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The penalty and the expulsion of José Navarro in the first half marked the way to be left out of the quarterfinals
CARLOS HORTA MARTÍNEZ
CANTON GROUP
DOHA, QATAR.- Mexico was eliminated from Qatar U-17 World Cup 2025 being beaten 5-0 by Portugal, in the round of 16, in which they finished with nine players.
The Tri Sub-17, led by Carlos Cariño, dug their own grave with errors and lack of concentration that cost them to be left out, after a penalty and an expulsion of the same player in the first half, which opened the door for Portugal’s victory.
José Navarro, who made his debut in the tournament, committed a penalty just in the 15th minute so that Rafael Quintas opened the scoring in favor of the Lusitanians.
And, at 36′, the central defender himself was sent off due to an elbow in a dead ball play for Mexico, in an action that was reviewed in the VAR, after the request of the European team’s coaching staff.
Portugal took advantage of having a full team with goals from Anísio Cabral (48′), the tournament’s top scorer with six goals, Zeega (81′), Miguel Figueiredo (83′) and Yoan Pereira (85′).
Even more embarrassing was the expulsion of Santi López, hero in the game against Argentina, making a fool of himself by causing his expulsion in the final minutes against Portugal.
Mexico He has obtained a good harvest in the U-17 World Cups; These have been disputed since 1985, El Tri has won the champion trophy on 2 occasions. The first in 2005 in Peru with the golden generation of Carlos Vela, César Villaluz and Giovani dos Santos.}
The second Mexican squad that was crowned world champion was the one managed by Raúl Potro Gutiérrez, this team won the competition at the Azteca Stadium against Uruguay. In 2019, Mexico was runner-up in the event, losing the final 2-1 to the local team, Brazil. In 2015, the Tricolor reached fourth place in Chile.
DID YOU KNOW WHAT?
In their five games, El Tri only won one in regular time against Ivory Coast, they tied with Argentina, although they won on penalties and suffered three defeats: South Korea, Switzerland and Portugal