Twice Copa América runners-up, Mexico begin their campaign in this year’s tournament against Jamaica on Saturday at the NRG Stadium in Houston. Here is Last Word on Football’s predicted Mexico lineup for this 2024 Copa América Group B game.
Mexico Predicted Lineup vs Jamaica for 2024 Copa América Opener
How Mexico Have Lined Up Recently
El Tri played with a 4-3-3 formation in their last pre-tournament game against Brazil, and put in a battling performance against the Brazilians coming back from 2-0 down. It took a goal deep into injury time by Wonder Boy Endrick to secure a 3-2 victory for his nation.
Julio González will probably be in goal for El Tri against Jamaica. While Israel Reyes and Gerardo Arteaga look likely to be Mexico’s full-backs. Genoa’s Johan Vásquez and Almería’s César Montes are set to start in the centre of defence. Another good option is Porto’s Jorge Sánchez.
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West Ham star Edson Álvarez will captain Mexico, and return to his usual position in central midfield after playing in defence against Brazil. He is their key player. Dynamo Moscow’s Luis Chávez and Pachuca’s Érick Sánchez will probably play alongside Álvarez in midfield. Cruz Azul’s Uriel Antuna can also play in a central area, but if Lozano adopts a 4-3-3 formation he will probably play wide right further forward.
Joining probable selection Antuna in attack will be Feyenoord striker Santiago Giménez, with Julián Quiñones playing wide left. Antuna and Quiñones will look to attack down the flanks and provide Giménez with the type of service that helped him score 26 goals for his club last season. Giménez also has good memories of a recent tournament, as he scored the winning goal for Mexico in last year’s CONCACAF Gold Cup final against Panama.
Mexico’s Recent Form and Tactics
Leading up to the 2024 Copa América, Mexico have had disappointing results, including a 4-0 defeat to Uruguay in their penultimate warm-up game. But, their much-improved performance against Brazil will have encouraged Jaime Lozano.
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As the 4-3-3 was effective against a top side, coach Lozano may be tempted to not tinker with his system too much for the game against Jamaica. Lozano is not a rigid coach, though, as his side played with a 4-2-3-1 formation in their two warm-up games before Brazil.
Usually, he prefers to play three midfielders – one holding with two further forward. In his 4-3-3 system, he likes to play with the conventional two wide players and a central striker. But it can be a fluid setup – because of Álvarez’s effectiveness both defensively and offensively.
Mexico Injuries to Consider
The manager was dealt a blow before the tournament as his probable first-choice goalkeeper, Luis Malagón, was injured and is out of the competition. All of Mexico’s three goalkeepers at the time of their Copa América squad selection had less than ten caps between them. As Lozano is looking to youth in the build-up to a home World Cup in 2026, he left out veteran ‘keeper Guillermo Ochoa of his Copa América squad. There are no other serious injury concerns for the Mexicans going into the Jamaica game.
Mexico Predicted Lineup
GK – J. Gonzalez
LB – Reyes
CB – Montes
CB – Vasquez
RB – Arteaga
DM – Alvarez
CM – E. Sanchez
CM – Chavez
RW – Antuna
ST – Gimenez
LW – Quinones
