Mexico is close to elimination after losing against Switzerland by a 3-1 score in their final group stage game of the 2025 U17 World Cup. Mexico will need to wait to be one of the best third placed teams
after only get three points in a World Cup were they have been a disappointment. Once again Mexico was the inferior team and were lucky to lose by only two goals difference. Mexico will now await other results to be one of the lowest ranked third place team to go thru, and possibly face the top team of the group stage, if they make it thru.
The 1st half started with Mexico coming out with Maximo Reyes and Lucca Vuoso from the start, sitting Aldo Denigris Jr and Luis Gamboa. Off a free kick, a cross into the area was just out of reach of Humberto Mancilla. From outside the area, Giacomo Koloto got off a right footed shot that went wide. Off a free kick, Michael Corona would cross the ball straight to a Swiss player and lost the ball in the area where Nevio Scherrer got to the ball but was brought down by Mexico’s goalkeeper, Santiago Lopez and a Penalty Kick was given. Mexico asked for a VAR revision but the PK stood. Nico Lazri took the PK but his right footed shot hit the post. Off a counter, Adrian Villa got easily beaten by Koloto, who got into the area where he would find Mladen Mijajlovic, who got off a left footed shot past Lopez to score and give Switzerland the 1-0 lead. A minute later, Jill Stiel got into the area and got off cross that Felix Contreras slid and deflected past Lopez to score the own goal that gave the Swiss the 2-0 lead. It was a terrible stretch of time that looked like it would doom Mexico. A cross into the area would find Reyes but his header was easily saved by Swiss goalkeeper, Theodore Pizarro. Off a corner kick, Contreras would get off a header that went wide. After getting the ball in the area, Gael Garcia got off a shot that was deflected wide. After a strong foul by Vuoso, Switzerland asked for a VAR review but after checking, nothing was given but the original Yellow card. The halftime whistle blew with Switzerland taking a deserved 2-0 lead as they had been the superior team.
The 2nd half started with Mexico subbing out Maximo Reyes, Lucca Vuoso and Iñigo Borgio for Luis Gamboa, Aldo Denigris Jr and Kenneth Martinez. Switzerland subbed out Nico Lazri and Erblin Sadikaj for Leonit Ibraimov and Aleksandar Sekulic. While Mexico had improved somewhat, it was still Switzerland who had most of the possession. After Pizarro tried to make a pass, the ball bounced of Denigris Jr but it went wide. A great cross from Ian Olvera would be headed by Aldo Denigris Jr past Pizarro to score and place the score at 2-1. Immediately Switzerland would strike back with a counter attack which ended with Scherrer making a pass to a wide open Mladen Mijajlovic, whose left footed shot went past Lopez to score and give Switzerland the 3-1 lead. It was another terrible display of Mexico not paying attention and being taken by surprise, a constant in recent years for their youth teams. Switzerland subbed out Mladen Mjajlovic and Giacomo Koloto for Ethan Bruchez and Jeremie Barererwa. Mexico subbed out Humberto Mancilla for Jorge Sanchez. Mexico failed to create much danger even when they had more possession than in the first half. Mexico subbed out Oscar Pineda for Karin Hernandez. After getting the ball in the area, Sandro Wyss got off a left footed shot that went well wide. Off a corner kick, a bad attempt from Pizarro left the ball there for Denigris Jr, who got off a shot past him but it was cleared off the line by Switzerland’s defense. Switzerland subbed out Jill Stiel for Justin Eglin. A cross into the area was badly handled by Pizarro but the ball was cleared by Switzerland’s defense before a Mexican attacker could get to it. Pizarro had to leave the match because of an injury in that play and because the Swiss were out of changes, Scherrer had to play as goalkeeper for the final minutes. Mexico would face a man advantage and a field player as goalkeeper for the final minutes but they were already in injury time. A cross into the area was headed by Denigris Jr but Scherrer would make a good save. Mexico would ask for a VAR review after Sanchez was brought down in the area but after the review, nothing was given. The final whistle blew as Switzerland won and qualified to the next round while Mexico is now in serious danger of not going thru to the next stage after another terrible display in the tournament.
Mexico’s lackluster U17 World Cup continued after another loss that now puts their participation in the tournament in danger. Mexico gave what was probably their worst performance in a 3-1 loss where Switzerland was clearly superior to them. While in the two past games, Mexico had a good performance in the 1st half only to have a decrease in level of play in the 2nd, this time it was the opposite. Mexico had a woeful 1st half especially on defense that led to a quick 2-0 lead for the UEFA side that could have been worse had the Swiss scored a PK. In the 2nd half, Mexico improved but after scoring, they let in a goal almost immediately that ended their chances. Mexico couldn’t even take advantage of having one more player on the field although to be fair, the match was already in injury time. Mexico will now need to wait for the results on Tuesday to see if they are one of the best third place team to go thru to the knockout stage. Currently they are the 8th and final placed team for the Round of 32 but results, especially in Group K, could knock them out of the competition. If so, it would be an incredible failure as it would mean that Mexico would not make it out of the Group Stage for the first time since 1997 (although they failed to qualify to the 2001 and 2007 editions), just in the tournament were the World Cup was expanded to 48 teams, with 32 of them making it to the knockout rounds.
