The last chance for the Mexican National Team to get its direct pass to the Qatar 2022 World Cup will be on this day of the Concacaf Octagonal. So far the Tri and the United States are tied in points, only the goal difference separates them and has Mexico in third place and the Americans in second place.
Both teams will meet this Thursday, March 24 on the Azteca Stadium court to define the course of the final qualifier. Gerardo Tata Martino's team is obliged to win so as not to compromise their automatic pass, but if they lose or draw the scenario would be different and the pressure on the team would be greater.
In the first instance, the Tricolor players would be forced to beat Honduras and El Salvador to remain in the top three places in the octagonal, because if they descend to fourth place they would enter the confederations repechage. In addition, the possible combinations of results would harm the Tri.
If Mexico loses to the United States, what outlook will they face?
In the hypothetical scenario in which the Tri falls to the stars and stripes squad, it would be left with 21 points, which would mean a disadvantage with the US as they would be left with 24 points and the chances of climbing to second place would be nullified.
So the national team should beat Honduras and El Salvador with a comfortable score to finish the octagonal with 27 total points, the minimum amount that would give them the pass to Qatar.
Assuming that Canada and the United States win their respective games, the first places in the table would be as follows:
1.- Canada 33 points
2.- United States 30 points
3.- Mexico 27 points
However, the combination would be complicated if the following matches are tied by Tricolor. On the assumption that he equals the score with Honduras and El Salvador after losing to the US, he would be left with 23 points, which risks being overtaken by Panama.
In the imagination that the Panamanians win against Honduras and the United States, plus a draw with Canada, they would be reaching 24 points; the ideal result for Panama to displace the Aztec team would be two wins and one draw. If so, the table would be left with these modifications:
1.- Canada 33 points (winning all their matches)
2.- United States 27 points (beating Mexico and Costa Rica, plus one defeat)
3.- Panama 24 points (two wins and one draw)
4.- Mexico 23 points (one defeat and two draws)
If Mexico draws with the United States, what will Tata Martino have to do?
Another possibility of the game is that both teams are even on the scoreboard, so they would split points, so they would both be with 22, but the goal difference would favor those led by Gregg Berhalter.
So Tata Martino would have to double efforts and exceed them in the score. The Mexican National Team would again be obliged to defeat Honduras with a minimum score of 3-0 in order to take precedence over the Americans and reach 25 points that will lead them to second place, as long as the US draws or loses their next commitment.
Then he would have to beat the Salvadorans with a majority score to prevent them from exceeding him in goal difference, otherwise he would be placed in third position. So Mexico would have to defeat El Salvador to finish with 28 total points.
If the Americans accumulate two draws and one victory they would reach 26 points, and the final table would be as follows:
1.- Canada 33 points (with 3 wins)
2.- Mexico 28 points (one draw and two wins)
3.- United States 26 points (two draws and one win)
But, in a negative scenario in which Mexico drew in its three games and Panama won all its games, the Tri would be in the playoff zone.
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