Vun Martin Rogers
FOX Sports Columnist
Whatever the season, whatever comes down, there is a guaranteed way for an American football fan to quickly make a feisty argument.
It is very easy to suggest that the US rivalry with Mexico – the last edition of which will take place on Thursday at the famous Estadio Azteca in Mexico – is the best in world football.
Such a proclamation is bold, secure, and determined to generate a heartily contested response from fellow interlocutors loyal to historic European rivalries like England / Germany, or South American stripes like Argentina / Brazil.
It could also get backlash from the still significant part of the US football fanbase, which always insists that something from abroad is automatically better than something local, by default.
On Thursday, the two teams are in a conflict, which once again has drastic consequences for their World Cup qualifying hopes. It comes at a time of political intrigue between countries and offers more reason to cut duel sets of fans and quarrel over the rights of the brig.
The debate over whether the US / Mexico is a battle to compare with each other, worldwide, has a lot of meat behind it.
“The reason I tell people it’s the biggest is because of all the ways our two countries are connected,” former national team star and FOX Sports football analyst Alexi Lalas told me. “There’s the proximity, the relationship we have with Mexico, all the ways Mexico influences our culture and entertainment, politics and sports.
“Having this game on an athletic field is incredibly compelling. It’s pure theater and drama. But a lot of people feel that in some ways it’s the end of an era.”
Lalas is right. For the rivalry has mainly revolved around key players such as Thursday’s matchup in the final round of the World Cup qualifiers in the CONCACAF region. This time, the U.S. squad and Mexico are both on 21 points with three games to go. With home advantage here and simpler orders in their last two games, it is assumed that Mexico already has one foot in Qatar.
The USA, still up against Panama (17 points) and Costa Rica (16 points) next week, have significant work to do to avoid slipping into a complicated intercontinental playoff or worse, being completely knocked out of qualifying positions .
A scenario like this week’s is unlikely to play out in the future. During the next qualifying series, for the 2026 tournament, Mexico, USA and Canada will all automatically receive offers as co-hosts, eliminating the need for regional qualification.
And when the 2030 campaign rolls out, the World Cup will be firmly entrenched as a 48-team event (up from 32), and CONCACAF will have six allotted seats instead of the current 3.5. That almost certainly means a completely changed qualifying format, probably with smaller groups, fewer matches in the top teams in the region separated by seed.
“Mexico qualifications were among the highlights of my life as a sports fan,” said American supporter Jordan Colley, of Columbus, Ohio. Colley, 45, has competed in three home qualifiers between the United States and El Tri, and one in Mexico City. “If it turns out the way we expect it to, it will not be the same,” he added.
There are other chances to meet teams, in events like the Nations League and the Gold Cup, but nothing can match the World Cup repercussions and that’s how it will always be. The story in the series has offered a huge advantage to the team that plays at home, and Gregg Berhalter’s Americans will on Thursday know all about the painful record they’ve never seen playing a qualifying match at the Azteca won.
Anything other than a defeat would be a spectacular result that would offset the team’s chances of disaster four years ago, when the group missed the 2018 World Cup in Russia thanks to a qualified meltdown.
However, a loss for Mexico combined with victories for Panama and Costa Rica in the same night, and things would be decidedly uncomfortable.
“We are scars,” Lalas added. “We are understandably anxious due to 2018. We know the team should find a way to get over the line, but experience tells us that anything can happen.”
Berhalter’s squad has beaten Mexico three times in a row in different competitions, and another addition here would be the dramatic and empathetic way to reassure American fans that things are going very well together behind a young team led by Christian Pulisic.
It would also be the ideal way to signify rivalry in its current form, and contribute a litany of memories.
Lalas recalls that he was agonized in private parts during a particularly violent US-Mexico showdown. Countless games over generations tell stories of fruit and beer mugs on trips to Azteca. Landon Donovan’s goal in a 2-0 victory over Mexico in the Round of 16 at the 2002 World Cup is still the idea of most people at the top of the moment in program history.
It’s not all going away, but it will look a little different. And do not think for a second that the current harvest of games is not immune to what this means.
“It’s an importance every time you step on the field against Mexico,” American midfielder Tyler Adams told reporters. “You do not want to get caught up in the records too much, just the feeling you have when you win a rivalry game.
“We do not want to dismiss our nation, you fight it, you remember every moment what you play and the importance it holds.”
Martin Rogers is a FOX Sports columnist and author of the FOX Sports Insider Newsletter. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.
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