Mexico and the USA, the long lasting rivalry between these two nations has been one of the most looked forward to matchups in North American soccer. The fixture on Thursday, Mar 24, 2022 wasn’t just a game of making it to the World Cup. For the USA this game was to further assert their dominance and close the casket on Mexico since they have won the last 3 matches between the two teams. For Mexico this game was for redemption and pride to show that they’re still able to stand tall against the USA.

The whistle to begin this high stakes match up blew at 10:02 PM. Early on things got heated between the Mexican and American sides with early yellow cards.The first coming in the ninth minute given to the US defender Miles Robinson, this was soon followed by another yellow card but given to Mexico midfielder Edson Álvarez. After this succession of cards things got really chippy between the two teams with two more yellows awarded to the US in the first half.  

Though physically rough the first half was not many opportunities for goal scoring chances. Few shots were on goal in the first half but not too challenging for the goalkeepers to deal with with not much to worry about, other than one outstanding opportunity made by the USA with Timothy Weah connecting with Christian Pulisic inside the box forcing the Mexican goalkeeper Memo Ochoa to produce an amazing save.

In the second half things started off very hot with an early chance made from a Pulisic Shot forcing another save from the Mexican Goalkeeper. Mexico had also made multiple promising attacks but couldn’t make anything of these opportunities to take the lead. A substitution in the 60’ minute bringing on Gio Reyna completely turned the tides for the USA attacking wise by giving the Americans a Depth of attack that the Mexican side struggled to handle. Within 11 minutes Reyna  had made a clear scoring opportunity that just wasn’t able to be finished in front of goal. Reyna continued to press the defense by dribbling through many defenders at once even taking on seven defenders before being dispossessed. 

Little opportunities shined in the final minutes of the game but neither team was able to catch the final wind they needed to open the scoring between either side. The game ended goalless but not fruitless for either team with both teams receiving a point to get them closer to reaching the point of qualification in the 2022 Qatar World Cup. Only time will now tell which side will make it to Qatar with few fixtures left for each side.