The Mexican men’s national soccer team is coming to the South Bay to face Honduras in a CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal on Wednesday at Levi’s Stadium.
The Mexican men’s national soccer team is coming to the South Bay to face Honduras in a CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal on Wednesday at Levi’s Stadium.
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A CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal is coming to the Bay Area on Wednesday, and it will feature the United States’ most popular soccer team – Mexico’s national team.
The home of the 49ers will host Mexico and Honduras at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, pitting two teams that have historically drawn well in the Bay Area.
Honduras faced Curacao in a 2-1 win at PayPal Park on June 24 that brought 10,935 fans out to San Jose, mostly supporters of Honduras. And Mexico is famously a big draw whenever El Tri plays in the South Bay.
It’s uncertain, though, what the turnout will be for this match. Fears of ICE agents staking out matches have led to diminished crowds at Mexico games this summer.
When Mexico faced Panama at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on March 23, 68,212 fans attended the match. But when Mexico faced the Dominican Republic on June 14 amid protests over federal immigration sweeps in Los Angeles, 54,309 fans attended, about 4,000 over the previous all-time low for a Mexico men’s match held at the Southern California stadium.
Mexico reached the semifinals with a 2-0 quarterfinal win over Saudi Arabia, as a late own goal gave El Tri the cushion it needed to seal the win over the Saudis. Honduras reached the semis after taking down Panama in penalty kicks.
On the other side of the bracket, the U.S. survived a late equalizer by Costa Rica to advance 4-3 after six rounds of penalties. And Guatemala pulled off a stunning upset of Canada, knocking off the Canadians 6-5 in a penalty shootout. Those two teams will play Wednesday at 4 p.m. in St. Louis.
The two semifinal winners will face off in the championship game on July 6 at NRG Stadium in Houston.
Mexico coach Javier Aguirre liked how his team played against Saudi Arabia, calling it “an A-plus” after the contest. The game was also notable for the debut of Gilberto Mora, a 16-year-old who started for Mexico and played until the 73rd minute.
“He doesn’t have any limits right now,” Aguirre said of Mora. “He has room to grow, and is eager to learn.”
But the off-field storylines will play a role as well. On June 13, a day before Mexico’s match against the Dominican Republic, Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum said during a press conference that she hoped there would not be any ICE raids surrounding the match.
“We don’t believe that there will be any raids if there’s a soccer game,” Sheinbaum said. “We hope there won’t be any. We call for no action from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”
There were no protests at PayPal Park when the U.S. played Trinidad and Tobago on June 15, but the environment could be different in Santa Clara. It also remains to be seen what the impact of potential federal law enforcement presence could have on attendance.