Mexico lose 2-4 to Switzerland in international friendly ahead of Gold Cup
Mexico's first test against European opposition ended in disappointment. However, El Tri will have an opportunity to bounce back on Tuesday when they face Turkiye in their second and final warm-up match ahead of the Gold Cup.
Mexico suffered a heart-breaking 2-4 defeat to Switzerland in an international friendly on June 7 at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, in the first of two scheduled warm-up matches before kicking off their Gold Cup campaign.
Despite goals from Santiago Giménez and Uriel Antuna, defensive lapses proved costly as Switzerland capitalized on key chances to seal the win, providing a tough test for Mexico ahead of upcoming competitive fixtures.
Mexico will take on the Dominican Republic in their opening Gold Cup match on June 14 at SoFi Stadium.
Switzerland opened the scoring in the 20th minute through Breel Embolo and maintained their lead through the first half. However, Javier Aguirre's El Tri responded quickly after the half-time break, with Giménez finding the equalizer in the 51st minute. — miseleccionmx (@miseleccionmx)
Zeki Amdouni restored Switzerland's lead in the 65th minute, making it 2-1. Just six minutes later, Dan Ndoye delivered a brilliant cross and found the net himself, beating the goalkeeper to score the visitors' third goal of the match.
However, Mexico's Ángel Sepúlveda quickly responded, narrowing the gap to 3-2 with a goal in the 74th minute. Despite the momentum shift, it wasn't enough for the home side to mount a full comeback.
After that, both teams pushed hard in search of another goal, with Mexico especially eager to level the score at 3-3. However, fate had other plans. In the dying moments of the match, Switzerland's Fabien Rieder capitalized on a defensive error by Mexico to score a fourth, sealing the visitors' victory.
Rieder, currently with Stuttgart, delivered a standout performance on Saturday. He sealed the match with a 90th-minute goal, provided an assist, and created five scoring chances for Switzerland. In addition, he consistently troubled Mexico's defense and emerged as a key figure in the win.Mexico's first test against European opposition ended in disappointment. However, El Tri will have an opportunity to bounce back on Tuesday when they face Turkiye in their second and final warm-up match ahead of the Gold Cup.The lone bright spot for Mexico was Giménez, who ended a 16-game goal drought with the national team. His previous goal came in the 2023 Gold Cup final against Panama, where Mexico lifted the trophy.
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