SEATTLE - The Mexican national team has a busy year is ahead, with CONCACAF Nations League and Copa América just around the corner. "El Tri" added three more games against South American opponents to prepare ahead of their first Copa América appearance since 2016.
Before taking on their CONMEBOL counterparts, Mexico will compete at the CONCACAF Nations League Final Four, with games scheduled to take place between March 21-24. A semifinal clash against Panama will dictate if Mexico competes for the 3rd-place game or in the title game, with the United States and Canada on the other side of the bracket.
Before the 48th edition of the Copa América kicks off on June 20, Mexico will play Bolivia, Uruguay and Brazil at different venues across the United States in preparations for the continental tournament. Chicago's Soldier Field will be the venue for Mexico-Bolivia on May 31, while Denver's Empower Field at Mile High will see "El Tri" take on Marcelo Bielsa's Uruguay team five days later.
In their attempt to maximize such a high-profile game, Mexico's game against the five-time world champions Brazil will take place at the fourth-largest stadium in the United States. Kyle Field in College Station, Texas, will house more than 100,000 fans on June 8.
Although Mexico's form has improved after crashing out of the 2022 World Cup in the group stages, Jaime Lozano's team is still trying to find their own identity. Under his stewardship, Mexico lifted the Gold Cup last year just a few days after firing previous manager Diego Cocca.
Since taking over Cocca, Lozano amasses a 7-3-3 record, as well as the aforementioned title. But no matter how much Mexico has improved in recent months, Lozano will be judged by media and fans by how well his team can perform against South American opponents. Since 2021, Mexico has only won one game against CONMEBOL teams (1-6-1 W-L-D) and has lost each of the last three such meetings.
The international friendlies before the start of Copa América will be huge for "El Tri" as they try to put an end to their bad spell against South American sides. Historically, though, Mexico has a favorable record against every single CONMEBOL team not named Argentina or Brazil.
After Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, Mexico is the team in the world with the most wins against the "Canarinha," having won 10 of its 41 senior meetings against the five-time world champions. The last of Mexico's victories vs Brazil came almost 12 years ago, a 2-0 result in Arlington, Texas. Javier "Chicharito" Hernández scored the second goal of the night, and it remains as the last goal Mexico managed to score against Brazil as they failed to find the back of the net in their four meetings since (Brazil has a GD of +6 in that span).
One of the most memorable Mexico-Brazil clashes came at the 2014 World Cup. Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa was the hero that evening with one of the best goalkeeping performances in World Cup history.
Between 1999 and 2007, Mexico had a golden run vs Brazil, winning six of its nine games in all competitions (6-1-2 W-L-D), compared to just three wins in the previous 25 meetings.
Against Uruguay, Mexico holds a small advantage in the head-to-head with a record of 8-7-7, although the "Charrúas" won their last meeting in 2022 by a score of 3-0. The last time "El Tri" defeated Uruguay, funny enough, came the only other time a Copa América was held in the U.S., with Mexico edging Uruguay 3-1 in the group stages of 2016.
In the history of the rivalry, no team has linked three straight wins over the other and, with Uruguay having won the last two meetings, Lozano and "El Tri" will try to snap their winless run before potentially facing Uruguay in the Copa América knockout stages.
Bolivia completes the list of opponents for Mexico during the Summer. "La Verde" is the South American country with the fewest games against Mexico, having clashed only 12 previous times before 2024. A 3-1 victory in the 1997 Copa América remains as Bolivia's only win against "El Tri," who holds a record of 9-1-2 W-L-D in all competitions against them.
In their nine games since 1997, Bolivia has managed to score just two goals (-13 GD), losing eight games in a row to Mexico between 1999-2014. "La Verde" is one of two CONMEBOL countries that have failed to beat Mexico in more than one occasion, with Venezuela also having just one win against "El Tri."
© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
