Sports Mole previews Wednesday’s friendly clash between Mexico and USA, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
USA will be bidding to make it back-to-back wins in their October internationals when they take on Mexico in Zapopan on Tuesday night.
The visitors will enter the contest off the back of a 2-0 win over Panama on Saturday evening, while Mexico drew 0-0 with Canada in their last international match in September.
Match preview
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Mexico last competitive match came at the 2024 Copa America, where they failed to make it out of the group stage despite picking up a respectable four points from their three matches in the section.
As joint-hosts of the 2026 World Cup, El Tri will not have to qualify for the finals of the competition, but they will be in competitive action next month in the quarter-finals of the CONCACAF Nations League.
Javier Aguirre‘s side played twice in September, beating New Zealand 3-0 in their first contest before drawing 0-0 with Canada, and the national side will now be eyeing a morale-boosting win over the United States.
Mexico have not actually beaten USA since September 2019, with the United States triumphing in five of their last seven meetings, remaining unbeaten in the process.
Aguirre’s team actually took on La Liga outfit Valencia in a friendly game on Saturday, with the contest finishing 2-2.
The last two contests between these two sides took place in June 2023 and March 2024 in the CONCACAF Nations League, with USA recording 3-0 and 2-0 victories, with the latter result occurring in the final of the competition.
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United States have only conceded once in their last six matches with Mexico, which is an indication of the size of the task facing the hosts during Tuesday’s international friendly.
However, the last non-competitive match between these two countries did finish 1-1 in April 2023.
USA disappointed at the 2024 Copa America, failing to make it out of the group stage, finishing third in their section behind Uruguay and Panama, having collected only three points from three matches.
However, new head coach Mauricio Pochettino made a winning start to his tenure against Panama in October, with Yunus Musah and Ricardo Pepi on the scoresheet in a 2-0 success in Texas.
United States are also joint-hosts of the 2026 World Cup, while like Mexico, they will be in CONCACAF Nations League action in November, with their quarter-final opponent yet to be decided.
Mexico friendly form:
Mexico form (all competitions):
USA friendly form:
USA form (all competitions):
Team News
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Mexico tackled Spanish side Valencia in a friendly on Saturday night, and Alexis Vega and Ozziel Herrera were on the scoresheet in what proved to be a 2-2 draw.
There were changes throughout the second half of that match, and it is expected to be more of the same on Tuesday, with head coach Aguirre likely to hand minutes to a number of his players.
Santiago Gimenez is a notable absentee in the final third of the field for Mexico due to a thigh issue, but Raul Jimenez is in the squad, and the Fulham striker will be bidding to add to his 33 international goals in this contest.
As for USA, Christian Pulisic will once again skipper the national side, with the 26-year-old bidding to add to the 31 goals that he has scored for his country in 74 caps.
Josh Sargent has had a strong start to the season for Norwich City, scoring four goals and registering three assists in nine Championship appearances, and he is expected to lead the line.
Fulham’s Antonee Robinson will be another notable inclusion for the visitors, while Mark McKenzie and Joe Scally should also be handed defensive roles for United States in the international friendly.
Mexico possible starting lineup:
Malagon; Montes, J Sanchez, Vasquez, Angulo; Romo, Lira; Alvarado, Pineda, Huerta; Jimenez
USA possible starting lineup:
Turner; Scally, McKenzie, Ream; Musah, Busio, Morris, Robinson; Aaronson, Sargent, Pulisic
We say: Mexico 1-2 USA
USA have certainly had the better of the recent meetings between the two sides, with Mexico struggling for goals in their last few encounters. We are backing Mexico to give their supporters something to cheer on Tuesday night, but we fancy USA to put another victory on the board under Pochettino.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.