Fox Soccer analyst and former United States player Alexi Lalas, during a live program, spoke about the upcoming match between his country and Mexico in the 2025 Gold Cup. The commentator mentioned who he believes will go into the championship as the favorite and argued his opinions on the matter.
While Mauricio Pochettino‘s United States Men’s National Soccer Team (USMNT) defeated Guatemala 2-1, ‘Vasco’ Aguirre guided El Tri to victory on Wednesday against Honduras; Raul Jimenez was the man in charge of scoring the only goal that put Mexico into the final of the tournament.
Alexi Lalas points to a favorite to be crowned in the Gold Cup
After Wednesday’s semi-finals set up the first clash between the United States and Mexico in the final since 2021, Fox Soccer analyst and former US international Alexi Lalas had no hesitation in naming the favourite for Sunday’s showdown.
Lalas described the United States as the team to lose, and went a step further by stating that a defeat would be “embarrassing” for Mexico as a nation. In seven previous meetings in the Gold Cup final, Mexico boasts a definitive 5-2 record in the cross-border series.
Mexico arrives with a full squad, unlike the USA team
Lalas, 55, mentioned the reality of the situation, referring to the squads of both teams. Mexico went into the tournament with a practically full squad, while Mauricio Pochettino and the USMNT had to deal with the absence of European stars who decided not to play.
Christian Pulisic was the most controversial absentee, but the Yankees are also competing without several other players who are expected to have key roles in the 2026 FIFA World Cup squad, such as Weston McKennie, Timothy Weah, Antonee Robinson and Sergino Dest.
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