Mexico start their World Cup 2026 countdown with a familiar foe

The Mexican national team will play the first of three warm-up games before making their World Cup debut on June 11, and their opponent carries real pedigree – although it has struggled to do much damage to El Tri.

Mexico’s next opponent is Ghana, one of Africa’s strongest teams, which travels to World Cup territory looking to emulate what it did at South Africa 2010, when it reached the quarterfinals.

El Tri vs Black Stars H2H record

The history between Mexico and Ghana is not extensive. They have faced each other only four times, and Mexico’s dominance has been absolute, with El Tri winning every game.

The first meeting came before the 2006 World Cup in Frisco, Texas. On that occasion, Mexico beat the African side 1-0 with a goal from Guillermo Franco.

Two years later, El Tri and the Black Stars met again, this time in London, in what proved to be a decisive game for Mexico’s head coach. Although Mexico won 2-1 with goals from Carlos Salcido and Pavel Pardo, Hugo Sánchez was dismissed as manager of the national team after the failure in Olympic qualifying for Beijing 2008 a month earlier.

Almost 10 years later, Mexico again faced the African nation and, with a goal from Elías Hernández, the team then coached by Juan Carlos Osorio claimed victory in Houston.

Finally, during the October 2023 FIFA window, El Tri again defeated Ghana 2-0, this time in Charlotte, North Carolina – the most recent meeting between the two teams.

When do Mexico and Ghana play their friendly?

These two national teams, both seeking the best possible preparation for the World Cup, will face each other this Friday, October 22, at 8 p.m. ET at Estadio Cuauhtémoc in Puebla.

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