Champions League
Conference League
Premier League
Published on Oct, 15 2024
Mauricio Pochettino will be looking to get his U.S. men's national team stint as head coach off to a double-winning start by adding a friendly victory over Mexico to his debut win over Panama. The pair meet at Estadio Akron in Zapopan on Tuesday as these two fierce rivals play out what will only lightly be termed a non-competitive matchup -- it always matters between these two. El Tri's last competitive game was in the Copa America and the last two meetings between these sides saw the U.S. win by a combined 5-0 score in CONCACAF Nations League games.
As FIFA 2026 World Cup joint-hosts, the Mexicans do not have to qualify but there will be competitive games before the end of 2024 with the CONCACAF Nations League coming up in November. Javier Aguirre has seen his players beat New Zealand 3-0 and draw 0-0 with Canada before a 2-2 draw with Spanish club Valencia CF. It has not been since 2019 that Mexico actually beat America with the USMNT victorious in five of the last seven encounters.
The U.S. have only conceded once in their last six games against El Tri but their last friendly was 1-1 back in April of 2023. Both sides fell short in the Copa America without even getting out of the group stage but Pochettino is determined to change that and got off to a winning start against Panama thanks to Yunus Musah and Ricardo Pepi goals in Texas. CONCACAF Nations League action returns for the Stars and Stripes in November but their quarterfinal opponents are not yet known.
The USMNT saw off Panama 2-0 on Saturday with Musah and Pepi goals while Mexico's last international result was a 0-0 draw with Canada. El Tri did draw 2-2 with Valencia in a friendly over the weekend with Alexis Vega and Ozziel Herrera scoring.
Mexico: The Mexican side was rotated during the Valencia draw and this is once again expected to be experimental with Aguirre expected to spread minutes out. Santiago Gimenez is out injured but Raul Jimenez is present and expedcted to lead the line.
Possible Mexico XI: Malagon; Montes, J Sanchez, Vasquez, Angulo; Romo, Lira; Alvarado, Pineda, Huerta; Jimenez.
USMNT: Christian Pulisic has been allowed to return to Milan after the Panama win so will not captain his country here. Pepi, Marlon Fossey, Weston McKennie and Zack Steffen have also been released and will not feature but expect to see Josh Sargent leading the line. Antonee Robinson, Mark McKenzie and Joe Scally are also in line for continued minutes this October international break.
Possible USMNT XI: Turner; Scally, McKenzie, Ream; Musah, Busio, Morris, Robinson; Aaronson, Sargent, Zendejas.
This one should be tight and ultimately end level despite a much better record in recent times for the U.S. over their Mexican neighbors. Pick: Mexico 1, USMNT 1.
Editors Top Picks
