Mexico have their first title defense of their newly won UFWC crown in the early hours of Friday Morning (UK time) as they take on CONCACAF rivals Jamaica in this Copa America Centenario Group C encounter
Mexico beat former holders Uruguay 3-1 on Monday in their first group game to not only get their tournament of to the best possible start but to also have the accolade of being Unofficial World Champions
It’s a CONCACAF derby tonight with Jamaica first in line a title shot, they lost 1-0 to Venezuela in their opening group game thanks to a solitary Josef Martinez goal. It’s fair to say that Mexico are the favourites going into this tie but then everything would have thought that about Uruguay at the start of the week.
Mexico disposed of the former holders with a comfortable 3-1 win. They managed to keep both Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez quiet that night as they finally took the title out of the clutches of the COMNEBOL confederation
If Mexico can get past the hurdle of Jamaica then they will then go onto face Venezuela in their final group game. Don’t forget only a win is good enough for the title to change hands, therefore we could see a scenario where Mexico and Venezuela draw but it would still be enough for Mexico to progress to the Quarter Finals and stay holders of the UFWC crown
Once we get to the knockout stages and on the assumption that the holders are still in the tournament, that team will have to run the gauntlet. From there on we are looking at three guaranteed title matches, with the team that wins the Copa America will then end up doing the double of that and UFWC winners
That was the exact scenario we saw last year when the title was passed around in each knockout match with Colombia, Argentina and then eventually Chile laying claim to being Unofficial World Champions
Can Mexico pass this first test or will they fail at the first hurdle, we will find out by the time I wake up on Saturday Morning.