MOSCOW, Russia. At the State Kremlin Palace, Juan Carlos Osorio and Mexico found out its first three opponents in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Mexico was drawn into Group F, where El Tri would face Germany, Sweden, and South Korea.
El Tri gets a rematch with the defending World Cup and Confederations Cup champions, who knocked them out of the latter tournament this year with a convincing 4-1 thrashing, and gets it right away in their opening game at the Luzhniki Arena in Moscow.
Then, El Tri travels west to Rostov-on-Don to face Sweden in a match where Mexico could face arguably its Achilles’ heel–a team that is extremely solid defensively and is unafraid to work until the end to get the required result.
In the final match of the group, El Tri travels to Ekaterinburg to face Sweden–a tricky opponent in the mold of South Korea who are unafraid to force Mexico to break them down deep in their own half, and to work collectively to frustrate them for the entire 90 minutes in a match that could very well determine whether El Tri gets past the group stage in Russia.
Should Mexico get out of Group F, its path to a World Cup gets difficult right away. Regardless of whether Mexico comes out of the group in second place in first place, Mexico could face World Cup favorites Brazil right away in the Round of 16.
The path does not necessarily get easier beyond a potential Round of 16 date with O Selecao or any of the other Group F teams. Mexico could potentially one of several other potent sides England, Belgium, Colombia, Japan, and Senegal, followed by a potential semifinal match against Spain, Portugal or Argentina.
To fulfill the obligations of many in or around El Tri‘s circles and get at least get to the octavos or even the quarterfinals, El Tri likely has little room for error, innocence, or poor finishing.
The draw was conducted differently than in the 2014 World Cup. Teams were selected for a group in alphabetical order of the groups (A-H) unless the group already had a member from the same confederation, if the team was not from UEFA (or two others for UEFA teams), at which the group assignment was moved to the first eligible group for that team. To decide the order of matches for each team, the “seeded teams” were all assigned to Position 1 in their group and the teams in Bombos 2-4 were also randomly placed in group positions 2-4 in each group.
Here is Mexico’s schedule for their group stage games at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and the complete draw for the Group Stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The World Cup officially kicks off on June 14, when the Sbornaya of Russia host Saudi Arabia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
Mexico’s Group F Schedule:
June 17, 10:00 AM (UTC -5): Germany vs Mexico – Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
June 23, 10:00 AM (UTC -5): South Korea vs Mexico – Rostov Arena, Rostov-on-Don
June 27, 9:00 AM (UTC -5): Mexico vs Sweden – Central Stadium, Yekaterinburg
Complete 2018 FIFA World Cup Group Stage Draw:
Group A; Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Uruguay
Group B: Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Iran
Group C: France, Australia, Peru, Denmark
Group D: Argentina, Iceland, Croatia, Nigeria
Group E: Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia
Group F: Germany, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea
Group G: Belgium, Panama, Tunisia, England
Group H: Poland, Senegal, Colombia, Japan
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