Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino Announces Departure From Mexico Team After Early World Cup Exit

Change is on the way for the Mexico.

Gerardo “Tata” Martino will not be returning to manage the Mexican men’s national team following its early exit from the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Wednesday.

Martino told FOX Soccer: “My contract ended as soon as the referee blew the whistle.”

The news comes after Mexico’s 2-1 win against Saudi Arabia in its Group C finale on Wednesday. But in spite of the result, the three points did not push El Tri into second place for a spot in the Round of 16.

Instead, Mexico’s minus-one goal differential proved to be the narrow margin that sent Poland through based on its net zero differential. Poland will now play France, which finished first in Group D, in the next stage while Argentina finished in first to set up a fixture against Australia, Group D’s second-place team.

World Cup 2022

Coverage of the 2022 World Cup

Mexico entered Qatar with expectations to get out of the group since it last suffered group-stage elimination in 1978, a record standing 44 years and only topped by Brazil. That came to an end under Martino’s reign, as El Tri played to a 0-0 draw against Poland before falling 2-0 to Argentina in the first two games. They finally logged their first goals of the tournament in the finale, but by then it was too late.

Back in July, The Athletic reported that Martino had decided he would leave the role after Mexico’s run in Qatar before a wave of layoffs within the Mexican football federation transpired.

Martino, an Argentine native who managed the Paraguay men’s national team from 2007-2011 and the Argentina men’s team from 2014-2016, started his tenure with Mexico in 2019 on the right foot when he led the side to a CONCACAF Gold Cup win in his first year.

The optimism started to decline from there, however, as Mexico’s 2022 World Cup qualifying run left far more questions than answers, and the nation suffered defeats at the hands of the United States in both the CONCACAF Nations League Final and Gold Cup Final in 2021.

Martino will end his time with Mexico with a win-draw-loss record of 42-12-12 across 66 games in all competitions.