LUSAIL, Qatar : Mexico coach Tata Martino accepted full responsibility for their World Cup group stage exit and said he will not extend his contract with the federation (FMF) after they agonisingly missed out on the last 16 on goal difference.
Mexico's 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia proved insufficient as they were eliminated from the tournament after finishing third behind Poland, paying the price for firing blanks in their first two Group C games - a goalless draw with Poland and a 2-0 loss to Argentina.
With Argentina beating Poland 2-0 and Mexico leading by the same scoreline against Saudi Arabia, Martino's side needed one more goal to avoid crashing out on fair play points.
But Salem Al-Dawsari's injury-time consolation meant marked Mexico's earliest exit from a World Cup since 1978.
Martino took over at Mexico in January 2019 and was tasked with achieving the goal that had eluded them for more than three decades: the World Cup quarter-finals. They last reached that stage when they hosted the tournament in 1986.
The Central Americans had advanced to the knockout round in their seven subsequent appearances in the competition but exited at the last 16 stage at every World Cup since 1994.
"I am responsible for this disappointment. It is a great sadness and I assume all the responsibility of this huge failure," said Martino, whose contract was reportedly due to expire after Mexico's World Cup campaign.
"It has been eight World Cups since this happened. My contract expired with the final whistle and there is nothing else to do.
"During our match tonight, Mexico's superiority was shown throughout the game. With Poland, we were not able to show the superiority we had. With Argentina, we could have faced the second half with our usual
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Tata Martino