The fronts of MK1 Mondeos looked slightly different from pre-98 Contours, and the fronts of MK2 Mondeos looked almost identical to post-98 Contours. However, the rears on both are dead giveaways - if it resembled anything similar to your own car, then it's definitely not a Mondeo.
pre-97 Mondeo (MK1):
pre-95 Mondeo? (hatch as well)
97+ Mondeo (MK2):