COPA AMÉRICA 2024
Will Jaime Lozano remain as Mexico head coach after Copa América failure?
El Tri are out of the tournament after scoring just once in three group stage games. Here’s what’s next for the Mexican national team...
Mexico’s brief Copa América campaign was ended by a drab 0-0 draw against Ecuador on Sunday, ensuring that El Tri will not progress out of the group. It looked like they had been thrown a late lifeline when they were awarded a penalty deep into injury time, but the decision was subsequently overturned after a VAR review.
They scored just one goal in three games as head coach Jaime Lozano failed to get the best out of Feyenoord striker Santiago Giménez. Lozano led the team to the Gold Cup last summer but his position has been under doubt in recent months after a poor run of form.
However despite the disappointing Copa América showing Duilio Davino, Mexico’s sporting director, has confirmed that Lozano will remain in the role as the team’s focus turns to the World Cup in 2026.
“The project continues,” Davino insisted on Sunday. “In two weeks Jimmy will present us with an evaluation of what happened in the summer... We’ll talk with him about everything we can improve. The areas and opportunities that we have, which are surely many, but there are also positives.”
Why are Mexico struggling to score goals?
This summer’s tournament always looked like a period of transition for Mexico, having made an active decision to move on from a number of established stars. Raul Jimenez and Hirving ‘Chucky’ Lozano were both omitted from the roster for Copa América, a sign of faith in the new guard.
Central to that change is Santiago Giménez, perhaps the biggest talent of the emerging generation. The 23-year-old lifted the Dutch league title with Feyenoord in 2023 and he struck 23 goals in 30 Eredivisie games last season.
However Giménez has not yet recreated that form with the national team, managing a paltry four goals in his 29 Mexico appearances. He failed to score in three starts at Copa América and the Mexican head coach admitted that his team’s offensive output had not been good enough across the board.
“We need to score goals,” said Lozano. “Obviously they have to score goals, but above all, they have to concede as few as possible, and in this tournament, I think the team was very solid defensively... I think that these players in two years can have significant growth and, above all, it creates important competition.”