World Cup co-hosts Mexico edge Australia in friendly

PASADENA, MAY 31: World Cup co-hosts Mexico warmed up with a scrappy 1-0 friendly win over Australia in front of nearly 80,000 El Tri fans at the Rose Bowl outside Los Angeles on Saturday.

Defender Johan Vasquez had the only goal of the encounter, deftly steering in a header from Alexis Vega's corner midway through the first half.

Mexico dominated possession but Australia, playing largely on the counter and generally solid in defense, spurned several good chances to silence the partisan crowd.

The contest took place at the historic venue that hosted the last World Cup final in the United States, in 1994, though the Rose Bowl will not feature in this summer's tournament.

The overwhelming majority of supporters were clad in green for Mexico, which will co-host the 2026 edition along with the US and Canada, with just a smattering of Australian yellow dotted around the cavernous stands.

While Mexico dominated the ball from kick-off, the first decent chance fell to Australia's Jackson Irvine, who snatched at a loose ball from a free kick cross and steered it just wide.

But El Tri began to make their control count. The dangerous Luis Chavez whipped in a diagonal cross to Vega, whose glancing header was instinctively tipped over the crossbar by Mathew Ryan.

Moments later, Mexico scored. The opener came from Vega's outswinging corner, deftly headed down by Vasquez and bouncing in off the inside post, beyond the reach of an outstretched Ryan.

It was poor defending at the set-piece from Australia, who enjoyed a significant height advantage, including the presence of six-foot-six defender Harry Souttar.    �"AFP