Who is Mexico’s biggest rival in world soccer?

After 11 rounds of matches in the final phase of the eight team qualifying group, surprise package remain unbeaten Canada (25 points) have a four-point cushion over the United States and Mexico. Panama are fourth with 17 points.

With three games still to be played , the top three teams will represent CONCACAF in Qatar while the fourth-placed finisher will face a team from Oceania in an intercontinental playoff for a place at the World Cup.

Mexico-USA rivalry

Mexico’s first of these three games is against the rivals from the north, with the US traditionally the ‘foe’ for the side from Central America.

With soccer historically a more popular sport in Mexico, ‘El Tri’ have traditionally been the stronger nation with the USMNT however enjoying a better head-to-head since the turn of the century.

The first time the sides met was in a FIFA World Cup qualifier on 24 May 1934. The USMNT prevailed in the one-match, winner-takes-all qualifier in Rome, Italy only days before the start of the 1934 World Cup in Italy.

Since then Mexico have a superior record, winning 38 times. The USA has been victorious on 23 occasions, with their last win coming in November 2021 with a 2-0 win the USMNT have enjoyed more recent wins since the turn of the century as the sport grows Stateside.

Azteca meeting

The next round of Mexico-USA rivalry will see another chapter written on Thursday when Gregg Berhalter’s men travel to Mexico to take on ‘El Tri’ in their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier at the Estadio Azteca in the capital at 10 pm ET. The USMNT manged scoreless draws at the Estadio Azteca in 1997 and 2013 and a 1-1 result last time out in 2017 but have yet to beat their neighbours from the south on Mexican soil.