Mexico, a 'group like Korea', won 1-0 'sweat victory' over Panama, ranked 33rd in FIFA rankings

*This content was translated by AI.

In the 2026 FIFA North American World Cup finals, Mexico, which belongs to Group A with the South Korean national soccer team, won a sweaty victory over Panama.

Mexico's national soccer team, led by head coach Javier Aguirre (Mexico), beat Panama 1-0 thanks to the opponent's own goal in the second half of the A-match friendly match at Estadio Rommel Fernandez in Panama City, Panama on the 23rd (Korea time). Mexico is 16th and Panama is 33rd in the FIFA rankings.

It is the first time in seven games that Mexico has won the A match since the match against the U.S. in June last year. Since then, Mexico has been mired in a swamp of six consecutive A matches (4 draws and 2 losses), including 0-0 draw against Japan and 2-2 draw against Korea Changed the mood against Panama.

Mexico had only nine shots on the day even with a whopping 72% ball possession, and three shots were effective toward the inside of the goal. Mexico, which led the game but failed to break the balance, won the game thanks to the opponent's own goal in the third minute of extra time in the second half, just before the end of the game.

Mexico, one of the co-hosts of the North American World Cup, formed a national team centered on the domestic team and set up an away warm-up match in January. Following the Panama expedition, he will go on an expedition to Bolivia on the 25th. On the 25th of next month, Iceland will also be brought home for a warm-up match.

In March, during the FIFA A-match period, they will play two warm-up matches at home and neutral (U.S.), respectively, with Portugal and Belgium. The schedule for the warm-up match between May and June is undecided. Mexico will compete in the World Cup finals in the order of winners of South Africa, South Korea, and UEFA playoff pass D (Denmark, Czech Republic, Ireland, and North Macedonia).

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*This content was translated by AI.