International Friendly: Sweden Will Toughen Up Mexico Ahead of Qatar

Mexico vs Sweden

Mexico’s last stop before going to World Cup 2022 is in Spain as they’ll take on Sweden for their final International Friendly on Wednesday.

El Tri are fresh from an impressive 4-0 victory over Iraq last week and they’re keen on sustaining their momentum ahead of their trip to Qatar, while the Swedes come into this match with nothing to lose since they’re not qualified for the World Cup.

Sweden have yet to recover since missing out on Qatar, so Janne Andersson is hopeful that they can start the process of moving on this week. After this game against Mexico, they’ll face Algeria in another exhibition before looking ahead at the Euro 2024 qualifiers next year.

Continue to read on below as SBOTOP offers a preview of this midweek international friendly.

Talking Points

Question marks for Mexico’s lineup

Tata Martino is still figuring out the right combination with his lineup, so facing a team like Sweden should give him clarity regardless of the result.

Health has been the main issue for Mexico ahead of Qatar, and like most participating teams, they don’t have the luxury of rest ahead of the showpiece event.

Jesus Corona and Raul Jimenez are two of the team’s most notable injuries and both are ruled out for this game. Corona is not expected to join El Tri in Qatar due to an ankle injury, while Raul Jimenez is fighting to make it despite Julen Lopetegui’s request for him to put his own club first.

Alexis Vega, Rogelio Funes Mori, Uriel Antuna, and Jesus Gallardo all scored for Mexico in their victory against Iraq, so all of them are expected to play on Wednesday.

But Hirving Lozano is the man to watch from Mexico as he has a goal involvement in back-to-back games for Napoli, who currently lead Serie A. The 27-year-old winger has recorded four goals and three assists for I Partenopei this season.

Who will provide goals for Sweden?

After failing to qualify for the World Cup, the Swedes are already looking ahead of the Euro 2024 qualifiers and they’re placed in Group F alongside Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, and Estonia.

Sweden’s last game was a 1-1 result against Slovenia in the Nations League where Emil Forsberg saved them a point after trailing earlier because of Benjamin Sesko’s 28^th-minute goal.

The current Swedish generation isn’t as star-studded as before since they don’t have top talents such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrik Larsson. They’re still looking for that quality finisher in the final third since Alexander Isak is sidelined due to a thigh injury and Tottenham’s unwillingness to release Dejan Kulusevski.

Janne Andersson will feature youngsters like Anthony Elanga, Viktor Gyokeres, Mattias Svanberg, and Jens Cajuste to give them a chance of providing their fans their dose of International Friendly 2022 highlights.

On the other side of the pitch, the Swedes should do much better than they did recently with Victor Lindelof, Robin Olsen, and Ludwig Augustinsson manning their backline.

History

Mexico and Sweden have crossed paths 10 times prior to Wednesday. The Swedes have the edge in this particular fixture with five wins, whereas El Tri have won three times along with two draws.

These two nations last met in the group stage of the 2018 World Cup where Sweden overtook Mexico for the top spot in Group F because of a 3-0 win.

That loss to Sweden meant that Mexico had to take on Brazil in the Round of 16 and they went on to lose that knockout phase game 2-0, which was the seventh straight defeat for Mexico at this stage of the tournament.

El Tri are winless in their last three matches against the Swedes, failing to score in those meetings.

But in terms of recent form, Mexico are much better with two wins and two losses in their last four friendlies, while Sweden haven’t won a single match in all competitions since June.

Betting Tip 

The International Friendly 2022 odds are backing Mexico since they’re in better form. El Tri are priced at 2.24 to win, while the Swedes aren’t far behind at 3.15 in the 1X2 market.

Mexico were much better in the final third last week, but it was against a defencively challenged Iraq side and the Swedes are more capable than the Asian side.With that said, Sweden can keep this game close so we’re inclined to go for a Draw @ 3.15, while Total Goal 2-3 @ 1.81 is another betting option worth considering this Wednesday.

 

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