Mexico eye quinto partido breakthrough against England | OneFootball

Mexico face England in the last 16 overnight from Sunday to Monday, seeking to end the quinto partido curse and reach a World Cup quarter-final for the first time in 40 years.

According to L'Équipe, Javier Aguirre was left a little dazed after the 2-0 win over Ecuador in the last 32 on 30 June, asking for a Lagavulin eight-year-old with two ice cubes and joking that two glasses even make him speak English.

El Vasco, the Basque, had a fresh bottle sent to his room, just in case there is something to toast. Any further progress would be historic, Mexico have not reached the last eight since 1986, when West Germany advanced after 0-0 and 4-1 on penalties.

That 1986 exit in Monterrey’s Estadio Universitario, El Volcan, helped cement the quinto partido idea, the elusive fifth match Mexico have not managed to win, and, until this 48-team format added a round, even to reach again.

Despite ranking among the top five for tournament appearances, Mexico have never made the semi-finals and have lost seven straight last-16 ties, to Bulgaria in 1994, Germany in 1998, United States in 2002, Argentina in 2006 and 2010, Netherlands in 2014, and Brazil in 2018.

André-Pierre Gignac has suggested clearing the hurdle has become an obsession, and that doing so would already make it a fine World Cup, while Guillermo Ochoa, the first Mexican to play at six World Cups, rejects talk of curses. The onus is on Aguirre to find the right answer against England.

Source: L'Équipe