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Mexico and Honduras meet Thursday night in an important match for both teams.
For Mexico, it’s about avoiding a letdown. El Tri sit atop the CONCACAF standings with an unbeaten record, but Honduras have surprised at Azteca before. In 2013, with Mexico struggling in The Hex, Honduras scored twice in the second half to beat Mexico 2-1 on their home turf. Manager Jose Manuel de la Torre was fired the next day, leading to a tumultuous period for Mexico.
Following the loss, Mexico have not conceded a goal to Honduras in four meetings. The teams played a scoreless draw in 2016, and now it’s Honduras who are struggling. Honduras has reached each of the previous two World Cups, but would miss a third tournament if qualifying ended today. They are tied with the Americans with four points, but were beaten 6-0 by USMNT in the last round of qualifiers.
Mexico have two home qualifiers this week, including a meeting with USMNT on Sunday. It’s the start of an important stretch for Mexico, who will appear in the Confederations Cup in Russia later this month. Juan Carlos Osorio is dealing with some injuries to his roster, and will likely look to his bench on Thursday. Andres Guardado and Nestor Araujo are still working back from injuries, while Rafa Marquez is still not fully fit. Mexico did see the return of Giovani dos Santos, who rejoined the team from LA Galaxy in preparation for this week’s fixtures.
Kickoff is scheduled for 10 p.m. Eastern, and lineups will be posted one hour before kickoff.
Here are the basics:
DATE: Thursday, June 8, 2017
CHANNEL: Fox Sports 1
KICKOFF TIME: 10:00 p.m. Eastern
LOCATION: Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico
LIVE STREAM: Click here for all live streaming information
LINEUP
Mexico: Ochoa, Reyes, Salcedo, Alanis, Reyes, Herrera, Jonathan, Vela, Jimenez, Corona, Giovani
Honduras: Izaguirre, Giron, Figueroa, Rochez, Velasquez, Palacios, Claros, Morazan, Elis, Hernandez, Andino