Group A contenders:
South Africa
Mexico
Uruguay
France

Route to the finals
Mexico entered North, Central America and Caribbean qualifying at the Second Round, facing Belize in a two leg play-off.

Winning 9-0 on aggregate, they progressed to the Third Round group stage where three wins, one draw and two losses was just enough to secure a place in the Fourth Round on goal difference.

A further ten games against the likes of USA, Honduras and Costa Rica got off to a shaky start but El Tricolor’s campaign began to gather momentum after a change of manager, and six wins, one draw and three losses proved enough to claim second place come the final standings and a guaranteed berth in South Africa.

Manager
Mexico’s managerial situation came under significant scrutiny during qualification to the 2010 World Cup.

Despite guiding El Tricolor through the Second Round play-off with Belize, Ramon Ramirez was replaced soon after by former England Manager Sven Goran Eriksson.

The Swede, who took the Three Lions to the quarter-finals of two World Cups over the course of five years, did not last even a year in the Mexico hot seat, being replaced by homegrown legend Javier 'El Vasco' Aguirre.

Aguirre, who had previously managed the national team at the 2002 World Cup, managed to steady a faltering campaign with five wins from his seven qualifying games in charge. His task now is to lead his charges past the last 16 for the first time since 1986.

Player watch
Despite the tumultuous qualifying campaign, the current Mexico squad has a wealth of young talent emerging.

As champions at the 2005 FIFA U17 World Cup and quarter-finalists at the 2007 FIFA U20 World Cup, players such as Tottenham’s Giovani dos Santos and Arsenal’s Carlos Vela are now coming to the fore.

More established figures such as Barcelona’s Rafael Marquez and PSV Eindhoven’s Carlos Salcido – who have over 150 caps between them – will provide a defensive core that should allow the team’s creative players to shine.

Competition History
First appearance: 1930
No. of appearances (inc 2010): 14
Best result: Quarter-Finals (1970 and 1986)
Matches against England: 8

Squad

Goalkeepers
1	Óscar Pérez	Jaguares, MEX
13	Guillermo Ochoa	CF América, MEX
23	Luis Ernesto Michel	Guadalajara, MEX
Defenders
2	Francisco Rodríguez	PSV, NED
3	Carlos Salcido	PSV, NED
4	Rafael Márquez	FC Barcelona, ESP
5	Ricardo Osorio	VfB Stuttgart, GER
12	Paul Aguilar	Pachuca, MEX
15	Héctor Moreno	AZ, NED
16	Efraín Juárez	Pumas UNAM, MEX
19	José Magallón	Guadalajara, MEX
Midfielders
6	Gerardo Torrado	Cruz Azul, MEX
8	Israel Castro	Pumas UNAM, MEX
18	Andrés Guardado	Deportivo La Coruña, ESP
20	Jorge Torres	Atlas, MEX
Forwards
7	Pablo Barrera	Pumas UNAM, MEX
9	Guillermo Franco	West Ham United, ENG
10	Cuauhtémoc Blanco	Veracruz, MEX
11	Carlos Vela	Arsenal, ENG
14	Javier Hernández	Guadalajara, MEX
17	Giovani Dos Santos	Galatasaray, TUR
21	Adolfo Bautista	Guadalajara, MEX
22	Alberto Medina	Guadalajara, MEX