Why Isn’t Mexico in the Women’s World Cup?

The 2023 Women’s World Cup is so close, with the first game taking place on July 20. While many Latin American teams are heading to Australia this summer, surprisingly, Mexico isn’t one of them. 

Despite having the CONCACAF W Championship at home in Mexico, the Mexican team was unable to win a game at the tournament sending them out of the tournament at the bottom of Group A. Failing to advance in that tournament meant that Mexico would miss out on the World Cup for the second cycle having not qualified in 2019 either. 

Other countries in CONCACAF have stepped up, and the tournament as a whole has become more competitive. However, Mexico has fallen off as one of the top teams. 

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Mexico has a ton of talent and has brought in a lot of younger players, including players currently playing in the NWSL, like Diana Ordoñez, Maria Sanchez, Scarlett Camberos, Reyna Reyes, and others. 

Coaching Changes

After failing to qualify for the 2019 Women’s World Cup, the federation sacked Roberto Medina, who was hired in 2017. Christopher Cuéllar replaced Medina in 2019. Two years later, though, Mexico made another coaching change after disappointing results and hired Mónica Vergara in 2021. 

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Once again, though, Vergara also had a short stint as the head coach. She was fired after the team failed to qualify for the 2023 World Cup. In 2022, Pedro López was hired as the next head coach. 

In the span of five years, four different head coaches coached the team, which is difficult for players. Mexico has a ton of young talent on the team, but constantly changing head coaches and coaching styles can be difficult for the team to get into a rhythm, and that could be partially to blame for the recent struggles. With a consistent head coach who can really have a vision for this team, Mexico will be back on the big stage. 

They have the talent, but they haven’t been able to put together the results, it’s been a down few years for the team, but things seem to be turning around. 

Featured image via @miseleccionfem on Instagram

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