Table of Contents
Mexico will try to overcome a two-goal deficit on Tuesday when it hosts Honduras in the second leg of the Concacaf Nations League quarter-finals.
The regional heavyweight left Honduras on Friday with a surprising 2-0 defeat, although that is not an unknown scenario. Mexico also lost 2-0 to Honduras in the first leg of the Nations League semi-final last year and beat them at home by the same score in the second leg before advancing in a penalty shootout. However, the focus on Tuesday will not just be on whether El Tri can dig themselves out of this mess, but whether they can demonstrate they are on course for the strong performance they are aiming for at the 2026 World Cup.
Here’s what you need to know before you tune in.
How to watch and odds
- Date: Tuesday November 19 | Time: 9:30 PM ET
- Location: Estadio Nemesio Diez — Toluca, Mexico
- Live stream Biggest+
- Chances: Mexico-333; Sign +430; Honduras +111
Storylines
Concacaf’s top three teams have all made management changes this year in the hope of revamping their squads before hosting the World Cup in two years’ time. Mexico hired Javier Aguirre in July for his third stint in charge of the team. He steadied the ship in his first four matches and remained undefeated as El Tri began to turn the page on their exit from the group stages of the Copa America. The most impressive of these results was a 2-0 victory over Mauricio Pochettino’s American team in October, when they defeated the USMNT in attack despite an otherwise even match.
However, Mexico suffered its first stumble in San Pedro Sula on Friday, but failed to gain a real foothold as it lost 2-0 to Honduras. Although they had 62% possession, they were able to translate that into a meaningful attacking advantage: both sides took 10 shots and were almost even on target and expected goals. With goals being a requirement to progress, Mexico will need to ramp up their attacking intensity, just as they did against the USMNT, to dig themselves out of this hole. For a Mexico team that has gone goalless in six of 13 games this year, that may not be a small task.
Prediction
Mexico may have its flaws, but it has enough talent to overcome a two-goal deficit and reach the Nations League semi-finals for the fourth time in a row. Their performance against the USMNT shows that Aguiree’s Mexico can step up, so expect them to do so on Tuesday. Whether they do it quickly or not is another story. Choose: Mexico 2, Honduras 0 (2-2 on aggregate; Mexico goes to penalties)