Mexico World Cup draw factbox

Mexico will travel to Brazil amid huge scepticism after an awful qualifying campaign in which they employed four coaches and only avoided elimination thanks to some help from bitter rivals the United States.They only staggered into fourth place in the CONCACAF final round group, and a two-leg playoff against New Zealand, because Panama conceded two goals in the dying seconds of their final game at home to the United States and lost 3-2.Mexico only managed two wins in 10 games in the final stage and scored a paltry seven goals and their 9-3 aggregate win over a poor New Zealand in the playoffs does not mask their failings.

Their frustration came to a hilt at the end of the campaign as they fired Jose Manuel de la Torre in September, then Luis Fernando Tena after one game, Victor Vucetich after two more and brought in Miguel Herrera for the playoff.In the midst of all that, they were beaten by Panama in the semi-finals at the Gold Cup and went out in the group stage at the Confederations Cup in Brazil.It remains to be seen whether Mexico will stick by Herrera, who is still coach of America, and whether the coach himself will recall European-based players such as Javier Hernandez, who were dropped for the New Zealand match.With a soccer-mad population of over 100 million people and one of the world’s richest leagues, Mexico are often seen as underachievers at the World Cup and have been knocked out in the round of 16 at the last five tournaments.But the 2014 qualifying campaign has exposed the chaotic administration at the Mexican Football Federation, where important decisions are generally taken by the owners of the 18 first division clubs often on a whim. At the moment, a first round exit looks more likely the quarterfinals.

Mexico World Cup draw factbox