The Mexican National Team’s run in the 2026 FIFA World Cup officially came to an end with a statistic that reflects two very different realities. On the one hand, the team coached by Javier Aguirre had an outstanding group stage and once again competed among the tournament’s top teams. On the other hand, their elimination in the Round of 16 against England left El Tri in ninth place—the worst finish the team has ever achieved in a World Cup it has hosted.
The result was confirmed once all the Round of 16 matches had concluded, including Argentina’s victory over Egypt and Switzerland’s win against Colombia, which ultimately determined the final standings of the teams eliminated in that round.
Mexico was the best team to be eliminated in the round of 16
Although it failed to advance to the quarterfinals, Mexico put in a solid performance for much of the tournament.
In the group stage, they won three games, earned nine points, and were one of the most consistent teams during that phase.
Only France and Argentina finished ahead of El Tri in the first-round standings, thanks to the tiebreaker criteria.
Based on the final results of the round of 16, Mexico finished as the best team among those eliminated at that stage, placing ninth in the overall standings.
The order of the teams eliminated in the round of 16 was as follows:
9th Mexico (12 points, +7)
10th Colombia (11 points, +4)
11th Brazil (10 points, +6)
12th United States (9 points, 0)
13th Portugal (8 points, +5)
14th Egypt (8 points, +2)
15th Canada (7 points, -1)
16th Paraguay (7 points, -2)
For Hispanic fans in the United States, this result marks Mexico’s best performance since Brazil 2014, when it finished 10th.
In addition to confirming a significant improvement over Qatar 2022, where El Tri was eliminated in the group stage (Filed under: Mexico finishes ninth at the 2026 World Cup).
Its worst World Cup as a host country
Despite its overall strong performance, ninth place marks Mexico’s worst finish in the three World Cups it has hosted.
At the 1970 and 1986 World Cups, both of which were held entirely in Mexico, the national team reached the quarterfinals and finished in sixth place in both tournaments.
However, those tournaments had fewer participating teams (16 in 1970 and 24 in 1986).
Meanwhile, the 2026 World Cup featured 48 teams for the first time.
The elimination against England in the Round of 16 prevented El Tri from matching those historic performances (Filed under: Mexico finishes ninth at the 2026 World Cup).
Mexico was the best eliminated team in the round of 16
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Here’s how Mexico has fared in the World Cups
Among the Mexican national team’s most notable performances are its sixth-place finishes in 1970 and 1986, both as the host nation.
In contrast, their worst recent performance was at Qatar 2022, when they finished in 22nd place after being eliminated in the group stage (Filed under: Mexico finishes ninth at the 2026 World Cup).
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