Mexico’s winless start under Rafael Márquez raises questions after Chile defeat

Mexico’s 2-0 friendly defeat to Chile in Los Angeles on 6 October left Rafael Márquez without a win in his first four matches as national-team coach. The result followed two draws and a heavy loss to the United States, sharpening questions about the side’s form after its run to the last 16 of the 2026 World Cup. Márquez says the friendlies also gave his staff a chance to assess younger players before a more consequential match.

How Mexico’s four friendlies unfolded

Mexico opened its post-World Cup schedule with 1-1 draws against Colombia and Peru. A 3-0 defeat to the United States followed, before Chile won 2-0 at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles. Four matches without a victory mark a difficult start for Márquez, although friendly results alone cannot settle how his team will perform in competitive games.

Against Chile, Mexico held the score at 0-0 through the first half. AS México’s match report recorded Maximiliano Gutiérrez’s opening goal in the 55th minute and Vicente Pizarro’s second in the 64th. The defeat came after the loss to the United States earlier in the same international window, extending the sequence of disappointing results that has drawn attention to the new coach.

The comparison with the World Cup is stark. The Guardian reports that Mexico beat Ecuador in the last 32 before losing to England in the last 16. It describes the Ecuador result as Mexico’s first World Cup knockout-stage win since 1986. Márquez was on Javier Aguirre’s coaching staff during that campaign and took charge afterward, inheriting expectations shaped by a run that had raised hopes among supporters.

What Rafael Márquez said after the Chile loss

He cautioned against a direct comparison between the friendlies and the World Cup. Mexico had used a different defence, he said, and some of the players had not previously played together. Márquez said there was considerable room for improvement. He added that some players lacked regular minutes with their clubs, which was one reason he wanted to bring them into the squad and judge how they performed.

Workload also affected the selection, according to Márquez. He said the staff had tried to choose its best available team while managing players’ demands, and acknowledged that its overall performance against Chile was below the level required. His comments describe what he believes the matches revealed; the available reports do not establish which players he will choose next or whether those choices will improve results.

Why the early results have prompted a wider debate

The Guardian’s analysis argues that the results expose questions beyond the coach’s immediate decisions. It reports that Mexico changed its entire starting XI for the Peru friendly to share playing time before facing the United States. It also says the team was missing Raúl Jiménez, Julián Quiñones and Gilberto Mora, three important attacking players, for the 3-0 defeat to its regional rival. Those circumstances complicate a simple reading of the scorelines.

TV Azteca analyst Álvaro López Sordo told the Guardian that the recent performances were hard to reconcile with Mexico’s World Cup side. He described the friendlies as a ‘dose of reality’ and argued that Mexico has good players but insufficient depth: the absence or poor form of a few can materially change the team. That is his assessment of the squad, rather than a conclusion proved by four friendlies.

The Guardian also notes that Márquez’s experience as a head coach at the highest level is limited. Before the recent matches, he told the newspaper that he would adapt to the players available instead of imposing a preferred style regardless of the squad. His background with Aguirre gave him knowledge of the World Cup group, but it did not remove the immediate task of deciding which players can carry the team forward.

What remains to be seen for Mexico

Márquez says his staff will draw conclusions from the Chile match and strengthen the areas it found wanting. For now, the documented record is two draws and two defeats, followed by his account of what the coaching staff learned. The friendlies raise questions about selection, depth and performance, but they do not establish whether the coach or broader squad problems chiefly explain Mexico’s start.