It’s fair to say that Mexico’s preparations for the 2024 Copa América have not run smoothly. The recent unconvincing 1-0 win over Bolivia in Chicago was well below expectations, and a subsequent 4-0 loss to Uruguay in Denver was borderline disastrous. After selecting a new look squad with one eye on the 2026 FIFA World Cup, head coach Jaime Lozano attracted some intense criticism for the result against Uruguay, with former Mexican player Luis García even describing him as “not qualified for the job”.
There shouldn’t be too much panic just yet given that Mexico also went into their 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup title-winning campaign with mixed lead-up form. Still, Mexico are likely to face the likes of Uruguay and upcoming opponents Brazil in the knockouts of the Copa should they justify their expectations of progressing, so this friendly at the 102,000-capacity Kyle Field in Texas needs to be taken very seriously.
Brazil are approaching their first tournament under new manager Dorival Júnior, who after 20 years as a club coach in the country has taken on his first national team job. He had a satisfactory start to his tenure in March when the team upset England at Wembley (1-0) before snatching a 3-3 draw away to Spain with a late penalty. Dorival’s squad was also boosted by the arrival of Real Madrid trio of Rodrygo, Éder Militão and Vinícius Júnior in midweek.
Dorival vowed at his inaugural press conference as Brazil manager to regain their long-coveted status as “the most winning team on the planet” and is therefore expected to treat these pre-Copa friendlies ruthlessly. If they are anywhere near their best from the outset, they should be able to extend their unbeaten streak against Mexico to five games (W3, D1) following four outings across a roughly five-year period in which Mexico failed to score.
Players to watch: Mexico midfielder Uriel Antuna has never lost when scoring for the national side, with his 14 international goals coming in eleven wins and a draw against Germany in October 2023, when he scored his last international goal. The 17-year-old wonderkid Endrick will become the next Real Madrid player on the Brazilian roster and could get some minutes here after scoring second half goals in each of their two March 2024 friendlies.
Hot stat: Six of Mexico’s last seven matches saw only the winning team score on the day.
