Mexico

What to expect

Unbeaten in the past year, Mexico enter the W Gold Cup as dark horses to lift the trophy. Ranked 30th in the FIFA world rankings, they haven’t made the list of tournament favourites but certainly have an outside shot at going all the way.

The qualified via winning League A Group A, dominating all four games versus Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago, conceding just once whilst scoring 12 of their own.

This placed them in Gold Cup Group A, lining up alongside arch-rivals and tournament favourites USA and Argentina. The Mexicans will face a tough test to escape into the knockout stage.

Although failing to qualify for the 2023 World Cup, after a disastrous Concacaf W Championship in 2022, the squad is nevertheless filled with continental pedigree having won both the Central American and Caribbean Games and the Pan American Games in the past 12 months.

Star players

Serial goalscorer Katty Martinez is not on the squad list despite being the Liga MX femenil all-time top scorer at the age of 25. She has featured prominently in Mexico lineups during the early stages of her career, but appears to have fallen out of favour with manager Pedro Lopez.

Instead, Lopez has opted for fellow Club America striker Kiana Palacios to be the point of Mexico’s attack, who herself has a tidy record with 30 goals in 40 league appearances last season. The tournament could mark a permanent change of the baton up front as 27-year-old Palacios looks to take the striker role full-time.

With goals against USA, Jamaica and Nigeria already in her repertoire, she is not afraid of the big names either .

Manager

Pedro Lopez

The Spaniard has spent the majority of his management career coaching the Spanish Women’s teams at various youth levels – meaning that he will have coached a large percentage of the World Cup winning squad at some point in their careers.

Since Lopez took the reins 18 months ago as his first step into senior Women’s football, El Tri have remarkably remained unbeaten across multiple different tournaments.

Already in the Spaniard’s trophy cabinet as head coach lie the U19 European Championship and the U20 World Cup with Spain, which he has since added to with after winning the Central American and Caribbean Games and the Pan American Games in 2023 with Mexico.

Lopez’s reputation in Women’s football has earned his side a status as the team to beat, as the question remains as to how far El Tri can carrying this unbeaten run.

Schedule

Mexico v Argentina – February 20th – Dignity Health Sports Park

Preliminary qualifier 3 v Mexico – February 23rd – Dignity Health Sports Park

USA v Mexico – February 26th – Dignity Health Sports Park