exact same time and could depend heavily on the result of the Argentina vs. Poland game. Here are the different results that will see Mexico to the next round. Both scenarios require Mexico to have a better goal differential than either Poland, or Argentina.

Mexico wins and Argentina wins: In this case how many goals Argentina wins by, and how many Mexico is able to score on Saudi Arabia will determine if Mexico makes it to the knockout stage.
Mexico wins and Argentina ties with Poland: Poland would be in first and Mexico and Argentina would tie for second, with goal differential being the tiebreaker.

In every other scenario where Mexico loses or ties to Saudi Arabia, the Mexican team would return home to hopefully very quickly find a new coach.

Mexico vs Saudi Arabia which team has momentum?

Not even Lionel Messi could stop Saudi Arabia from making history in their world cup opening. With goals from Saleh Alshehri and a sensational strike by Salem Aldawsari they were able to overcome world cup favorites Argentina. However, the energy that their high-line defending and speed depends on began to show cracks, and eventually, Poland was able to put two in.

On the other hand, despite falling 2-0 to Argentina, for much of the match, Mexico showed focus, organization, and signs of their better days before bringing on troubled and indecisive coach Gerardo Martino.

Saudi Arabia showed some signs of waning energy, while Mexico looks more like they are slowly finding better form.

Mexico vs. Saudi Arabia Predicted Lineups

Mexico predicted XI: Ochoa; Sanchez, Montes, Gallardo, Moreno, Herrera, Alvarez, Chavez; Lozano, Jimenez, Vega

Saudi Arabia predicted XI: Al-Owais, Al-Amri, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Al-Burayk; Kanno; Al-Buraikan, Al-Abed, Al-Najei, Al-Dawsari; Al-Shehri