Mexico coach Gerardo Martino announced on Saturday that he expects a strong showdown with Saudi Arabia in the third and final round of the World Cup group stage in Qatar, warning that “as long as there is an opportunity to qualify, Mexico will try to take advantage of it,” according to Agence France. -press.
Mexico made it harder to qualify for the second round with a 2-0 loss to Argentina in the second round of the Group C competition as their balance sheet froze at one point and fell to last fourth place, three points behind leaders Poland and trailing Argentina by two points. and Saudi Arabia.
And Mexico now needs to beat Saudi Arabia by at least a three-goal margin next Wednesday to secure qualification, with Poland hesitant against Argentina.
“While we still have a chance, we should try to take it,” Martino said at a press conference after the loss to Argentina.
He added: “Saudi Arabia should win this match and so should we. They need to score goals and so do we.”
He continued: “We have kept our heads held high in the face of a great opponent and I am confident that we will do our best in the next match.”
And about the group, sports analyst Abdel Nasser Harb says in an interview with Al-Hurra that in the last round for the Saudi group, Al-Akhdar plays against Mexico, and Poland against Argentina, and if Saudi Arabia beats Mexico, it qualifies immediately .
In the event that Saudi Arabia drew Mexico and Argentina lost to Poland, Saudi Arabia is also eligible.
Because in this case the green team will have four points and if Poland wins against Argentina they will have 7 points with Poland and with Argentina 3 points and Mexico two points, so Poland will come out first and Saudi Arabia second.
But if Argentina beat Poland and Saudi Arabia to a draw with Mexico, then Argentina qualify with 6 points, Poland with 4 points, Saudi Arabia with 4 points and Mexico with 2 points, in which case the goal difference between Poland and Saudi Arabia is taken into account, and so far the goal difference is in favor of Poland, which has two goals, while Saudi Arabia has a negative goal.
