Mexico tie Colombia in Rafael Marquez’s coaching debut

Mexico battled back to earn a 1-1 tie against Colombia in the debut of Rafael Marquez as Mexico's National team coach. Mexico had a very good performance in a match where they were the slightly better team against an opponent who they have struggled against in recent times. Mexico bounced back from an early goal against to get the tie that starts the tenure in route to the 2030 World Cup. Mexico will travel to New Jersey where they will face Peru on Tuesday while Colombia will also travel to New Jersey where they will face off against Paraguay on Friday.

The 1st half started with the surprise that Hirving Lozano would get the start in his return to the National team. A cross into the area got badly headed by Armando Gonzalez and Colombia's goalkeeper, Alvaro Montero, would easily get to the ball. After making a great move, Richard Rios got off a great cross into the area where Luis Javier Suarez would get to it and head the ball past Mexico's goalkeeper, Raul Rangel , to score and give Colombia the early 1-0 lead. It was a good cross although defender Israel Reyes should have paid better attention to Suarez and not allowed to get that close range header. After getting the ball in the area, Lozano got off a left footed shot that forced a save from Montero. Mexico started to dominate possession as Colombia started to get more physical, with a number of fouls especially to Gilberto Mora . Erik Lira got off a right footed shot from outside the area that went well wide. Off a free kick, Luis Chavez got off a left footed shot that went just wide. Off a counter, the ball would be cleared into the path of Roberto Alvarado , who would get off a left footed shot that hit the post. The ball would rebound straight to Chavez, whose right footed shot from close range would hit the post and go wide in a bad miss in what should have been a goal. A cross into the area would find Lozano and Gonzalez, who would both go for the goal and Lozano's header would bounce off the post. Gonzalez would get off a left footed shot in the area that was saved by Montero. The halftime whistle blew and Colombia took a lead although Mexico had deserved to get the tying goal.

The 2nd half started with neither team making a change during the halftime break. A thru pass found Lozano, who got into the area in a 1 vs 1 but his right footed shot was blocked by Montero, although replays showed that he would have been offside and called off had he scored. A wide open Gonzalez got into the area and got off a horrendous shot that went wide and he was lucky to have been called offside in the play because it was a terrible attempt. Off a free kick, Jhon Arias got off a great right footed shot that forced a good save from Rangel. A great pass would find Gilberto Mora, who made a great move to get past Jhon Lucumi and then get off a right footed shot past Montero to score a fantastic goal to tie the match at 1-1. The teenage sensation made his first goal for the Senior National team and it was a great one. Mexico subbed out Hirving Lozano, Luis Chavez, Gilberto Mora and Jesus Gallardo for Orbelin Pineda , Obed Vargas , Alvaro Fidalgo and Mateo Chavez. Colombia subbed out Luis Javier Suarez, Alvaro Angulo and Andres Gomez for Kevin Viveros, Samuel Velasquez and Jaminton Campaz . A cross into the area was badly played by Rangel, who failed to get to the ball but Daniel Muñoz couldn't get a solid header on the ball and it went wide. Colombia subbed out Richad Rios and Kevin Castaño for Matias Orozco and Yaser Asprilla. Mexico subbed out Armando Gonzalez, Jorge Sanchez and Roberto Alvarado for German Berterame, Jeremy Marquez and Isaias Violante . A good 2 vs 1 chance was wasted when Fidalgo's pass would go long and Montero got to it easily. Violante got the ball in the area and got off a left footed shot that was easily saved by Montero. Mexico subbed out Erik Lira for Denzell Garcia. In the final minute, a scuffle happened between both teams in what ended up being the final play of the match as the referee blew the whistle as it died down. While Mexico once again failed to defeat Colombia, they were the better side in a good tie to start Marquez's tenure.

Rafael Marquez started his tenure in a great way with a very good tie against Colombia. Although a victory would have been preferable, the tie was a good result especially since Mexico had a good performance against a very good side. Mexico hasn't defeated Colombia since 2010 and recent results have been poor especially their last one, a friendly in 2025 where Colombia defeated Mexico by a 4-0 score. The early goal looked to make things tough for Mexico but they had key chances after it, where the better side and had a great moment with the tying goal by Mora. Gilberto Mora's goal made ripples thru the world of football as it was a great goal and the 17 year old showed he had arrived with his first goal in the National team. Mexico will hope to improve result wise on Tuesday when they will face a Peru side that needs to bounce back after losing on Saturday against the United States by a 4-1 score. Mexico should make a number of moves as not only a number of players from Liga MX will arrive but they will need to rest players as they will face two more friendlies, the most important being on Saturday against the United States, their biggest rival and a team that Marquez has history against.