1930 FIFA World Cup

Lore & Background

Mexico's first World Cup match was a 4–1 defeat to France on 13 July 1930 at Estadio Pocitos, one of the two opening matches of the tournament. Mexico also lost 3–0 to Chile. The team did not face Romania or Peru in the tournament.

In Their Own Story

The ship groaned against the swell outside Montevideo harbour, and the players stood on the deck in their white shirts, watching the shore materialise through the morning mist. One of them, a young full-back from Mexico City, pressed his forehead against the cold railing and whispered a prayer to no one in particular. They had crossed an ocean. They had lost both matches already in their minds, perhaps, but they had been *here* — in the country that had built a cathedral of concrete and grass for this tournament. A Uruguayan dockworker shouted something in Spanish, friendly, and the full-back laughed, because even in defeat, the world had spoken to them in their own language. That night, in a cramped hotel room above a bakery, the team sat in silence, listening to the radio crackle with the sounds of the Estadio Centenario being prepared for the final. None of them would play in it. But they would carry the memory of the smell of the pitch, the weight of the ball, the roar of a crowd that did not know their names but had, for two afternoons, watched them try.

Reader's Guide

Mexico competed in Group 1 of the 1930 World Cup. Their results were a 4–1 loss to France and a 3–0 loss to Chile. They did not advance to the knockout stage.

Did You Know?

• Mexico's first World Cup match was against France, not Romania or Peru.
• Mexico lost 4–1 to France and 3–0 to Chile in Group 1.
• Mexico did not play against Romania or Peru in the 1930 World Cup.