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

Mexico welcome Serbia to Estadio Nemesio Diez on Friday for their final preparation match ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The hosts were victorious against Australia last Sunday, while the visitors suffered a disappointing defeat to Cape Verde in their last friendly fixture.

Match preview

Mexico head into this friendly fixture enjoying a strong run of results, boasting five wins and two draws from their last seven matches.

That run includes a 1-0 victory against Australia last Sunday, with Johan Vasquez's first-half strike proving the difference against the Socceroos.

Javier Aguirre will be looking for his side to extend that run with another win on Friday, hoping Mexico can maintain their positive momentum heading into the World Cup.

Mexico, who are one of the three host nations for the 2026 competition, will get the tournament underway when they clash with South Africa on June 11, followed by clashes with South Korea and Czech Republic.

Mexico, given the home advantage and their recent form, will be confident heading into this clash, especially as they face a Serbia side enduring an inconsistent run.

Serbia have won just three of their last eight matches across all competitions, suffering five defeats in that time.

Three of those losses resulted in Serbia's devastating failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with Veljko Paunovic's side finishing third in qualifying Group K and narrowly just one point behind second-placed Albania.

Serbia subsequently lost 3-0 to Spain and beat Saudi Arabia 2-1 during the March international break, but they suffered a disappointing 3-0 loss to Cape Verde in their most recent match last weekend.

Hoping to quickly bounce back from that defeat, Paunovic will be looking for his side to secure a shock away win against a Mexico side who will be heavily supported at Estadio Nemesio Diez.

Mexico International Friendlies form:

W W D D W W

Mexico form (all competitions):

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Serbia International Friendlies form:

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Serbia form (all competitions):

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Team News

Aguirre made 11 changes during his side's 1-0 win against Australia, and the manager may opt to start with the team that featured throughout the second half of that match.

As a result, captain Edson Alvarez could be replaced by Cesar Montes and Jesus Gomez in central defence, while a front four of Cesar Huerta, Gilberto Mora, Julian Quinones and Santiago Gimenez could start.

Meanwhile, Paunovic is also anticipated to make wholesale changes following Serbia's lacklustre loss to Cape Verde.

The likes of Nikola Simic, Lazar Randelovic and Ognjen Mimovic could, therefore, be part of the changed starting team.

Mexico possible starting lineup:

Ochoa; Reyes, Montes, Gomez, Gallardo; Vargas, Lira; Huerta, Mora, Quinones; Gimenez

Serbia possible starting lineup:

F Stankovic; Mimovic, Simic, Pavlovic, Avdic; Petrovic, A Stankovic; Zivkovic, Zukic, Randelovic; Ivanovic

We say: Mexico 3-1 Serbia

Mexico will have the full support of the home crowd, are in superior form and will be eager to maintain their current run ahead of the World Cup getting underway, leading us to expect a win for the hosts.

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