Why Does Mexico Play Friendlies Against Club Teams? | OneFootball

After dispatching Brazilian club, Internacional, the Mexico national team now prepares to play Argentinian club, River Plate, on Tuesday, Jan. 21. The game against River Plate will be El Tri's third match against a club side in their last six games.

Why are half of Mexico's most recent games played against club teams and not national teams? Mexico, like the USMNT and Canada, are running into the issue that few national teams are available to play friendlies given most other nations are playing the qualifier rounds for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

In recent windows, Mexico, Canada and the USMNT have either shared opponents during international breaks, or faced each other, to try and lessen the burden of having to find more rivals. However, Mexico is the only country to play club teams in the past year.

There can be different approaches between the three host nations. For example, Canada opted to play just one game during the October international break and won't have any games in January.

The USMNT will play Venezuela and Costa Rica in the coming days, so why didn't Mexico do the same? Javier Aguirre and other members of the Mexican soccer federation want El Tri to leave their comfort zone and be tested in hostile environments. Playing in the U.S. against national teams in front of what would be essentially a home crowd isn't as big a test as going to play River Plate at the Estadio Monumental in Argentina, in front of one of the most raucous crowds in world soccer.

Another factor specific to the January camp is that because it's not a FIFA window, national teams are unable to call upon their best players. El Tri then opted to play against South American clubs that are in their final days of preparation before the start of the 2025 season, with most of their squad readily available.

Five months ago, Aguirre mentioned in his introductory press conference his desire to play against club sides, in order to mitigate the scheduling conflicts that being a FIFA World Cup host nation brings forth. He highlighted the importance of playing as many games as possible to better evaluate the pool of players at his disposal.

He's kept his promise so far and it would appear this trend is set to continue. Reports indicate that El Tri are planning on playing two games in the U.S. in May against teams that will take part in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.

After over 10 years without playing a single game against a club side, El Tri could make a habit of it in their preparation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.