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Mexico will make their U-17 World Cup debut on Monday as they face Paraguay in their opening game, which will be played in Estadio Bezerrao in Brasilia. Mexico will try to regain the glory they got in this category, having made three consecutive Semifinal appearances in the U-17 World Cup from 2011 to 2015, including their second U-17 World Cup title in 2011. Paraguay meanwhile hope to make an impact in their third consecutive U-17 World Cup in a match that will be key for both teams.
Mexico’s high expectations took a hit in their last friendly tour prior to the World Cup. After coach Marco Antonio “Chima” Ruiz said that his goal was for Mexico to have another top four finish, Mexico opened their tour with a loss to Argentina by a score of 3-0. According to reports, if it wasn’t because of goalkeeper Eduardo Garcia it would have been a bigger score. The loss had hurt their chances, but Mexico bounced back to win their last friendlies against New Zealand and Canada. The start of the World Cup diminished their wins when both teams lost their openers in the U-17 World Cup, questioning the legitimacy of those results. Canada got absolutely dominated by Brazil in a 4-1 loss to the hosts. Meanwhile, New Zealand lost 2-1 against Angola, who were playing in the first U-17 World Cup game in their history. Mexico will go in with a lot of doubts after previous results in the year had a very positive outlook for the team.
With the Solomon Islands being in the same group as them, Mexico, Paraguay, and Italy all will look to each other for the possibility of a better finish for the knockout rounds, thus the match between Mexico and Paraguay would be key for both team’s chances. With it being their World Cup debut and with Italy looking as the toughest matchup for both teams, this opener should be key in how they place for a possible knockout round game. Mexico will need a good start as they face a tougher second match when they face Italy, and may need to manage things for their final game against the Solomon Islands. This will be a tough battle with two teams that really need the points and a good start for the future run in this tournament.
Date: Monday, October 28
Time: 4:00pm Pacific, 6:00pm Central, 7:00pm Eastern
Venue: Estadio Bezerrão, Brasilia, Brasil
TV: NBC Universo (US-Español), Fox Sports 2 (US-English)
Streaming: fuboTV (Free trial + monthly subscription)
Listings via LiveSoccerTV.com