The international friendly window for October came to a close, and the poor performances of a pair of nations stood out, as both build towards the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
El Tri’s lack of creativity a limiting factor
Mexico has failed to win an international match since July, as a scoreless draw against Uruguay and a loss to Paraguay were the October results they produced. Javier Aguirre’s version of El Tri is lifeless and lacks creativity, in fact it depends on set pieces/penalties and the teenage sensation Gilberto Mora from Tijuana Xolos in LIGA MX to produce scoring chances.
Playing in Mexico, against a weaker version of Uruguay then we’ve seen in recent years, Mexico didn’t take control of the game. Uruguay only managed three shots and no dangerous chances as they really lack a striker and their own creative approach.
Mexico’s main striker Raul Jimenez criticized the crowd for their booing and negative chanting, claiming there’s a lack of support for El Tri in Mexico compared to games played in the United States. The local crowd wanted to see Santos Laguna goalkeeper Carlos Acevedo in goal but they didn’t get what they wanted.
Second half substitute Mora came closest to scoring, while subs like German Berterame (Monterrey CF) didn’t create anything. Both teams left disappointed.
A few days later against Paraguay in San Antonio, Mexico was limited to one goal or less for the 4th consecutive match, and they went down in defeat. Jimenez converted a penalty but second half goals from Damián Bobadilla (Sao Paulo) and Antonio Sanabria (Cremonese) put Paraguay in the league and Mexico couldn’t chase a result despite sitting on the ball. On current form, Mexico won’t make noise in their home World Cup.
US Men’s National Team Shows Improvement
A third consecutive international win for the United States is a sign that they are improving ahead of their turn as World Cup Hosts. Gio Reyna returned to his national team lineup and scored an early goal, while Folarin Balogun (Monaco) scored the winner over Paraguay 2-1.
Against Uruguay, Team USA turned up the heat, 5-1 winners with the first 4 goals coming without reply in the first half. While Uruguay were unlucky based on xG, Mauricio Pochettino’s side looks serious about getting out of the group stage in 2026.
Bolivia Continues to Struggle Away From Altitude
Bolivia has lost three consecutive games without scoring ahead of the 2026 FIFA Intercontinental playoffs against teams like Suriname and Iraq. It was tough going against Japan and South Korea as both teams were comfortable winners 3-0 and 2-0. It’s still hard to see Bolivia competing away from high altitude. Their goal difference in South American qualifying away from home was -24
Mixed October Results for Brazil
Brazil drew with a strong Tunisia side, but a 2-0 win over Senegal was an impressive display. Estevao scored twice during the international break, the Chelsea man is valuable for Brazil. They will still believe they wanted more from the game against Tunisia where they dominated the stat sheet
Other Friendly Results of Note
Uzbekistan beat fellow World Cup qualified nation Egypt 2-0, Argentina defeated Angola 2-0 and Lionel Messi scored.
Canada continued their steady results, 2-0 over Venezuela but a scoreless draw against an Ecuador team that can defend for days at a time but offers little in attack. There was eight shots in the entire game.
New Zealand and Australia struggled in the window. New Zealand hasn’t scored multiple times in a game since reaching the World Cup as the OFC representative. Johan Carbonero scored another key goal for Colombia as they beat New Zealand 2-1, Carbonero could start in the World Cup.
Three quick fire second half goals including goal from James Rodriguez put Colombia over Australia 3-0 in the second friendly of the window. Australia also lost to Venezuela this window 1-0. Australia registered only two shots against Colombia.
As is expected during international windows, the stock of teams rose and fell.
Main Photo Credit: Imago Images Copyright: xDiegoxHalisz/SFSIx
