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.
