One of the “great rivalries in the world of soccer,” Mexico vs. the United States, could be on display Sunday at Arlington’s AT&T Stadium, but if that happens, “don’t expect the USMNT to feel at home,” according to Abraham Nudelstejer of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. The Final Four of the Concacaf Nations League starts today at AT&T Stadium, with the U.S. facing Jamaica and Mexico facing Panama in the semifinals. The winners will meet in the final Sunday. The tournament will showcase the Mexican national team’s “overwhelming popularity” in the U.S. Last year, El Tri averaged 52,337 fans at each of its 15 U.S. games, and this year “expects to have record attendance.” While the USMNT averaged 29,578 fans last year in 11 games, its “highest attendance since 2017, but still far short” of the Mexican team. Nudelstejer noted to “neutralize the advantage the Mexican fans could provide their team,” the U.S. men began playing Mexico in regions “without large Mexican populations, making U.S. soccer strongholds” out of cities such as Columbus, Nashville and Cincinnati. But for the Final Four of the Nations League, the U.S. had “no say on the venue chosen by Concacaf” (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 3/20).
