It was Salem Al-Dawsari who stopped card counting. In the fifth minute of injury time, the Saudi Arabia captain scored to draw 2-1 with Mexico – perhaps the saddest goal of the World Cup as it meant both sides were eliminated. This is the first time Mexico have failed to reach the Round of 16 by participating in a World Cup, and it will give the Central Americans little consolation that they were eliminated on goals rather than yellow cards.
Between the 68th and 95th minute, a curious situation arose between Poland and Mexico: both teams were tied for second place on points and goals. And because the direct duel ended in a draw, the next decision criterion at Fifa is the fair play rating – and Mexico was only 4:7 and after a yellow card against Krychowiak 5:7. If Poland, theoretically, had received two more warnings, a draw would have been made.
So Mexico had to play for the third goal. It could have prevented the fair play decision if Uriel Antuna had started just a little later, but his goal to make it 3-0 was disallowed in the 87th minute and he was ruled offside. Orbelin Pineda shot wide of the far post with 15 minutes left and Hirving Lozano missed in the 77th minute. All chances were there. Only in the 53rd minute had Luis Chavez scored one of the most beautiful and now most useless goals in World Cup history. Chavez, 26, employed by Club de Futbol Pachuca in the state of Hidalgo, conjured up a free kick from 25 meters with his left inside instep, hard and smooth over the wall and through the air of Lusail Stadium into the right corner of the cross to make his team 2-0. A poem of a hit.
Perhaps the most atmospheric game at this World Cup produces two losers
First of all, the game served to refute a fear that was widespread, at least in Germany: that there would be no atmosphere at this World Cup. That’s wrong. The atmosphere at the Group C final was unbelievable, in the final stadium in Lusail, which has almost 80,000 seats, there were an estimated 50,000 Saudis and 30,000 Mexicans, but it could have been different, both fans are wearing dark-colored green jerseys, that makes a difference a distinction difficult.
But the distances from Saudi Arabia are shorter, three hours by car from Hofuf near the Al-Hafa oasis, four and a half from the port city of Dammam – that’s what you take when your own team can write football history. Even the Saudi anthem could hardly be heard from the loudspeakers because the crowd sang along with it. And when a few Saudi fans tried to whistle the Mexican anthem, they were unsuccessful because even outnumbered Mexicans sing louder than others can whistle. And because this was a knockout game, there was prayer before kick-off – Orbelin Pineda dropped to his knees and called to higher powers.
This initially gave his team a better start, Alexi Vega sprinted towards Saudi Arabia’s goalkeeper Mohammed al-Owais – when he parried after three minutes, the Saudi part of the stadium cheered as if a goal had just been scored. Al-Owais was the protagonist in the opening minutes, parrying Henry Martin (7th minute), catching a harmless shot by Chavez (23rd) and another harmless attempt by Pineda (25th).
The game didn’t really flow in the first half, in games where everything is at stake, not everything usually works. Mexico only came on after the break, scoring from a corner through Martin, then from Chavez’s dream free-kick, but not a third time. It is a bitter irony that what is perhaps the most atmospheric game at this World Cup has produced two losers. While the Saudi fans left the stadium straight away, many Mexicans sadly stayed in their seats and looked at the now empty field of the final stadium.