Manic Mexico exit on goal difference after late fight for survival

LUSAIL, Qatar: Mexico scored twice in five second-half minutes in a thrilling last-ditch effort to stay in the World Cup on Wednesday (Nov 30), beating Saudi Arabia 2-1 but agonisingly missing out on the last 16 on goal difference.

Goals from Henry Martin and Luis Chavez soon after the interval catapulted Mexico back into contention, but a string of superb saves by Saudi keeper Mohamed Al-Owais and two disallowed efforts denied them the elusive goal they needed to advance.

The match went down to the wire and at one point looked like Mexico would miss out to Group C rivals Poland by virtue of having accrued more yellow cards, but Saudi striker Salem Al-Dawsari netted in stoppage time to make goal difference the decider.

Mexico's exit ended a run of seven successive last-16 appearances at the World Cup and defeat for Saudi Arabia killed off what had looked to be a realistic chance of advancing from the group stages for the first time in 28 years.

"It's a hard blow, there are no words," said Mexico midfielder Edson Alvarez.

"The team went out looking for it from the start and we had a lot of chances. But we couldn't score and that leaves a bitter taste."

Having failed to score in their opening two Group C matches, Mexico's chances of progressing had looked slim going into the match, hinging on the outcome of the game between Argentina and Poland which Argentina won 2-0 to top the group.

Urgently needing to beef up their goal difference, Mexico took the game to Saudi Arabia from the start and never stopped running, peppering the goal with long-range efforts in a desperate bid to wrest control of their own fate.

Orbelin Pineda and Chavez were the engines in a high-octane match that the Saudis struggled to get into, defending with