Group A - Portugal v Mexico
Sunday, 18 June 2017
Kazan Arena, Kazan, 17h00 CAT
Portugal will make their Confederations Cup debut when they take on Mexico in a Group A clash in Kazan on Sunday. The Euro 2016 champions come into the tournament in Russia as one of the favourites despite having near appeared in the competition before. Yet when you have the prolific Cristiano Ronaldo as your spearhead in attack, short odds are never far away. Fernando Santos’ side come into the match in good form, having beaten Cyprus 4-0 in a friendly at the start of the month before racking up a 3-0 win over Latvia in a 2018 World Cup qualifier last weekend.
Mexico are also in solid form. Since the start of the month they have beaten Ireland 3-1 in a friendly, before ousting Honduras 3-0 and drawing 1-1 with arch rivals USA in successive 2018 qualifiers. Juan Carlos Osorio’s side have an advantage in Confederations Cup heritage, having appeared in the competition six times before. They were winners in 1999 and semifinalists as recently as 2005, while their overall record in the competition is a respectable P22 W9 D5 L8 GF35 GA33.
Portugal and Mexico have met in just three previous matches: a friendly in Lisbon way back in 1969 which ended 0-0, a 2006 World Cup match in Gelsenkirchen which Portugal won 2-1 and a friendly in Foxborough, Massachusetts, in June 2014 which was won 1-0 by the European side.
Head-to-head - Portugal v Mexico, all competitionsMatches played 3
Portugal wins 2
Mexico wins 0
Draws 1
Portugal goals 3
Mexcio goals 1
Confederations Cup recordPortugal- N/A, they are making their debut
Mexico- 6 previous appearances (1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2013)
- Best result: Champions, 1999
- Record: P22 W9 D5 L8 GF35 GA33
Form guide (last five results, most recent first, all competitions, including friendlies)Portugal - WWLWW
Mexico - DWWLW