United States vs Mexico

TQL Stadium is the venue as the United States and Mexico go head-to-head in a mammoth CONCACAF World Cup qualifying encounter.

Despite their indifferent start to this World Cup qualifying campaign (W3, D2, L1), the United States sit just three points adrift of CONCACAF standings leaders Mexico. More importantly, they are five points clear of fifth-placed Costa Rica, as head coach Gregg Berhalter looks set to take the USA back to the World Cup finals after missing out on the 2018 edition. After being held to a 1-1 draw to neighbors Canada in their opening 2022 World Cup qualifier on home turf, the ‘Stars and Stripes’ have won back-to-back home qualifiers, mainly thanks to their eye-catching second-half displays. Indeed, four of the USA’s five home goals scored in the ongoing World Cup qualifying cycle have come beyond half-time. What’s more, you have to go back to September 2019 to find the USA’s last international defeat on home soil, though it came at the hands of non-other than Mexico.

In the meantime, the Mexicans are pursuing revenge here, having lost both grand finals to this opposition over the summer, going down on penalties in the CONCACAF Nations League showpiece before an extra-time defeat in the Gold Cup final. By contrast, Mexico have been a force to be reckoned with in the ongoing World Cup qualifiers, winning four of their opening six matches (D2), including the last two in a row by an aggregate score of 5-0. Seeking their eighth World Cup finals appearance on the trot, ‘El Tri’ could make a quantum leap by beating the USA for the second time in three World Cup qualifying H2Hs (W1, D1). A pair of clean sheets from their three World Cup qualifying games on the road in the post-Gold Cup period (W2, D1) suggests they could be hard to penetrate.