Sports Mole previews Sunday’s Copa America clash between Mexico and Jamaica, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Competing in the finals of the Copa America for just the third time in their history, Jamaica will be bidding to get their Group B campaign off to the perfect start against Mexico on Saturday night.
Jamaica have never managed to win a match at the finals of the competition, while Mexico’s best-ever performance at the tournament came in 1993, when they were runners-up to Argentina.
Match preview
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Mexico played three warm-up friendlies for this summer’s Copa America, beating Bolivia 1-0 in the first of those, but they then lost 4-0 to Uruguay and 3-2 to Brazil.
El Tri, who have actually now been beaten in three of their last four matches in all competitions, are preparing to compete in the finals of the Copa America for the first time since 2016, when they made the quarter-finals.
As mentioned, Mexico’s best-ever performance at the tournament came in 1993, when they were runners-up to Argentina, but they have been in the semi-finals on three occasions since then, in 1997, 1999 and 2007.
Jaime Lozano‘s side were last in competitive action at the end of March, suffering a 2-0 defeat to the United States in the final of the Concacaf Nations League.
Mexico were disappointedly eliminated in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup, meanwhile, which proved to be the first time that they had failed to reach the knockout round of that competition since being banned from the 1990 tournament.
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Jamaica, meanwhile, qualified for the 2024 Copa America courtesy of their involvement in the CONCACAF Nations League semi-finals, beating Canada in the quarter-finals of the competition.
This is just the third time that the national side have operated in the finals of the Copa America, and they are yet to win a match or pick up a single point, losing all three of their group-stage fixtures in 2015 and then repeating that in 2016.
There is history on offer for Heimir Hallgrimsson‘s side, and they will play in Group B at the competition alongside Mexico, Ecuador and Venezuela.
Jamaica will actually enter this match off the back of three straight wins, having beaten Panama, Dominican Republic and Dominica in their last three friendlies.
The national side will be going in search of their first win over Mexico since a friendly in July 2017, with the latter winning three of their last five matches, including a 3-0 success in their last meeting in the Concacaf Gold Cup in July 2023.
Jamaica will be up against it in what is a strong Group B, but a win over Mexico would lead them nicely into their second match at the competition against Venezuela on June 26.
Mexico form (all competitions):
Jamaica form (all competitions):
Team News
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Mexico’s line will be led by Santiago Gimenez, with the 23-year-old bidding to add to the four goals that he has managed for his national side thus far.
Gimenez scored 26 goals and registered eight assists in 41 appearances for Feyenoord last season, and he will be one of the standout names in the Mexico XI on Saturday.
West Ham United’s Edson Alvarez will captain the team from central midfield, while Almeria’s Cesar Montes and Porto’s Jorge Sanchez will be notable inclusions at the back.
There is also expected to be a position in the starting side for Uriel Antuna, who is the current leading goalscorer in the squad with 13 strikes in 61 appearances.
As for Jamaica, Leon Bailey was named in the initial squad, but the Aston Villa attacker’s agent recently said that his client would not be featuring at the summer competition.
There is still plenty of quality in the forward positions, though, with West Ham United’s Michail Antonio and former Premier League player Demarai Gray in the squad.
Gray could be the player to miss out on a start on Saturday, as Shamar Nicholson, who has 19 goals for his country, is expected to operate in the final third of the field alongside Antonio and Bobby Decordova-Reid.
Coventry City duo Kasey Palmer and Joel Latibeaudiere are also in line to start, while the most experienced member of the defence is Damion Lowe, who is set to play alongside Michael Hector and Di’Shon Bernard.
Mexico possible starting lineup:
J Gonzalez; J Sanchez, Montes, Vasquez, Arteaga; E Sanchez, Alvarez, Chavez; Antuna, Gimenez, Vega
Jamaica possible starting lineup:
Blake; Lowe, Hector, Bernard; Latibeaudiere, Palmer, Johnson, Anderson; Decordova-Reid, Antonio, Nicholson
We say: Mexico 2-1 Jamaica
This is a fascinating match, as although Jamaica are the underdogs, they have a lot of quality in their side. It would not be a surprise to see the points shared on Saturday, but Mexico should ultimately have enough to collect all three points in their competition opener.
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