Mexico vs United States Match Analysis and Prediction

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Mexico and the United States will kick off the final window of qualifying for World Cup 2022 on Friday at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

Both sides are tied for second in the Octagon at 21 points, as the hosts collected eight points out of a possible nine in the last qualification window, while USA defeated Honduras 3-0 back in February.

Gerardo Martino and his side have had a smooth road to Qatar, having lost only two matches in this qualification cycle.

Some heroics have put them in a strong position to return to the World Cup, scoring twice in the final 10 minutes in a comeback 2-1 victory over Jamaica, and netting a winner from the penalty spot with ten minutes remaining to defeat Panama 1-0.

A win along with a loss by Costa Rica and Panama on Friday would guarantee the Mexicans make it into the finals for an eighth successive campaign, having been knocked out in the round-of-16 of every World Cup since 1994.

Two of their final three qualifying matches will be played at the Estadio Azteca, one of the most challenging places to play and a venue that has been extremely kind El Tri through the years.

The 2022 qualification campaign for United States has been all about rectifying past mistakes which saw them miss out on this competition four years ago.

Two of their final three fixtures will be on the road, where the team have struggled, winning only one of their previous five matches played.

The United States manager Gregg Berhalter has a youthful group with many players going through a qualifying cycle for the first time, yet there is plenty of big-game experience for him to choose from, with individuals at every position who are currently faerturing for some top sides in Europe.

Mexico vs United States head to head

The two teams have previously met on 74 occasions in all competitions, where Mexico have taken 34 victories while USA have won 25, and they have drawn in 15. Mexico have scored 146 goals and conceded 90. In their last five encounters, Mexico have won twice while USA have won in three.

Mexico 1-0 United States 08/07/19

United States 0-3 Mexico 07/09/19

United States (E)3-2 Mexico 07/06/21

United States (E)1-0 Mexico 02/08/21

United States 2-0 Mexico 13/11/21

Mexico latest home form

Mexico have recently been on a good run of form at home, having lost only one of their ten most recent matches. That defeat came on October 28 when they lost 3-2 to Ecuador in a friendly match. In their last five matches, they have scored eight goals and conceded five.

Mexico 3-0 Honduras 11/10/21

Mexico 2-3 Ecuador 28/10/21

Mexico 2-2 Chile 09/12/21

Mexico 0-0 Costa Rica 31/01/22

Mexico 1-0 Panama 03/02/22

Mexico latest away form

Mexico have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having lost two of their five most recent matches. However, they managed to defeat Jamaica 2-1 in their last away matches. In their last five away matches, they have scored six goals and conceded six.

Panama 1-1 Mexico 09/09/21

El Salvador 0-2 Mexico 14/10/21

United States 2-0 Mexico 13/11/21

Canada 2-1 Mexico 17/11/21

Jamaica 1-2 Mexico 28/01/22

United States latest home form

The USA have been on a good run of form at home, and have been unbeaten in their ten most recent matches. In their last home game, they managed to defeat Honduras 3-0 in the World Cup Qualification Concacaf. In their last five, they have scored nine goals and conceded only one.

United States 2-1 Costa Rica 14/10/21

United States 2-0 Mexico 13/11/21

United States 1-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina 19/12/21

United States 1-0 El Salvador 28/01/22

United States 3-0 Honduras 03/02/22

United States latest away form

United States have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having won only one of their five most recent matches. They managed to defeat Honduras 4-1 on September 9 in the World Cup Qualification Concacaf. In their last five matches, they have scored five goals and conceded five.

El Salvador 0-0 United States 03/09/21

Honduras 1-4 United States 09/09/21

Panama 1-0 United States 11/10/21

Jamaica 1-1 United States 17/11/21

Canada 2-0 United States 30/01/22

Mexico news

Raul Jimenez will have a chance to move into seventh all-time in goals for his country if he scores on Friday, and he is in a four-way tie alongside Luis Garcia, Luis Flores and Hugo Sanchez.

Henry Martin’s and Alexis Vega’s goals helped Mexico come from behind victory away to Jamaica.

United States news

The Americans will be missing several key players, including fullback Sergino Dest(Barcelona), midfielder Weston McKennie(Juventus) and soon-to-be Arsenal goalkeeper Matt Turner.

Giovanni Reyna is back in the squad, while Aaron Long and Erik Palmer-Brown will hope to feature for the US in qualifying for the first time on Friday.

Predcition and Odds

The US enter the contest having won in the last three encounters between the two teams, and will want to replicate that result here.

However, the Estadio Azteca is not the easiest venue to play in, but Mexico have drawn two matches there in this qualifying round, so we expect a draw.

Odds: 1 2.20 X 2.05 2 2.35