Two first-half goals from Robin Van Persie were enough for the Netherlands see off Mexico and retain the UFWC title.

The Netherlands had the best of the early exchange, as shots came in from every angle. In the 8th minute a diagonal pass for Van Der Vaart split the Mexican defence wide open, only for his shot to hit the post and deflect wide. The Mexican goal was living a charmed life as the Netherlands took five shots in the opening quarter of an hour before opening the scoring.

In the 17th minute, another diagonal pass this time found Van Persie who fired into an empty net because of the goalkeeper misjudging the pass.

Mexico tried to break through to get an equalizer, but the Netherlands’ defence stood firm, leaving Mexico to resort to harmless long-range shots. The Netherlands continued to strive for a second goal, but the Mexican defenders and the goalkeeper managed to keep the game at 1-0.

That was until the 41st minute, when another diagonal pass again found Van Persie, and he fired into the bottom corner with the goalkeeper rooted to the spot, and the Netherlands went into half-time in a commanding position.

The Netherlands started the second-half as they left it, but it wasn’t long before Mexico finally got a grip on the game, their first genuine chance coming in the 58th minue, as a long-range shot forced a decent save from the goalkeeper. Cracks started to appear in the Netherlands defence as they survived a goalmouth scramble in the 66th minute by the skin of their teeth, a last-ditch challenge being the only thing to prevent Mexico from hitting the net.

Mexico continued to probe and finally got what they deserved when Hernandez was first to a Torres Nilo cross, as he headed the ball into the corner and out of the reach of Stekelenburg.

But Mexico didn’t slow down, as a fantastic long-range effort destined for the top corner was kept out by a world-class save. Both teams tried to get another goal to help their cause, but both defences remained firm and the match ended 2-1 to the Netherlands, extending their unbeaten streak in the UFWC to fourteen.

The result puts the Netherlands level with Russia in joint 4th place in the all-time UFWC Rankings, and sets up a title match against Ghana on June 1st, which we will preview for you tomorrow.

Both the Netherlands and Mexico have named the provisional World Cup squads that will take part in the next UFWC title match on 26 May. Both sets of players will be keen to make the right impression in order to ensure they are on the plane to South Africa in June. And, of course, they will be desperate for a UFWC victory…

Dutch coach Bert Van Marwijk has named a 30-man preliminary squad. It includes star names such as Robin van Persie, Mark van Bommel, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Rafael van der Vaart and Dirk Kuyt. Other players familiar to British football fans include Edson Braafheid of Celtic, John Heitinga of Everton, Ryan Babel of Liverpool and Nigel de Jong of Manchester City. There was no room in the squad for Ruud van Nistelrooy (who must surely be nursing a long face), and Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar has retired from international football.

Mexico’s Javier Aguirre has already trimmed his squad down to 24, with his side’s warm-up preparations well underway. The Mexicans face England two days before the title match against the Dutch, and also have pre-tournament games lined up against Gambia and Italy. Included in the squad are Rafael Márquez, brothers Jonathan and Giovani dos Santos, and Alberto Medina. Medina scored in a 1-0 win over Chile on Sunday. New Manchester United signing Javier Hernández will hope to lead the attack, and Carlos Vela of Arsenal and Guillermo Franco of West Ham are also in the squad. Oddly, Aguirre has only included five recognised midfielders, which could prove costly if injuries occur.

The match will take place at a neutral venue – the Badenova-Stadion in Freiburg, Germany. The Dutch, of course, go into the game as UFWC title holders. They’re 5th in the UFWC rankings, having won 40 title matches, just one less than 4th-placed Russia. Mexico have only ever won one title match – against Czechoslovakia at the World Cup in 1962 – and are ranked 40th. FIFA rank the Netherlands 4th in the world, with Mexico ranked 17th.

The Dutch preliminary squad is: Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax), Sander Boschker (FC Twente), Michel Vorm (FC Utrecht); Vurnon Anita (Ajax), Khalid Boulahrouz (Stuttgart), Edson Braafheid (Celtic), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord), John Heitinga (Everton), Joris Mathijsen (HSV), Ron Vlaar (Feyenoord), Gregory van der Wiel (Ajax), Andre Ooijer (PSV); Otman Bakkal (PSV), Mark van Bommel (Bayern Munich), Wout Brama (FC Twente), Orlando Engelaar (PSV), Nigel de Jong (Manchester City), David Mendes da Silva (AZ), Stijn Schaars (AZ), Wesley Sneijder (Inter), Rafael van der Vaart (Real Madrid), Demy de Zeeuw (Ajax), Ibrahim Afellay (PSV); Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool), Jeremain Lens (AZ), Eljero Elia (HSV), Ryan Babel (Liverpool), Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (AC Milan), Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich).

