In a rare international friendly south of the border between the two North American rivals, the U.S. Men’s National Team journeys to Guadalajara to meet Mexico on Tuesday, Oct. 15 at Estadio Akron. Kickoff for the match is set for 10:30 p.m. ET (TNT, MAX, FDP Radio).
In new Mauricio Pochettino's debut as USA head coach, the Americans recorded a 2-0 victory over Panama in a friendly in Austin, Texas on Saturday night. Yunus Musah and Ricardo Pepi scored for the winners.
The USMNT is 18th overall in the latest FIFA rankings, while Mexico is 17th, the highest current rank among Concacaf teams.
El Tri is coming off a 2-2 draw with La Liga club Valencia in an unofficial friendly in Puebla on Saturday, after previously registering a scoreless draw against Canada in Arlington, Texas on Sept. 10.
Following Tuesday’s match, the Americans' next game will be against an opponent to be determined in the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals on either Nov. 14-15. The U.S. will host the same team in St. Louis, Mo. In the return leg on Nov. 18.
Mexico also is waiting for its quarterfinal opponents on games scheduled on the same dates.
Here are five things to know about Tuesday’s opponent:
FOOTBALLING HISTORY
Mexico has been one of the strongest teams in the region historically, qualifying for the past eight FIFA World Cups and 17 overall. El Trí additionally reached the quarterfinals when it hosted the tournament in 1970 and 1986. The North American side participated in the first FIFA World Cup in 1930 and failed to qualify three times while being banned from the 1990 FIFA World Cup when it used an ineligible player in qualification for the Under-20 World Cup.
The Mexicans also have captured the Concacaf Gold Cup a record nine times (1993, 1996, 1998 2003, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2019, 2023).
They made seven appearances in the FIFA Confederations Cup, beginning in 1995, and won the championship in 1999.
In 2012, the Mexicans made history, becoming the first Concacaf country to win an Olympic soccer gold medal, besting Brazil at the London Summer Games in the final at Wembley Stadium.
Javier (Chicharito) Hernandez, who plays with Guadalajara (Liga MX) is the all-time leading goal-scorer (52 in 109 matches).
Midfielder Andrés Guardado has accrued a Mexican record 179 international appearances while scoring 28 goals, having performed for the national side since 2005.
USMNT HISTORY VS. MEXICO
Mexico leads the all-time series, 36-24-17. The USA, however, enters the match with a seven-game unbeaten streak (5-0-2) against its archrivals, having last tasted defeat against Mexico in a 3-0 result in East Rutherford, N.J. on Sept. 6, 2019.
The first time these Concacaf powers met, the USMNT prevailed in a one-match, winner-take-all qualifier in Rome, Italy only days prior to the start of the 1934 FIFA World Cup. Aldo “Buff” Donelli scored four times for the USA in a 4-2 victory. In the first qualifying tournament for Brazil 1950, Mexico won both contests in Mexico City, 6-0 and 6-2. That started a 31-year run in Mexico WCQ dominance over the USA in which their rivals to the south forged a 12-0-3 record.
The Americans started their streak with a 3-2 extra-time win in the CNL final at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo. on June 6, 2021, in a match that was decided by a pair of penalty kicks. Christian Pulisic converted his spot kick in the 110th minute. Goalkeeper Ethan Horvath, who came off the bench in the second half to replace the injured Zack Steffen, denied Andres Guardado's PK four minutes into stoppage time in the second extra time.
They continued with a 1-0 triumph in the Concacaf Gold Cup final in Las Vegas on Aug. 1, 2021. Defender Miles Robinson headed home Kellyn Acosta's free kick from seven yards in the 117th minute at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
They continued their dos a cero mastery over the Mexicans in Ohio with a 2-0 win in a FIFA 2022 World Cup qualifier at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati on Nov. 12, 2021. Tim Weah set up second-half substitute Christian Pulisic for the winning goal in the 74th minute and Weston McKennie added an insurance tally in the 85th minute to seal the fifth 2-0 WCQ result in the state (2001, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2021).
They frustrated El Tri at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City in another WCQ match via a scoreless draw on March 22, 2022.
On April 19, 2023, the archrivals battled to a 1-1 draw in Glendale, Ariz. After El Tri took the lead on Uriel Antuna's 55th-minute goal, Jesus Ferreira countered with the equalizer in the 81st minute.
In the 2023 CNL semifinal in Las Vegas on June 15, the USA rolled to a 3-0 triumph. Pulisic scored on either side of halftime (37th and 46th minutes) and Ricardo Pepi buried a 78th-minute goal.
In their most recent confrontation, the Americans recorded a 2-0 victory in the Concacaf Nations League final in Arlington, Texas on March 21, 2024. Midfielder Tyler Adams scored a golazo in the 45th minute for a 1-0 lead, before Gio Reyna sealed the match with a 63-minute goal. Goalkeeper Matt Turner recorded the clean sheet.
