The United States team has a thorn in Mexico and wants to get it out soon. On October 3, the Stars and Stripes team will take to the field at State Farm Stadium (the home of the NFL Cardinals in Glendale, Arizona) with a clear objective: to recover the hegemony it boasted from 2019 to 2024.
They were five years of true terror where the gringos took the measure of us, a nightmare that deeply affected an Aztec soccer team that, before the 90s, saw its neighbor to the north as its most frequent and compliant client.
The urgency of “Team USA” is no wonder. The process of the recently ratified Argentine coach, Mauricio Pochettino, is walking on hot coals. The Americans ended up making a breakthrough in the World Cup, where Belgium gave them a horrible 4-1 win that sent them home in the round of 16.
The Concacaf Classic: Chapter 80
This clash in Phoenix will be duel number 80 in the history of this fierce rivalry that started back in 1934. If we look in the rearview mirror of history, the record still smiles on Mexico: 38 tricolor victories, 24 setbacks and 17 clashes that ended in a draw.
However, American pride suffered a couple of recent scratches. El Tri managed to break the curse and won twice in a row: first with a 2-0 in the friendly on October 15, 2024, and then in the final of the 2025 Gold Cup, where the team led by Javier “Vasco” Aguirre took the trophy from them with a tight 2-1 thanks to goals from Edson Álvarez and Raúl Jiménez.
Two sparks that make up a recent history that is still painted with stars and stripes.
This match is part of the FIFA dates program, where the United States will also face Peru on September 26 in Orlando, Florida; to Chile on September 29 in St. Louis, Missouri; to Mexico on September 3 in Phoenix, Arizona and against Canada on a date to be confirmed in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Rafa Márquez's debut and the ghosts of the past
Now the cards are reshuffled. The Americans will want to take advantage of this commitment to give a “warm” welcome to Rafael Márquez, who formally takes the helm of the Mexican National Team.
Pochettino knows that the “Kaiser” knows inside and out the DNA of these matches, a football civil war that has been played with a knife between its teeth since the early 90s.
And talking about this Classic is reopening wounds that still linger. The rival from the north knows perfectly well how to sting the crest and remind us that the balance has already been leveled; That humiliating 2-0 defeat in the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup still weighs on the collective subconscious. On that Asian afternoon, “Vasco” Aguirre himself had the paste harden at the right time.
The strategist was quick to make the changes and made the job easier for Bruce Arena's team. Javier's cardinal sin was taking Ramón Morales, who was the axis of the team, off the field to bring in Luis “Matador” Hernández who no longer had gunpowder. That mistake cost us elimination and gave the Americans their most destructive victory.
The October duel in Arizona will be the perfect thermometer to see if Mexico's last two victories were a true rebirth or if "Uncle Sam" returns to restore the order that he imposed in the last five years. With renewed campuses and pending accounts, the coin is up in the air.
