Mexico wins Niigata Tournament in preparation for U-17 World Cup.

Mexico won their three games and proclaimed themselves champions of the 2019 Niigata Youth Tournament. With a 2-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mexico clinched the title in preparation for the 2019 U-17 World Cup to be held in Brazil later this year. Also of note is Mexico finding new talents with Teun Wilke of Herenveen being Mexico’s top scorer and making a statement to be part of the team for the World Cup.

Mexico had their debut in the tournament on Saturday July 13th with a victory over the host country Japan by a score of 2-1. Mexico’s goals were scored by Necaxa’s Cesar Mata and the aforementioned Wilke. This ended up being the closest game for Mexico in the competition, however it was against the best rival of the tournament. Japan is the current Asian Champion and because of that was a seeded team in the Tournament, where they were drawn in the Group of Death (Group D) along with Senegal, the United States and The Netherlands, who were one of the favorites. They are a tough team and Mexico getting a win against them in Japan, was a notable result.

Mexico’s next game was was against the local Niigata team on Sunday July 14th. Mexico won the game with a 4-0 score with 2 goals scored by Santos’ Jair Gonzalez and the other 2 goals were scored by Wilke. Finally Mexico defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina by a score of 2-0 on July 15th to win the Tournament with a total of nine points and three wins out of three games. The goals were both scored by Gustavo Martinez. Japan finished in second place with six points.

The win is a big boost for Mexico, who are preparing for their World Cup debut on October 28th against Paraguay. Mexico is in Group F along with Paraguay, Solomon Islands and Italy.