Mexico – El Tri

World Cup Appearances: 1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1978, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, and 2026

Highest Finish: Quarter-finals in 1970 and 1986

The "Quinto Partido" curse refers to the decades-long struggle of the Mexican national soccer team to advance beyond the Round of 16 in the FIFA World Cup.

In standard 32-team World Cup formats, advancing out of the group stage required teams to play three games. Winning the Round of 16 match would then advance them to their fifth game of the tournament, the quarterfinals.

Between 1994 and 2018, Mexico reached the Round of 16 in seven consecutive tournaments and lost every single one, consistently denying them the elusive fifth game.

The curse took a different form at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Rather than losing in the Round of 16, Mexico failed to advance out of the group stage entirely, exiting the tournament after only three games.