South of the border, the struggle is real
Mexico are laboring through their friendlies while Central America's teams don't look ready to take advantage of the expanded 48-team World Cup.
This is a guest post from Andres Jaime-Mendez. Andres is a young soccer broadcaster, journalist and player based in Miami. A triple citizen of Costa Rica, Mexico and USA, Andres has always loved the game from a very young age. He is currently a commentator for ESPN+ and Tigo Sports Costa Rica along with serving as a reporter for the AP covering Inter Miami, having previously reported on the Club World Cup.
Andres has attended World Cups since he was 10 and at only 18 he became an accredited member of the media and worked as a reporter at the 2022 FIFA World Cup and later 2024 Paris Olympics. He has also covered the 2023 Women’s World Cup for NBCU Telemundo Deportes and 2024 EURO and Copa America for FOX Sports. He still plays soccer for pro academy Milan de Miami FC.
Don’t let a 1-1 tie against a good Ecuador side distract you from the problems being walloped by Colombia shows. It’s always the same story for Mexico. World Cup participation and make it as far as the round of 16 but never further, with the two times they have been hosts being the exceptions.
In 1970, Mexico reached the quarter-finals before losing 4-1 to eventual finalists Italy. 16 years later, back on home soil, a tense last eight clash with West Germany ended goalless after extra-time before the home side lost on penalties.
The famous “quinto partido,” the fifth game in a World Cup which has eluded Mexico ever since, in 2026 will be only the Round of 16 because of the expanded 48 country field.
Also famous is the way the Mexican media is usually deluded about the national team’s real chances. The running joke is that the local commentary goes “Mexico is playing so well, dominating the game. And here comes Germany and they score to make it 3-0!”
Now, it appears the media is waking up to the cruel reality that this Mexico would be gasping for air if they needed to go through qualifying. Sure, you could say that the history Mexico has of doing better when playing on home soil will play to their advantage in 2026, and it should.
But, losing 4-0 in a friendly to the already-qualified Colombia is the tip of a giant iceberg the Mexican federation has known about but still chosen to continue on its same Titanic path.
Jorge Sanchez, who should have cost Mexico the Gold Cup final for his handball in the box, continues to be preferred over Julian Araujo at right back, who even with limited appearances for Las Palmas and Bournemouth, has demonstrated he is at a much higher level than Sanchez.
To illustrate the illogical selection of squads for Mexico, take the example of Carlos “Charly” Rodriguez, another Cruz Azul player. Now the focus is on young superstar Gilberto Mora, who has drawn the attention of European club giants, but let’s not forget that Charly was tasked for so long with being Mexico’s creative engine in midfielder. In 56 games for Mexico, Rodriguez has not scored one single goal and has only managed three assists in over 3,000 minutes.
There is no reasonable explanation for why someone like Charly should continue to be called up, even when Mora was away on U-20 World Cup duty. If Javier Aguirre and El Tri cannot figure out how to even be competitive in their preparation matches, it could be an ugly scene for the only ever three time World Cup hosts.
Within CONCACAF, the Central American region is going through a difficult time stepping up in the absence of the USMNT, Canada and Mexico. The play of Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras hardly inspires confidence in the quality of the expanded World Cup. The larger nations still vying for a place in the World Cup have faltered and failed to win or impress on several occasions, with Costa Rica giving up a two goal lead to Haiti, Panama failing to beat Suriname, and Honduras not using home field to their advantage.
Manfred Ugalde and Alonso Martinez lead the Costa Rican front line and are among the top goalscorers in the Russian Premier League and MLS, respectively. Ugalde weeped and cried profusely when Haiti came back from 2-0 down to make the game 3-2, while Martinez did not register a multi-goal performance until beating Nicaragua 4-1 at the National Stadium in San Jose.
For Honduras, Romell Quioto and Luis Palma had no impact in the most important game when “La H” hosted Costa Rica, even if Honduras was awoken with the participation of Rigoberto Rivas and Anthony “El Choco” Lozano in the 3-0 victory over Haiti in Tegucigalpa.
Most shocking of all has been Panama, who were considered the most improved country in CONCACAF, but who were held to a tie at home versus Suriname and sit in second place behind Suriname after four games in Group A.
As it stands, Honduras, Suriname and Jamaica are in pole position to qualify for the World Cup with Costa Rica facing the real threat of having to go through the intercontinental playoffs or miss out entirely if Haiti beats them. Guatemala (and their incredible fans) still have some hope of making the playoffs, but El Salvador looks doomed.
Suriname, who would be World Cup debutants, could be the ‘feel good’ story in CONCACAF but Central America’s passionate fans deserve much better.