The Mexican preliminary squad is: Óscar Pérez (Chiapas), Guillermo Ochoa (América ), Luis Ernesto Michel (Guadalajara), Rafael Márquez (Barcelona), Ricardo Osorio (Stuttgart), Francisco Rodríguez, Carlos Salcido (both PSV Eindhoven), Héctor Moreno (AZ Alkmaar), Paul Aguilar (Pachuca), Efraín Juárez (Pumas UNAM), Jonny Magallón (Guadalajara), Jorge Torres Nilo (Atlas), Andrés Guardado (Deportivo La Coruna), Jonathan dos Santos (Barcelona), Gerardo Torrado (Cruz Azul), Israel Castro (Pumas UNAM), Giovani dos Santos (Galatasaray, on loan from Tottenham), Forwards: Pablo Barrera (Pumas UNAM), Adolfo Bautista, Alberto Medina (both Guadalajara), Cuauhtémoc Blanco (Veracruz), Carlos Vela (Arsenal), Javier Hernández (Manchester United), Guillermo Franco (West Ham).

UFWC champs Argentina played out the 1993 Copa America tournament without one Diego Armando Maradona, who had recently controversially walked out on his club side Sevilla after a disappointing season. Maradona had been dropped from the national side after being handed a 15-month ban for failing a drugs test in 1991. He would return to fail another drugs test at the 1994 World Cup, but in the meantime Argentina could rely upon other star names.

Sergio Goycochea was a formidable goalkeeper, Oscar Ruggeri kept things together at the back, Fernando Redondo and Diego Simone ran the midfield, and Gabriel Batistuta was a bona fide goal machine.

Mexico also had a celebrated goalkeeper in flamboyant free kick expert Jorge Campos. A fan of gaudy luminous kits, Campos managed to score more than 30 goals during his career as a net-minder. Ramon Ramirez was Mexico’s key defender, and Alberto Garcia Aspe was the star in midfield. Up front was a man widely regarded as the best Mexican footballer of all time, the great Hugo Sanchez, famous almost as much for his back-flipping celebrations as for his many goals.

Argentina had held the UFWC title for 12 straight games, having taken it from Australia. Mexico, with a poor UFWC record for such a famous footballing nation, had held the title only once, in 1962 – and then lost it to the Dutch Antilles.

Argentina reached the Copa America final by beating Brazil and Colombia in penalty shoot-outs in the quarter and semi-finals. Mexico, playing their first Copa America tournament, saw off Peru and hosts Ecuador.

The game was a tight one, and it only really came to life midway through the second half. Fiorentina striker Batistuta gave Argentina the lead in the 63rd minute. ‘Batigol’ finished the previous Copa America as top scorer, but this was only his second strike of this tournament.

Four minutes later Mexico were level, with Benjamin Galindo slotting a penalty past renowned spot kick-stopper Goycochea. But Batistuta restored Argentina’s advantage in the 74th minute, and his goal proved to be decisive. Argentina won the Copa America and retained the UFWC title.

So it was Mexico, one of the biggest countries in the world with a population of over 100 million, versus the Antilles, a small Dutch-claimed group of islands in the Caribbean Sea with a population of around 200,000. (The Dutch Antilles, also known as the Netherlands Antilles, previously known as the Netherlands West Indies, played as Curacao until 1948 when that island became part of the Antilles. The side’s national anthem is the humbly named Anthem Without A Title.)

Let’s not underestimate the shock value of this result. FIFA rankings didn’t start for another 30 years, but since they did the Antilles have never got within 100 places of Mexico. That’s Mexico, established as World Cup regulars and reigning UFWC champions, versus the Antilles, who had failed to qualify for any World Cup and were UFWC virgins. This was giant killing of the very tallest order indeed. Mighty Mexico – the Tricolores – took the UFWC title during the 1962 World Cup finals from eventual finalists Czechoslovakia. The lowly Antilles, managed by Brazilian Pedro da Cunha, beat Haiti over two legs to qualify for this inaugural CONCACAF Cup tournament in El Salvador. The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football formed at the beginning of the year. (The CONCACAF Cup only existed in this format for five years. It has since been re-jigged and is known as the CONCACAF Gold Cup.)

It was the Dutch Antilles, or Antillas Holandesas as the Mexicans would have it, who scored first, netting through Ronald Delanoy on 12 minutes. Mexico equalised through Guillermo Ortíz 12 minutes later, and it was 1-1 at half-time. The second half was an even match-up, but there was to be an almighty sting in the tail for Mexico. With 10 minutes left to play, Mexican defender Jesús del Muro put through his own net to give the Antilles a 2-1 lead. Could the little islanders hold on? Yes they could. And the fact that Mexico gave them something of a helping hand shouldn’t detract from the huge achievement of the minnows. The victorious Antilles qualified for the final round, while Mexico went out. The Antilles subsequently lost 1-0 to eventual winners Costa Rica and finished the tournament in third place.

10 years later Mexico gained some sort of revenge against the Antilles by cuffing them 8-0 in a World Cup qualifier. But giant-killers the Antilles retained their place in the record books as by far the smallest nation ever to win the UFWC. Indeed, the Antilles are the only UFWC winners with a population of under 1 million. They are also by far the lowest FIFA-ranked UFWC champs, having been ranked by FIFA as low as 188 out of 205 registered footballing nations. A true David among Goliaths.

This is an edited extract from the official UFWC book The Unofficial Football World Championships by Paul Brown.