The U.S. and Mexico will play an international soccer friendly at State Farm Stadium on April 19, the federations announced Tuesday.
It will be the first time the sides have faced off in Glendale since a 2-2 draw in 2014. They previously played in Arizona in 2007, when the U.S. won, 2-0.
Ticket pre-sale will begin on March 15, with tickets going on sale to Visa cardholders on March 22 and to the general public on March 23. The match, set to kick off at 7:22 local time, will be broadcast on TBS, Telemundo and Universo. It will be streamed on HBO Max and Peacock.
This match, though, will carry less fervor than most between the two bitter rivals. It does not fall within a FIFA international window, meaning club teams are not obligated to release players to participate. When Mexico played in a friendly outside of a FIFA window last April against Guatemala, only three of those starters ultimately earned a call up to the World Cup roster in November. The match in Glendale will likely feature a similar lack of star power.
Still, it’s an opportunity for new Mexico manager Diego Cocca to make a strong first impression against his northern rivals. Tata Martino, the national team’s previous boss, had a disastrous tenure against the U.S. From June 2021 to March 2022, the U.S. beat Mexico in two continental finals, won 2-0 in a World Cup qualifier in Cincinnati and drew 0-0 in a World Cup qualifier in Mexico City. The U.S. also performed better at the World Cup, reaching the round of 16, while Mexico was eliminated in the group stage for the first time since 1978.
Now, it’s the U.S. that is embroiled in turmoil. The federation has not yet announced a new manager for the upcoming World Cup cycle, which will culminate in the 2026 World Cup being held in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. The coaching search has been complicated by a blackmail scandal involving the parents of Gio Reyna — the team’s star winger — and previous manager Gregg Berhalter, who remains a candidate to return for another cycle.
The U.S. men’s team hasn’t played at State Farm Stadium since the Copa America Centenario third place game in June 2016. Over the past decade the federation has chose other sites for friendlies and qualifiers against Mexico because of the heavy Mexican fan base in the region that includes Arizona and northern Mexican states along the U.S. border.
Mexico has taken advantage, having played a match in Glendale in three of the past four years.