Why was this win important to Mexico fans? When the World Cup rolls around, they place all the competitors into 4 “seeding” categories, from 1-4. It’s kind of like the NCAA Tourney, where you know the Big East, ACC and Pac 10 reps will get the best seeds, while the mid majors will argue for a spot at the top of the bracket. Think of Europe as the Big East and ACC combined, South America the Big East or Pac 10, Concacaf a weak Big 10 or mid-major, and Asia and Africa the small conferences with automatic bids. Traditionally, it breaks out something like this:

• #1 seeds (8 total): 6-7 from Europe, 1-2 from South America (Brazil and Argentina)
• #2 seeds (8 total): 4-5 from Europe, 2-3 from S. Am, 1 from Concacaf
• #3 seeds (8 total): 2-3 from Europe, 2-3 from S. Am, 2-3 from Africa, 1 from Concacaf, 1 from Asia
• #4 Seeds (8 total): 1-2 from S. Am, 2-3 from Africa, 1 from Concacaf, 3-4 from Asia

Usually, Mexico gets that Concacaf entry into the #2 seeds, and the U.S. gets the #3 or #4 seed. So you get to the World Cup, and while Mexico has maybe England (#1), Paraguy (#3) and Australia (#4) in their group, the U.S. gets Italy (#1), the Czech Republic (#2) and Ghana (#3/4). Since only 2 teams go to the next round, the U.S. already needs an upset to survive, while Mexico just needs to avoid being upset.

But, a U.S. win in a sanctioned tournament over the #1 ranked team in the world, coupled with general dominance over Mexico over the last decade or so, then combined with the U.S. winning Concacaf over Mexico, may be enough to flip-flop the places in the pecking order. And if that happens, the chance to get seeded in a reasonable group becomes more likely.

Some fun pics from the game. Looking for more that I can repurpose…