The Mexico national team completed their September camp with valuable lessons learned from two hard-fought draws against Japan and South Korea.
Javier Aguirre’s side were dominated for vast periods of a scoreless draw against Japan. Nevertheless, it’s also true that Japan didn’t really create many clear-cut scoring opportunities, as Luis Malagón was rarely tested.
In the second friendly against South Korea, Mexico looked perhaps slightly better overall, but it still needed a Santiago Giménez stoppage-time gem of a goal to rescue a 2–2 draw.
Overall, there were players that took advantage of the September friendlies to make concrete cases for their spot in the World Cup roster. Others struggled one way or another and saw their stock fall, and will need strong performances at the club level to either keep their place among the preferred starting XI—if there even is one—or to simply merit another opportunity with El Tri in the lead up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Here’s the biggest winners and losers from Mexico’s September international friendlies.
