Wednesday, September 4, 2013

4 September 1949 - Mexico Delivers A Straight Six

On 4 September 1949, Mexico beat the United States 6-0, the largest margin of victory in the rivalry between the two teams.

It wasn't much of a rivalry at that point, to be fair. After the United States won the first meeting in 1934, Mexico took the next four by scores of 7-2, 7-3, 5-1, and 5-0. That last one came in the 1947 North American Football Confederation Championship, which ended with Mexico as champions and the United States in third place out of three teams (hosts Cuba finished second).

They met again in the first game of the 1949 NAFC Championship, which also served as the confederation's qualifying tournament for the 1950 World Cup. Playing in Mexico City, the hosts went up 3-0 in the first half with goals from Antonio Flores (20'), Luis Luna (30'), and Luis de la Fuente (37').

De la Fuente completed his hat-trick in the second half with strikes in the 55th and 58th minutes, then Carlos Septién added a final punctuation mark in the 85th minute. Mexico went on to win the title, but the US rallied to finish second, which earned them a trip to the World Cup.

Since then, the rivalry has become more competitive. In a total of 62 meetings, Mexico have won 33 and the United States have won 16. But no game has seen a greater margin of victory than that 6-0 scoreline from 1949.

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