Preview: Mexico vs Colombia - prediction, team news, lineups

Mexico meet Colombia at the M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday morning in the first of a series of fixtures being held in the United States during this international break.

In their previous friendlies, El Tricolor posted an emphatic 5-1 win against Serbia at the Estadio Nemesio Diez, while La Fiebre Amarilla claimed a 2-0 victory over Jordan at the Snapdragon Stadium.

Match preview

Following an outstanding build-up to the tournament, winning six and drawing two of their prior eight matches, Mexico will understandably still be slightly disappointed with their 2026 World Cup exit on home soil.

Having topped Group A by winning each of their opening three matches, scoring six and keeping a trio of clean sheets in the process, El Tricolor claimed an impressive 2-0 victory against Ecuador in their first knockout tie to progress to the Round of 16 for the first time since the 2010 tournament in South Africa.

However, that was where Mexico’s journey came to an end as they fell to an agonising 3-2 defeat against Thomas Tuchel’s England at the Estadio Azteca and shortly afterwards bid farewell to Javier Aguirre at the helm for the third time.

In order to make the best possible start to his tenure, Rafael Marquez will undoubtedly be hoping to overturn his nation’s horrid recent record against Colombia, with El Tricolor losing each of the previous four meetings with Sunday’s opposition and conceding a damning 12 goals over that stretch.

Much like their opposition, Colombia headed into this summer’s World Cup in great form, only losing to European heavyweights France and Croatia in their previous 13 fixtures, but were unlucky to have bowed out of the tournament in painful fashion.

After beating Portugal to top spot in Group K, earning seven points from their three fixtures, Jhon Arias’s first-half strike gave Nestor Lorenzo’s men a 1-0 win against Ghana in their opening knockout bout and propelled them into the Round of 16 for the third time in the previous four tournament editions.

Unfortunately for Colombia, that was where their summer campaign finished though as following a tense 90 minute stalemate with Switzerland in Vancouver, La Fiebre Amarilla were unable to take advantage of their extra-time dominance and suffered a narrow 4-3 defeat in the penalty shootout.

Looking ahead to next year’s Copa America campaign, Lorenzo will certainly be wanting to rebuild momentum and kick off Colombia’s preparations with victory against Mexico, who they claimed an emphatic 4-0 victory over when the sides last met in October 2025.

Mexico form (all competitions):

Colombia form (all competitions):

Team News

In his first international squad, Marquez will be frustrated to have star players Julian Quinones and Raul Jimenez both missing with muscle and knee injuries respectively.

The 47-year-old has also left World Cup captain Edson Alvarez out due to his lack of minutes for West Ham United so far this season, while legendary goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa is no longer available for selection after retiring from international duty.

However, following a lengthy spell without an appearance for Mexico, Hirving Lozano returns to fold this month and brings some more experience into a squad that has been sprinkled with youth.

After playing a physically demanding 62 matches last season, Lorenzo has decided to rest star man Luis Diaz for Colombia’s latest set of international friendlies, with Oscar Perea, Daniel Arcila and Yaser Asprilla amongst the names who could fill his shoes.

Having stepped away from representing his country, James Rodriguez is unavailable for Sunday’s match, while Juan Fernando Quintero has called time on his international contributions too.

David Ospina, Jefferson Lerma, Jorge Carrascal and Jhon Cordoba are just a few of the remaining absentees to Lorenzo’s latest squad, as the 60-year-old notably looks to be weighing up changes across the Colombia frontline.

Mexico possible starting lineup:

Rangel; Reyes, Montes, Vasquez, Chavez Garcia; Mora, Lira, Pineda; Alvarado, Gimenez, Lozano

Colombia possible starting lineup:

Mier; Munoz, Sanchez, Lucumi, Angulo Mosquera; Puerta, Rios, Arias; Asprilla, Suarez, Gomez

We say: Mexico 1-1 Colombia

With both teams missing several key players and looking to bounce back from harrowing World Cup exits, Sunday's clash could be an extremely tight match which could easily go either way.

After losing each of their previous four meetings with Colombia, we think Mexico will stop the rut this weekend, but are predicting the match to end in a draw at the M&T Bank Stadium.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.