AUSTIN, Texas – On one side of the U.S.-Mexico rivalry, Mauricio Pochettino was beaming. Adulation spilled onto the pitch Saturday after: A 2-0 win over Panama. As fans chanted Pochettino's name, a banner with his face summed up the atmosphere around the U.S. men's national team: “BELIEVE.”
On the other side, in Puebla, Mexico, there was booing.
It rained for the fifth time in six games after a 2-2 draw with Spanish club Valencia in a friendly match that should have provided a stress-free atmosphere to build on. But of course there is no such thing in Mexican football. And so, as the USMNT heads south to meet its main rival for the 78th time on Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET, TNT), the atmosphere around Troika is full of dissatisfaction and anxiety.
To calm the situation, Mexico fired Jaime Lozano in July and in less than two years hired a fourth coach, Javier Aguirre.
Early on in his tenure, Aguirre spoke of his desire to “give the fans what they are looking for” and “make sure all fans leave happy with what they see.” But by the end of the second game, a 0-0 draw against Canada in a two-thirds empty AT&T Stadium in Texas, the frustration returned.
And a month later, after Saturday's draw with Valencia B, fatalism reigned supreme.
“Neither (Aguirre) nor anyone else has a 'magic wand' that could end our football crisis,” popular TUDN pundit David Faitelson wrote on X.
Former national team defender Miguel Layun has called for an interrogation of “everything” in Mexican football, starting with development processes. “We need to do introspection, a very deep analysis and start correcting from the bottom up – even if it costs us the 2026 World Cup,” he said.
The crisis in Mexico cannot be blamed on coaching
The repeated outcry of outrage was in many ways counterproductive. In the past, this hindered continuity and collective development. Now, however, at least some sections of the Mexican soccer establishment are looking for and reckoning with the cause of their pain.
The reason, of course, is not coaching the senior national team. Tata Martino, the first of the last four managers, was not the reason Mexico dropped out of the 2022 World Cup group. Neither he, nor Lozano, nor any of the 18 coaches Troika in the 21st century, it could elevate the current crop of Mexican players into soccer's elite.
The problem seems to be these players and the systems that shaped them. There has long been a discrepancy between expectations and reality regarding Mexico's player pool, but it has become especially stark in recent years. In 2018, Mexico could field a starting XI drawn mainly from clubs from Europe's Big Five leagues or the Champions League. In 2024, only three of the current 27-man squad are playing at this level; 19 of the 27 players play in Liga MX.
This is not a knock on the Mexican league, which remains the pinnacle of North American club soccer. This is also not an attack on any of these 27 people; when they put on the green jersey of the national team, they almost always fight like hell for the badge, for each other and for their country.
But they're just not good enough. They have not developed like their predecessors. Liga MX clubs have been hesitant to sell them and happy to pay for them, which keeps them at home, away from the precious discomfort of the European circuit, and likely slows down their personal development as much as a stint in the MLS would for an American player in his 20s.
There are probably many other reasons for quality decline – most of them debatable, some diagnosed, others less clear. The truth is, however, that the current Mexican national team is… relatively ordinary.
Aguirre's return was marked by constant pressure
And so Aguirre came to the rescue for the third time Troika from the crisis. He was on the field as a player the last time Mexico won a World Cup match (in 1986). Shortly after retiring, he began working as a coach and managed 10 different clubs and three different national teams – Japan, Egypt and his home country, Mexico.
During his first two terms at the helm of Mexico, starting in 2001 and 2009, Aguirre initiated on-and-off World Cup qualifying cycles. But when he took over again in August – this time with former player Rafa Márquez as assistant – he noticed that this third assignment was a completely different one.
“There is a project that is not just about saving the three World Cup qualifiers,” Aguirre said. He praised the long-term vision of the Mexican soccer federation. There are no qualifiers, only friendly matches and regional tournaments; and “enough time to build a good team” between now and the 2026 World Cup.
But of course, this was also the company's line ahead of Copa América 2024. Bypassing the veterans and choosing an experimental squad, sporting director Duilio Davino said: “We want to take advantage of this great opportunity to not think about the immediacy of the result and plan our way to 2026.”
They then reacted to the result, and exiting the group stage fired Lozano – because a pressure cooker never lets up.
So here they are again, and dissatisfaction is inevitable. Aguirre's first two friendlies, last month against New Zealand and Canada, were played in mostly empty stadiums. The third draw with Valencia increased the dissatisfaction. His fourth match against the USA on Tuesday night in Guadalajara will be played amid unwellness.
And in Mexico's case, there are woefully few positives. With Christian Pulisic and Weston McKenna leaving the US camp – and seven USMNT regulars already injured – a win is expected. The loss would cause more alarm. Both programs run parallel to 2026 and are in similar stages of mid-cycle restart; but the mood around them couldn't be more different.
