MEXICO
Nations League Final Four and 2024 Copa America offer ‘El Tri’ a redemption lifeline
Mexico fans are still smarting from a disappointing showing at the World Cup in Qatar 2022 and are hoping for better from Lozano’s side.
Despite a Gold Cup win last summer, many Mexico fans are still lamenting the national team’s underwhelming performance at the 2022 Qatar World Cup as for the first time in eight tournaments, ‘El Tri’ failed to advance from the group stage which ultimately led to the dismissal of coach ‘Tata’ Martino.
In the interim period, two men have overseen the national side with Diego Cocca’s term coming to a brief ending following a humiliating 3-0 defeat to the US at the 2023 CONCACAF Nations League. Cue the arrival of Jaime ‘Jimmy’ Lozano who immediately secured a Gold Cup win last summer delivering a badly needed dose of positivity to the ever demanding Mexico fanbase.
However, the past months have seen elements of discontent start to surface again with sub-par performances recently with Mexico only advancing to the forthcoming Nations League Final Four after a penalty shoot-out win over Honduras. This coupled with three draws and one defeat in the past four friendly outings have seen the 45-year-old coach come under fire from the media and ‘El Tri’ supporters.
CONCACAF Nations League
The 2023-24 edition is the third time the CONCACAF Nations League tournament is being staged with the USMNT securing the first two titles with wins over Mexico (2020-21) and Canada (2022-23) and in Thursday’s semi-final Mexico face Panama with the final set for Sunday (24 March) at the home of the Dallas Cowboys.
The winners of the Mexico-Panama clash will face either the United States or Jamaica and a ‘Concacaf Clasico’ would be offer the first chance to see Gregg Berhalter and Jimmy Lozano go head-to-head as managers of the US and Mexico respectively with glory for ‘El Tri’ across the border key to boosting confidence amongst Mexico fans.
2024 Copa America
As was the case for the Copa America Centenario in 2016, eight years later CONMEBOL’S flagship national competition returns to US soil as 16 nations from two confederations battle it out to be the best in America with Brazil and Argentina the teams to beat.
Lozano’s men prepare for the tournament with three friendly games as they take on Bolivia on 1 June, Uruguay four days later and wrap-up preparation as they take on Brazil on the 8th.
This year’s Copa America kicks off on 20 June and runs through to 14 July in fourteen host cities with Mexico pitted in Group B along with Jamaica, Ecuador and Venezuela with the competition set to offer a reasonable yardstick of how the Mexican side are evolving 24 months ahead of the 2026 World Cup.