THE FIRST ROUND qualifiers for teams from FIFA’s CONCACAF zone began on 28 February 1965. Mexico were in a qualifying group with Honduras, USA, Costa Rica and Jamaica. Qualification was secured with a 1-0 win over Costa Rica on 16 May, a match notable for a spectacular mass brawl.
Mexico’s performance at the Chile 1962 World Cup gave home supporters hope of making greater progress in England. Mexico had beaten Czechoslovakia and would have replaced them as qualifying second from their Group for the quarter-finals if it hadn’t been for the heartbreak of conceding a ninetieth-minute winner to Spain. The core of the ’62 team made the squad for the England match including the coach, Ignacio Trelles, the first Mexico manager to lead his team successfully through qualifying campaigns for two consecutive World Cups. And Trelles, Don Nacho, had brought down the experienced squad’s average age by bringing in a number of talented young players, including Enrique Bora, Gustavo Peña and Aarón Padilla.
Between the posts, ace-in-the-hole Ignacio Calderón was the man tasked with following in the footsteps of the legendary goalkeeper Antonio Carbajal, who was himself aiming to get a few minutes on the pitch as a substitute for a World Cup career that first began representing Mexico way back at Brazil 1950.
The draw wasn’t kind to the Mexican team, putting it in Group One alongside host nation England, two-time World Cup-winners Uruguay, and the always competitive France.
Mexico’s first game of the tournament was against the French at the historic home of English football, Wembley Stadium, on 13 July 1966. Playing calm and composed football, Mexico were able to take the lead thanks to a goal from Enrique Borja. But the joy was short-lived as the team lost its advantage when Gerard Hausser made the most of Mexico’s sole defensive lapse of the afternoon and equalised. The score remained 1-1 until the final whistle from Israeli referee Menachem Askenazi.
Date: 16 July 1966
Kick-off: 19.30
Venue: Wembley Stadium
Mexico line-up: Calderon (GK), Hernandez, Mejia, Velasco (C), Gutierrez, del Muro, Diaz, Rizo, Monteon, Borja, Aguirre
England line-up: Banks (GK), Cohen, Moore (C), Wilson, Charlton. J, Peters, Stiles, Charlton. R, Hunt, Paine, Greaves
Attendance: 92,570
Final score: Mexico 0 England 2
Goals: Charlton. R, 37; Hunt, 75
With a bit less than half an hour to go before kick-off, Mexican flags can be seen waving at strategic points in the Wembley crowd. There are just over a hundred fans shouting for Mexico but they are eclipsed by tens of thousands of local fans booming out “England! England!”
The grass is perfect as the teams run out onto the pitch under a cloudy sky. Mexico have Ignacio Calderón in goal; a back line of Gustavo Halcón Peña (captain), Arturo El Cura Chaires, Jesús Del Muro, Gabriel Nuñez and Guillermo Campeón Hernández; Ignacio Jaúregui, Isidoro El Chololo Díaz and Salvador Reyes in midfield; along with Aarón Padilla and Enrique Borja up front.
We have no idea why Trelles allotted such a deep-lying defensive role to Chava Reyes who is more useful making sudden bursts forward in his more natural role in attack.
England’s line-up is Banks, Cohen, Wilson, Stiles, Charlton. J, Moore (captain), Paine, Greaves, Charlton. R, Hunt and Peters.
The Mexicans wear their classic kit of maroon shirts and navy-blue shorts, while England are in white tops and navy shorts. When the Italian referee Concetto Lo Bello signals the start of the game, the Mexicans take the kick-off and attempt to mount an attack.
We’re barely into the second minute and England are on the verge of scoring through Greaves but the ball goes past the outside of the post. The England team is continually on the attack. Hunt decides to have a go and lets fly. Somehow, Calderón pulls off an unbelievable save, parrying the shot and eventually catching hold of the ball to prevent what looked a certain goal.
After fifteen minutes, the Mexicans put together their first attack but it peters out. England are well on top and the first goal could come at any moment. Nevertheless, an effort from Díaz in the twenty-fifth minute suddenly brings Banks into the game and it seems as if our boys are finally beginning to show glimpses of what they can do. Hopefully now they’ll try to play further up the pitch instead of going backwards from the halfway line, as the coach has set them up to do.
Hunt eventually gets the ball in the net, but the referee disallows it, apparently for a foul by the English forward himself. We’ve barely recovered from the shock before the very thing we’ve been dreading — the first legitimate goal for England — occurs. And a great goal it is too, scored in the thirty-seventh minute by one of England’s finest players, Bobby Charlton (of course!), who hits the back of the net with an absolute screamer from thirty yards out. “England! England!” rings out once more around the whole stadium and the Mexican players look crestfallen.
Now, Mexico have to respond positively; they can’t keep on sitting back, waiting for the opposition to come to them. Hunt tries a volley from a corner and the ball flies out of play. Mexico counter-attack and Díaz is brought down just outside the opposition’s penalty area. This is a great opportunity for the Mexicans to show what they’re made of. Díaz takes the free kick himself but the England defence do their job. We get a corner. That, too, is wasted. A new counter-attack from England threatens Calderón’s goal. Mexico just about hang on and the Italian referee blows for half-time.
The second half begins with England pouring forward, cheered on by their supporters. With Calderón already beaten, Díaz clears a header from Bobby Charlton off the line.
The Mexicans attempt to break upfield and a tentative counter-attack produces a dangerous shot from Padilla that Banks manages to hold onto. He releases the ball to start England’s next attack; Hunt runs free on the right and passes to Bobby Charlton who passes to Stiles, and then heads his teammate’s lobbed return skimming past the post. The pressure from England is unremitting and the Mexicans have hardly got out of their own half, which leaves Borja and Padilla isolated up front, whereas England can have as many as six players in attack at the same time.
In the seventy-fifth minute, a space opens up in the Mexican defence as the team moves forward. Greaves nicks the ball and manages to get off a shot, which Calderón palms away. The ball lands at the feet of Hunt, who does not waste the opportunity and beats the goalkeeper to put England 2-0 up.
Once again, “England! England!” rings around the stadium. Mexico now have to go for broke if they don’t want to leave Wembley as the losing side. England are quick to exploit the gaps opened up by Mexico’s drive to score a pride-restoring goal and fire off shots from all angles but a packed defence keeps the score as it is.
In the final minutes of the game, Borja is just about to capitalise on a mistake by England when Banks bravely dives at his feet. There are fewer attacks now because, on the one hand, England know a win is close and, on the other, the Mexicans feel they’re never going to score against the home side.
Regrettably, Mexico came out looking for a draw, and, as we all know, that’s not how it works — if you don’t go out to win, you end up losing. Which is exactly what happens. The Italian referee blows the final whistle. Now, Ignacio Trelles’ squad will have to defeat a very strong Uruguayan team if they want to get through to the second phase of a World Cup for the first time in Mexico’s history, but the task is already looking nearly impossible.
Mexico played its third Group One match against Uruguay. In the Mexican goal, Antonio La Tota Carbajal fulfilled his dream of ending his twenty-year World Cup career with an appearance in his fifth World Cup. Mexico came away with a 0-0 draw and a clean sheet for Carbajal, but it wasn’t enough. The squad flew back without having achieved its aims of making it to the quarter-finals, but with the hope of greater success on home soil, since, in four years’ time, Mexico would be hosting the rest of the world at the 1970 tournament.