For a Mexico team that has struggled of late, its draw in Group B of the Copa América looked like a gift.
El Tri dodged any of the traditional South American powers, instead drawing Venezuela and Ecuador — the fifth and sixth-ranked South American teams per Elo — in addition to Jamaica, the lowest-ranked team in the entire Copa aside from Bolivia.
But somehow, even that was too much for Mexico to overcome.
Mexico drew Ecuador 0-0 on Sunday night, confirming its group-stage elimination and plunging an already flagging side even further into crisis.
Over 270 minutes of Copa América action, Mexico managed just one goal — a late Gerardo Arteaga winner against Jamaica that turned out to be the high point of the tournament.
From there, Mexico fell 1-0 to Venezuela and, needing a win to advance against Ecuador, Jaime “Jimmy” Lozano’s side went out with a whimper.
Starting goalkeeper Luis Angel Malagón missed the Copa with injury and defensive midfield linchpin Edson Álvarez was knocked out of the tournament with a hamstring injury suffered early in the opener. But Mexico’s problem wasn’t in defense, as it conceded just once in three games.
Just like its previous two matches, Mexico had its chances against Ecuador, but a lack of cutting edge from its front line proved costly.
In his first tournament leading the line for Mexico, prolific Feyenoord forward Santi Giménez continued his baffling drought at international level. Since his winner in the 2023 Gold Cup final, Giménez has now gone 12 games scoreless for El Tri.
Big save from Venezuela’s keeper Rafael Romo to deny Santi Gimenez the opener 🚫(via @FOXSoccer)pic.twitter.com/CkESGlIBGt
— B/R Football (@brfootball) June 27, 2024
His front-line compatriots like Uriel Antuna, Orbelín Pineda and Julián Quiñones also fell short as Mexico’s lone goal of the Copa was scored by Arteaga, a left back.
After the Ecuador match, Lozano’s brief tenure as Mexico head coach appeared likely to end after another high-profile failure, but he now seems set to stay for at least the time being.
“The project continues,” Mexico national team sporting director Dulio Davino said post-game.
“In two weeks, Jimmy will present us with an evaluation of what happened in the summer … we’ll talk with him about everything we can improve. The areas and opportunities that we have, which are surely many, but there are also positives.”
Whichever coach leads Mexico toward a 2026 World Cup on home soil will have to solve the same issues that derailed his predecessors: a lack of talent playing at the highest levels in Europe, an aging generation of stars that hasn’t been adequately replaced, a domestic league reluctant to play and sell young talent, and players in their prime not living up to their billing.
It will take a major reckoning for this Mexico team to turn things around. Whether the team, and the federation, has the tools to successfully implement a strategy to avoid disaster in 2026 is very much an open question.
[lawrence-related id=76604,75840,75912]