Final preparations ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar begin on Wednesday for Mexico, who face Iraq in a friendly at Estadi Montilivi in Spain.
It will be the second time the two sides meet in an international fixture, with the previous one occurring at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico when El Tri came away with a 1-0 triumph.
Match preview
© Reuters
The World Cup is just around the corner, and for Gerardo Martino, their upcoming friendlies will be his last opportunity to assess his team and who he should bring to Qatar.
His spell with the Mexican national team has been heavily scrutinized, and although he managed to guide them into the finals for an eighth successive time, El Tri were not the same dominant CONCACAF side from past qualification campaigns.
Since officially booking their place at the World Cup, Martino and his team have been inconsistent from one game to another, winning only one of their previous four international fixtures.
In their previous friendly against Colombia, El Tri failed to hang onto a second-half advantage for the first time since losing the CONCACAF Nations League Final three years ago, squandering a two-goal lead and falling by a 3-2 score versus the USA.
This upcoming fixture will be the first time they face an Asian opponent since blanking Japan 2-0 in a 2020 friendly, with Mexico holding a 100% record versus teams from that region since dropping a 1-0 decision to South Korea in February 2006.
They have failed to win seven of their last eight matches in all competitions when conceding the opener, with their only triumph over that stretch coming in January, defeating Jamaica in World Cup qualifying 2-1.
© Reuters
Despite making it into the final stage of Asian qualifying for a third successive campaign, Iraq will be watching the World Cup on TV at home.
Ultimately, a slow start did them in as the Lions of Mesopotamia went winless until the ninth match of round three qualifying before finally earning three points.
Radhi Shenaishil will be in charge of the national team on an interim basis, with his side unbeaten in six consecutive matches in all competitions.
Over that stretch, the Iraqis have only scored multiple goals once, however they have not conceded more than one strike in any encounter, either.
Iraq have not faced a team outside of Asia since January, when they defeated Uganda 1-0, and it has been much longer since they have faced off against a CONCACAF nation, going back to the 86 World Cup against the Mexicans.
It has been over four years since this team have suffered a defeat when scoring first, conceding twice in the final 10 minutes in 2018 World Cup qualifying, losing 2-1 versus Saudi Arabia.
Team News
© Reuters
Alexis Vega picked up his fourth international goal for the Mexicans in their friendly versus Colombia, while Gerardo Arteaga notched his first strike for the senior side and Andres Guardado moved into a tie with Claudio Suarez as the most capped player in the history of El Tri, making his 177th appearance.
Guillermo Ochoa surpassed Jorge Campos in that encounter to become the most capped goalkeeper in the history of the Mexican national team (130), while Guardado can move into a tie for eighth in goals for El Tri alongside Raul Jimenez and Hugo Sanchez if he can find the back of the net in this one.
Santiago Gimenez can reach double-digits in caps for the Mexican team if he sees the field on Wednesday, while Uriel Antuna started for the second time in his last three matches since September.
Aymen Hussein had the only goal for Iraq in its 1-0 victory over Syria back in September, his third in their last three international fixtures, while Amar Muhsin was called up to the national team and will seek his first appearance on Wednesday.
He was one of six players named to the squad for this match, including 19-year-old Alexander Aoraha, who plays for the Queens Park Rangers U-21 team, Al-Shorta teammates Ahmed Zero and Ahmed Yahya were also called up for the first time, as was Dalkurd FF midfielder Marwan Bazi.
Hussein led the Iraqi team with three goals in the third round of qualifying, with their other strikes coming courtesy of Amir Al-Ammari and Hussein Ali Al-Saedi.
Mexico possible starting lineup:
Ochoa; K. Alvarez, Araujo, Moreno, Gallardo; Rodriguez, E. Alvarez, Guardado; Antuna, Jimenez, Vega
Iraq possible starting lineup:
Hassan; Zero, Yahya, Younis; Al-Ammari, Abdul-Karim, Attwan, Bayesh; Aoraha, Ahmed; Hussein
We say: Mexico 1-0 Iraq
Neither team have been convincing since the end of qualifying, but El Tri have faced much more formidable opponents, while Iraq are in a transitional phase looking to develop its next generation, so we will give the experienced Mexicans the edge.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
