(Getty)
Mexico will play host for the first time in this round of World Cup qualification Friday night against Costa Rica.
Azteca Stadium has usually been a positive place for El Tri, but Mexico won there just once during 2014 qualifying. Add in the youth of a rising Costa Rica team, and Mexico will have to be careful to hold onto their lead atop the Hex.
Mexico and Costa Rica are the top two teams in CONCACAF heading into this round of qualifying, with USA placed last of the six teams.
Costa Rica broke the spell of Azteca in 2011, when they became the first national team to win there in the history of World Cup qualifying. That was an early sign of Costa Rica’s soccer rise, which includes a World Cup quarterfinal run in 2014.
Expect the matchup to be close, with Mexico wary of Costa Rica’s deadly counterattack. Costa Rica has a poor record historically against Mexico, but they’ve earned at least a point in three of their last four meetings.
Here are the basics:
DATE: Friday, March 24, 2017
CHANNEL: Fox Sports 1
KICKOFF TIME: 8:50 p.m. Eastern
LOCATION: Azteca Stadium
LIVE STREAM: Click here for all the live stream information
LINEUP
Mexico: https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/845428606515916800
Find out how to watch this match in Spanish at AhoraMismo.com:
