Mexico and Poland get their 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign underway when they go head to head in Group C at the Stadium 974 on Tuesday.

With Argentina firm favourites to clinch top spot, both nations will be vying for second place and this victory here could be key to their chances of progressing to the knockout stages.

The most recent of the previous eight meetings between the sides came in a friendly fixture back in November 2017, when Mexico picked up a hard-fought 1-0 victory courtesy of a first-half strike from Raul Jimenez.

For Gerardo Martino's men, that result marked a fifth consecutive game without defeat against Poland — a run dating back to June 1978 when they were beaten 3-1 in the group stages of the World Cup.

Since their 1978 defeat, Mexico have picked up two draws and three wins, including a 5-0 friendly victory in February 1985 which marked the biggest result in the history of this fixture.

Czeslaw Michniewicz's men have also secured three wins against Mexico, with the first two arriving within three days in a friendly double-header back in August 1973.

Having claimed a 1-0 victory on August 8, goals from Jerzy Gorgon and Robert Gadocha helped the Bialo-Czerwoni pick up a 2-1 win when both nations squared off again three days later at Monterrey's Estadio Tecnologico.

Poland will now set out to end their winless run against Mexico and kick off their quest for a place in the knockout stages, having suffered a disappointing group-stage exit in Russia four years ago.

MEXICO VS. POLAND HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD

Mexico wins: 3
Poland wins: 3
Draws: 2
Mexico goals: 13
Poland goals: 9

MATCH HISTORY

August 5, 1973: Mexico 0-1 Poland (International friendly)
August 8, 1973: Mexico 1-2 Poland (International friendly)
June 10, 1978: Mexico 1-3 Poland (FIFA World Cup)
February 5, 1985: Mexico 5-0 Poland (International friendly)
February 14, 1989: Mexico 3-1 Poland (International friendly)
April 27, 2005: Mexico 1-1 Poland (International friendly)
September 2011, 2011: Mexico 1-1 Poland (International friendly)
November 13, 2017: Mexico 1-0 Poland (International friendly)

Written by
Joshua Ojele