Following their historic opening match victory at the Copa America, Venezuela will face Mexico on Wednesday at SoFi Stadium as matchday two action continues.
Both sides emerged victorious from their first Group B fixture, with La Vinotinto coming back to defeat Ecuador 2-1, while El Tri claimed a narrow 1-0 triumph over Jamaica.
Match preview
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A gritty Venezuelan side did not let an early goal deter them on matchday one, scoring two second-half strikes in 10 minutes to claim their first-ever come-from-behind victory at the Copa America.
That also ended a five-match winless run for Fernando Batista's men across all competitions, as they won their opening match at this tournament for the first time since 2016 (1-0 win over Jamaica).
A victory on Wednesday would mark the first time they will have won consecutive matches at this tournament since 2016, while it has been over a year since they last won back-to-back international fixtures in June 2023.
While their victory on Saturday was the first time they won a Copa America contest when conceding the opening goal, Venezuela have come back to earn a positive result in two of their previous five encounters this year when going down 1-0.
Meanwhile, they have won four successive matches when scoring the opening goal, failing to concede in any of those contests.
They are unbeaten in six consecutive meetings against sides from CONCACAF, conceding in only one of those encounters (a 2-2 draw with Panama in November 2022).
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El Tri survived some nervy moments in their opener but ultimately came away as deserved winners, with 62% possession and nine efforts on target.
Had a Michail Antonio strike not been ruled out for offside, though, things could have been different for Jaime Lozano's men, who ended a two-match losing run with that triumph.
That extended their unbeaten run in the group portion of this tournament to four matches, while they have not lost any of their previous three opening fixtures at the Copa America.
In the last 13 matches in which they had netted the opener, Mexico emerged victorious on 12 occasions, with their only defeat over that span being against Colombia (3-2) in Los Angeles last December.
On Wednesday, the Mexicans have a chance to post consecutive clean sheets for the first time in the group stage of this tournament since 2001.
Mexico have never lost in 13 all-time meetings versus the Venezuelans, winning two of the three Copa America encounters played against them.
Team News
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Pachuca striker Salomon Rondon made his 18th appearance for Venezuela at this tournament over the weekend, equalling Jose Manuel Rey for second all-time.
Goals from Jhonder Cadiz of Famalicao and Mazatlan midfielder Eduard Bello helped them erase a 1-0 deficit on matchday one, as the two of them became the first Venezuelans to score in their Copa America debuts since Jose Manuel Velazquez in 2016.
The Mexican victory over Jamaica came at a cost, as captain Edson Alvarez was taken off with what appeared to be a hamstring strain, leaving his status in question for the remainder of this tournament.
A wonder strike courtesy of Gerardo Arteaga was all El Tri would need to claim victory on matchday one, his first with the national team, as Julio Gonzalez made four stops for his first clean sheet internationally.
Venezuela possible starting lineup:
Romo; Gonzalez, Ferraresi, Osorio, Navarro; Martinez, Herrera; Savarino, Casseres, Soteldo; Rondon
Mexico possible starting lineup:
Gonzalez; Sanchez, Montes, Vasquez, Arteaga; Romo, Chavez; Vega, Pineda, Quinones; Gimenez
We say: Venezuela 2-1 Mexico
Losing Alvarez is a big blow to the Mexicans, who have struggled with consistency since Lozano took charge, looking shaky in numerous instances against the Reggae Boyz.
Venezuela will be brimming with confidence after their opening victory, and we believe they have the quality to unlock that Mexican backline and provide another surprise.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
Argentina
Canada
Chile
Peru
Venezuela
Ecuador
Mexico
Jamaica
Uruguay
Panama
USA
Bolivia
Colombia
Brazil
Costa Rica
Paraguay
