And to think that in the 90s, Mexico reached the final in its first Copa América, that in 2001 it competed again for the title against Colombia and that on three occasions it won the third place medal…
Now, The Mexican National Team is on the verge of elimination in this tournament after losing against Venezuela for the first time in 41 years, but Has El Tri ever been eliminated in the group stage?
The “yes” answer has an enormous significance, since the only two occasions that the ‘Aztec’ team remained in the first phase was in the 2011 and 2015 editions, when CONCACAF forced Mexican soccer to compete with an alternate team. if he wanted to continue participating in CONMEBOL tournaments. That is to say, Mexico has never been eliminated in the first phase with a stellar team.
And although it may not seem like it, El Tri is competing in United States 2024 with the best it has.
This is Mexico’s history of eliminations in the Copa América:
EDITION |
INSTANCE |
RIVAL |
Ecuador 1993 |
Final |
Argentina |
Uruguay 1995 |
Quarter finals |
USA |
Bolivia 1997 |
Semifinal |
Bolivia |
Paraguay 1999 |
Semifinal |
Brazil |
Colombia 2001 |
Final |
Colombia |
Peru 2004 |
Quarter finals |
Brazil |
Venezuela 2007 |
Semifinal |
Argentina |
Argentina 2011 |
Group stage |
Uruguay |
Chile 2015 |
Group stage |
Ecuador |
United States 2016 |
Quarter finals |
Chile |
Brazil 2019 |
|
|
Brazil 2021 |
|
|
United States 2014 |
¿? |
¿? |
* In 2019 and 2021 he did not participate due to the break with CONMEBOL
Mexico has never won the America Cup, but after getting so close in other times, it now looks further away than ever. The decline of Tri is very clear, it was evident with the elimination in the group stage in Qatar 2022 (something that did not go beyond the 70s), it has been painfully confirmed with all the defeats against the United States and was formalized with the fall 1 -0 against Venezuela in Los Angeles.
The North American team is one game away from consummating its worst crisis in decades, because if it does not beat Ecuador on Sunday, June 30, it will be eliminated. Although, maybe that’s better than another 7-0 in the quarterfinals.