Brazil qualified for the World Cup quarter-final, defeating Mexico 2-0 in Samara. Neymar broke the deadlock after 51 minutes. Substitute Roberto Firmino added a late second – another tap-in – to seal the win and send the South Americans through to the quarter-final at the expense of Mexico, traditional powerhouse, who have only managed to reach the quarterfinal stage twice, in 1970 and 1986, when they played host.
In fact, it has been more like Mexico’s fourth match at the World Cup is jinxed. Many even refer to it as a “curse” that El Tri has not made it past the round of 16 in the past six editions.
Mexico booked a spot in Russia 2018 with a 1-0 win over Panama, securing qualification with three matches remaining. They lost just once in their 16 qualifiers. This summer in Russia, Mexico was hoping to go all out to snap their frustrating record. Their opening match of this year’s World Cup on June 17 against Germany gave credence to this resolve. They took down the defending champions 1-0. They picked up another win, 2-1, over South Korea in the second match but failed to sustain the tempo, following this with a 3-0 loss to Sweden to advance as second-placed finishers in their Group. A date with Brazil beckoned in the next round – the dreaded second round.
At last, the much-anticipated second round match came. But like has been the case in the last six editions, Mexico fell again at this hurdle; this time to five-time champions and tournament favourites Brazil. Ironically, where Mexico failed to change break away from history, Neymar made history. Neymar’s strike made Brazil the World Cup’s all-time scoring leaders with 227 goals, surpassing Germany with 226.
Now, Mexico will look to the future in 2022 where the team will likely look a lot different than it did this year.