MEXICO MANAGER
Javier Aguirre returned in his third tenure as head coach on July 22, replacing Jaime Lozano, who was fired two weeks after Copa America.
He coached El Tri in the 2002 and 2010 FIFA World Cups, and guided Mexico to the 2009 Concacaf Gold Cup crown. As a club coach, he directed Monterrey to the 2021 Concacaf Champions League title. In Spain, he coached Atlético Madrid (2004) and Mallorca (2024) to the Copa del Rey finals.
Born in Mexico City on Dec. 1, 1958, the 65-year-old Aguirre started his three-decade head coaching career with Atlante in 1995, directing teams in his native country and Spain. He also coached the national sides in Egypt and Japan.
A midfielder, Aguirre played most of his 14-year pro career with América and Guadalajara, also performing with the Los Angeles Aztecs of the original North American Soccer League. He made 59 appearances for the Mexican national team, scoring 14 goals and competing in the 1986 World Cup.
Mexico is 1-0-1 under Aguirre.
RECENT MATCHES
Like the USA, Mexico failed to get out of the group stage at Copa América, scoring only once.
El Tri opened the tournament with a 1-0 win over Jamaica in Houston on June 22. Gerardo Arteaga tallied the lone goal in the 69th minute and goalkeeper Julio González recorded the shutout.
The Mexicans then were blanked by Venezuela 1-0 in Inglewood, Calif., on June 26, before playing Ecuador to a scoreless draw in Glendale, Ariz. on June 30.
In an Oct. 9 friendly in Arlington, Texas, El Tri played Canada to a scoreless draw. Goalkeeper Luis Ángel Malagón recorded the shutout.
The Mexicans registered a 2-2 tie with Valencia in an unofficial friendly in Puebla on Oct. 12. Henry Martín and Ozziel Herrera scored for the hosts, who failed to hold onto a two-goal lead.
MEXICO ROSTER
Manager Javier Aguirre has called in 27 players for Mexico's friendlies, including seven players with three international appearances or less. 19 players perform in Liga MX, and eight overseas.
A pair of veterans that were left out of El Tri's Copa América squad - goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa and striker Raúl Jiménez - were included in this roster.
Ochoa, 39, the oldest player on the squad, has guarded the net 150 times. He is second only to captain and midfielder Andrés Guardado in age (38) and caps (179).
Guardado knows a thing or two about winning, having competed in five FIFA World Cups, and helping the Mexicans to three Concacaf Gold Cup titles (2011, 2015, 2019) and the 2015 Concacaf Cup. He has scored 16 of his 28 international goals when Mexico has performed in the USA, including one goal against the USMNT.
Jiménez leads all Mexican internationals with 33 goals in 104 appearances, followed by Guardado's 28.
Two players - midfielder Obed Vargas (Seattle Sounders) and forward Germán Berterame (Monterrey) - are seeking their first caps. Vargas, 19, is the youngest player in the squad.
Aguirre could not call in three veterans who are recovering from injuries - PSV Eindhoven forward Hirving "Chucky" Lozano, Feyenoord forward Santiago Giménez, and Dinamo Moscow midfielder Luis Chávez.
MEXICO ROSTER BY POSITION
GOALKEEPERS (3): Luis Malagón (Club América; 5/0), Guillermo Ochoa (AVS Futebol/POR; 150/0), Raúl Rangel (Chivas de Guadalajara; 2/0)
DEFENDERS (8): Edson Álvarez (West Ham United/ENG; 79/5), Jesús Angulo (Tigres UANL; 16/0), Bryan González (Pachuca; 2/0), Rodrigo Huescas (FC Copenhagen/DEN; 1/0), César Montes (Lokomotiv Moscow/RUS; 48/1), Jesús Orozco (Chivas de Guadalajara; 3/0), Jorge Sánchez (Cruz Azul; 44/1), Johan Vásquez (Genoa/ITA; 28/1)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Sebastián Córdova (Tigres UANL; 18/3), Andrés Guardado (León; 179/28), Érik Lira (Cruz Azul; 5/0), Orbelín Pineda (AEK Athens/GRE; 75/11), Carlos Rodríguez (Cruz Azul; 54/0), Luis Romo (Cruz Azul; 51/4), Marcel Ruiz (Toluca; 1/0), Obed Vargas (Seattle Sounders/USA; 0/0)
FORWARDS (8): Roberto Alvarado (Chivas de Guadalajara; 47/5), Germán Berterame (Monterrey; 0/0), Ozziel Herrera (Tigres UANL; 7/0), César Huerta (Pumas UNAM; 12/2), Raúl Jiménez (Fulham/ENG; 104/33), Diego Lainez (Tigres UANL; 28/3), Guillermo Martínez (Pumas UNAM; 6/2), Alexis Vega (Toluca; 31/6)
