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A place in the Copa America quarterfinals is up for grabs as Mexico and Ecuador square off Sunday at State Farm Stadium.
Both teams had three points going into this pivotal match; the Mexicans fell 1-0 to Venezuela and have a goal differential of zero, while La Tri defeated Jamaica 3-1 to give Ecuador the advantage on goal difference at +1.
Mexico x Ecuador Team News
Luis Romo replaced injured captain Edson Alvarez as a holding midfielder alongside Luis Chavez on Wednesday.
Three Mexicans made their Copa America debuts this week; Cesar Huerta, Israel Reyes, and Alexis Vega all entered their matchday two matches as replacements.
Three minutes earlier to the ninety, Orbelin Pineda, who replaced Julian Quinones for the last twelve minutes plus stoppage time, he had the opportunity to give the Venezuelans a point. Still, he was rejected from the penalty spot.
Affer being sent off in the first half of Ecuador's loss to Venezuela, Enner Valencia is free to play again this weekend.
The only debutant to their starting 11 was Kevin Rodriguez, who played as the lone striker against Jamaica, while Janner Corozo made his tournament debut.
On matchday two, they led after 13 minutes, thanks to Kasey Palmer's own goal. Later in the first half, Kendry Paez converted a penalty, and Alan Minda scored his first goal on the international scene late in the second.
Head To Head And Previous Matches
Jaime Lozano's team will likely be eliminated after losing on matchday two; they must win to be in the Copa America this weekend.
El Tri has been eliminated from this competition at the group stage three times in their last three appearances, should they lose this game.
In their last four Copa America participation, Mexico has never won their last group game with the most points.
El Tri had yet to be held scoreless in a Copa America group match since their 0-0 tie with Bolivia in their first game in 2015 until that matchday two loss earlier this week.
Mexico has lost six of their last seven encounters with CONMEBOL opponents in all competitions, losing by 5-0.
The Mexicans have won four of their five previous encounters against Ecuador at this competition, although they have yet to be able to score a goal the last two times they have played them.
The Ecuadorians made some amends on matchday two, gaining their first points of this campaign after wasting a half-time lead against Venezuela (2-1 loss).
With three wins in their last four games overall, they come into this match in good shape to advance to the quarterfinals for the third time in the previous four years of this competition.
Felix Sanchez's team could only advance into the knockout round of this competition on successive occasions for the first time this century with a loss to the Mexicans.
Ecuador came from a goal behind to clinch a 1-1 draw on this matchday in 2019 and 2021, their last Copa America group match since 2011 (4-2 vs. Brazil).
La Tri has won every one of the last 13 occasions, scoring multiple goals in a single game; their last loss was a 3-2 loss to Mexico in June 2019.
Though they have yet to perform well against Mexico in the Copa America, Ecuador defeated them 2-1 in 2015.
Our Predictions
Mexico to win @1.98 on Sky247.ng
The Mexicans have been wasteful in front of goal this entire competition, and those frustrations will explode against a well-drilled Ecuadorian team.
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