Despite a disastrous start to their qualifying campaign, Mexico will take part in their sixth consecutive Fifa World Cup in Brazil this June.

Much like previous years, El Tri suffered a number of managerial changes throughout qualification with Miguel Herrera replacing Victor Manuel Vucetich as interim head coach in mid-October, the team’s fourth change in a month.

With the former Club America coach at the helm Mexico ended as the fourth-highest placed side in the CONCACAF qualifying region.  This meant they would be required to take part in a two-game playoff against New Zealand.

La Verde became the 31st, and final, country to qualify for this year’s tournament with a 9-3 aggregate victory over the All Whites.  Herrera was put in permanent charge of the team shortly after.

Taking their place in Group A for their second consecutive World Cup, they now face a tricky path through to the knockout stages with Cameroon waiting for them in their opening fixture, before playing hosts Brazil and Croatia.

In the days leading up to the announcement of Herrera’s first squad, news outlet Azteca Deportes revealed what they believed to be the 23 heading south in the summer, 16 of which ply their trade in the Liga MX.

This was confirmed days later by the Mexican and saw the surprise inclusions Giovani Dos Santos and Carlos Salcido, who until now hasn’t been picked by the man nicknamed Piojo, while goalkeeper Moises Munoz, midfielder Javier Aquino and former Arsenal striker Carlos Vela were all left out of the squad.

Goalkeepers: Jesus Corona (Cruz Azul), Guillermo Ochoa (Ajaccio), Alfredo Talavera (Toluca)

Defenders: Paul Aguilar (Club America), Andres Guardado (Bayer Leverkusen), Miguel Layun (Club America), Rafael Marquez (Leon), Hector Moreno (Espanyol), Diego Reyes (Porto), Francisco Javier Rodriguez (Club America), Carlos Salcido (Tigres)

Midfielders: Isaac Brizuela (Toluca), Marco Fabian (Cruz Azul), Hector Herrera (Porto), Juan Carlos Medina (Club America), Luis Montes (Leon), Carlos Pena (Leon), Jose Juan Vazquez (Leon)

Forwards: Giovani Dos Santos (Villarreal), Javier Hernandez (Manchester United), Raul Jimenez (Club America), Oribe Peralta (Santos), Alan Pulido (Tigres)

Verdict: They will barely scrape through the group stage behind Brazil and meet the leaders of Group B.

Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands are too powerful for Mexico and they will be sent home at the round of 16.