PHOENIX, Arizona – Any time Mexico and Honduras square off, fans can expect a fierce, hotly contested battle between the two sides, whether it comes in the Concacaf Gold Cup, Concacaf World Cup Qualifying or even in friendlies.
While Mexico lead the all-time series 22W-9D-7L and have a 3W-2D-1L edge in Gold Cup play, Honduras have enjoyed their fair share of good memories against El Tricolor.
That includes Honduras’ lone Gold Cup win against Mexico, coming in a 2007 group stage match. A Cuauhtemoc Blanco goal earned Mexico a 1-0 lead, but Honduras stormed back in memorable fashion with a pair of scores from Carlo Costly to come away with the three points, 2-1.
Ironically, those two players lead their respective teams in scoring when it comes to Mexico-Honduras Gold Cup matches, with two each.
Playing against Mexico in a Gold Cup is nothing new for Honduras MF Boniek Garcia, who can expect to play his fourth Gold Cup match against El Tricolor in Saturday’s quarterfinal, tops among all Honduras players.
Retired Mexico player Pavel Pardo heads up the list of Mexican players with most Gold Cup matches against Honduras (3).
Saturday’s match will also be the second Gold Cup quarterfinal played between the two sides, the last being in 2017 when a Rodolfo Pizarro goal lifted Mexico to a 1-0 win. In another ironic twist, it was the last Gold Cup match between the two nations and it was played at the site of Saturday’s quarterfinal, State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
The Concacaf World Cup Qualifiers between Mexico and Honduras have equally been memorable.
For years it was nearly impossible for Mexico to win a CWCQ on Honduran soil, and vice-versa for the Catrachos at the famed Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
But recently things changed, beginning in 2013 when Honduras rallied from an early 1-0 deficit to beat Mexico in the Final Round of CWCQ for Brazil 2014, making Honduras just the second team to win a CWCQ on Mexican soil (Costa Rica, 2001).
Meanwhile, during the Fourth Round of CWCQ for Russia 2018, Mexico entered their contest against Honduras with a five-match winless streak in Honduras, only to see that snapped with a 2-0 victory in San Pedro Sula.
Now, just a little over a month since their last meeting in a June friendly in Atlanta, Georgia which ended 0-0, Mexico and Honduras will write another chapter into their illustrious history with more memorable moments sure to come.
