Here is a country with a population in excess of 100million whose side will be making their 14th appearance in the finals; that’s more than England, Spain or France.
Yet they have by far the worst record of the 12 nations to have qualified for the finals on 10 or more occasions, with just two quarter-final appearances – and both of those came when the tournament was held on their home turf.
The Mexicans actually came perilously close to failing to qualify for the 2010 tournament.
They made a disastrous start to their CONCACAF campaign under the stewardship of former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson: a run of five defeats in seven matches left their hopes hanging by a thread and cost the Swede his job.
But after Javier Aguirre took over in April 2009 for his second spell in charge, they went on a run of five consecutive victories that eventually sealed qualification with a match to spare.
Aguirre, who led Atletico Madrid to the UEFA Champions League twice in three years, has instilled greater passion and commitment into his side – although his methods have been less than orthodox.
The 50-year-old triggered a mass brawl and was banned from the touchline for three internationals after inexplicably kicking Panama’s Ricardo Phillips as the player ran past his dug-out in a CONCACAF Gold Cup match in July 2009.
Aguirre later said sorry to the Mexican fans and his players, but conspicuously refused to extend his apology to Phillips or Panama.
Mexico have two exciting young talents coming through the ranks in Arsenal’s Carlos Vela and Giovani dos Santos of Tottenham, but the secret of Aguirre’s success has been to reintroduce several senior figures who had been pensioned off by the old regime: striker Guillermo Franco, currently of West Ham, and cult forward Cuauhtemoc Blanco.
Blanco, now 36, is one of the few players to have a piece of skill named after him. While Johann Cruyff has his turn, Blanco boasts the Cuautemina, in which he traps the ball between his feet and jumps over an opposing player’s tackle.
Add in a strong defence boasting Barcelona’s Rafael Marquez, Ricardo Osorio of VfB Stuttgart and PSV’s Carlos Salcido, plus experienced holding midfielder Gerardo Torrado, and you have the makings of a decent side.
Whether it is good enough to rescue Mexico’s average World Cup record is another matter.
