A year away from co-hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Mexico begins the defence of its Gold Cup crown against debutants Dominican Republic in Los Angeles on Saturday.
Mexico are still an imperfect side, but they have seemingly steadied themselves under Javier Aguirre after a tumultuous past few years.
El Tri crashed out of the 2022 World Cup in the group stage, and struggled through a long spell of inconsistency as well as head coaching drama. Yet since Aguirre returned last summer for his third spell in charge, Mexico have crafted a return trajectory to CONCACAF dominance, winning their first Nations League earlier this year.
They begin the Gold Cup against a Dominican Republic side that qualified for their first-ever Gold Cup competition on their 15th attempt.
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Mexico vs. Dominican Republic predicted starting 11, team news
Mexico head coach Aguirre has made some ruthless decisions for this Gold Cup, leaving experienced veterans Gerardo Arteaga, Uriel Antuna, and Luis Romo off the roster, as well as Diego Lainez and Erick Sanchez.
He also has calls to make regarding those in the roster, as his regular starters suffered a 4-2 defeat to Switzerland, while the backups fought hard in a 1-0 win over Turkey four days later. In particular, Marcel Ruiz impressed and could have earned a start in midfield over Charly Rodriguez.
Tigres defender Jesus Angulo was initially called into the Mexico squad but had to withdraw due to injury. Ramon Juarez, Emilio Lara, Juanjo Purata, and Gilberto Sepulveda were all part of the squad for the friendlies but have not been called in for the Gold Cup proper.
Mexico predicted lineup (4-4-2, right to left): Malagon (GK) — J. Sanchez, Montes, Reyes, Gallardo — Pineda, E. Alvarez, M. Ruiz, Huerta — Jimenez, Gimenez.
Full Mexico squad
Goalkeepers: Luis Malagon, Guillermo Ochoa, Raul Rangel.
Defenders: Julian Araujo, Mateo Chavez, Jesus Gallardo, Cesar Montes, Jesus Orozco, Israel Reyes, Johan Vazquez.
Midfielders: Edson Alvarez, Luis Chavez, Erik Lira, Gilberto Mora, Orbelin Pineda, Carlos Rodriguez, Marcel Ruiz.
Forwards: Roberto Alvarado, Efrain Alvarez, Santiago Gimenez, Cesar Huerta, Raul Jimenez, Julian Quinones, Angel Sepulveda, Alexis Vega.
MORE: A full breakdown of the USMNT roster for the 2025 Gold Cup
Fans may spot a familiar face on the Dominican Republic national team, as former Real Madrid striker Mariano Diaz is on the roster. His international journey is a truly wild one, as he made his debut for the country way back in 2013 in a friendly before spending years trying to play for Spain. When that never materialized, he was called back into the Dominican squad 12 years later this past March, when he earned his second cap.
Another recognizable name in the squad is Junior Firpo, who plays full-back for Leeds United but is often deployed in a more attacking role for the national team. Not present, however, is 32-year-old defender Cesar Garcia, who has been phased out since last fall despite holding 57 international caps.
Real Madrid Castilla defender Edgar Pujol represented Spain throughout his international youth career, but has made the switch to play for the Dominican Republic and debuted this summer in their two World Cup qualifiers.
Dominican predicted lineup (4-4-2, right to left): Lloyd (GK) — Pujol, Dollenmayer, de Lucas, Firpo — P. Gonzalez, J. Lopez, Rosario, R. Vasquez — M. Diaz, Romero.
Full Dominican Republic squad
Goalkeepers: Wilkins Geraldo, Miguel Lloyd, Xavier Valdez.
Defenders: Miguel Angel Beltre, Juan Casillo, Noah Dollenmayer, Junior Firpo, Luiyi de Lucas, Edgar Pujol, Michael Sambataro, Joao Urbanez.
Midfielders: Edison Azcona, Lucas Breton, Angel Montes de Oca, Jimmy Kaparos, Jean Carlos Lopez, Heinz Morschel, Juanca Pineda, Pablo Rosario, Ronaldo Vasquez.
Forwards: Mariano Diaz, Peter Gonzalez, Erick Japa, Rafael Nunez, Edarlyn Reyes, Dorny Romero.
Mexico vs. Dominican Republic score prediction
The Dominican Republic did well to qualify for their first-ever Gold Cup, but they are still miles off the upper echelon of teams in CONCACAF. This was on full display as they collapsed against Guatemala, ranked 106th in the world, in World Cup qualification, squandering a 2-1 lead to lose 4-2 last weekend.
Mexico may find it hard to break down bunkered opponents, but in the end they should manage to breach the levee, even if it takes most of the match to find the back of the net.
Prediction: Mexico 3-0 Dominican Republic
Mexico vs. Dominican Republic live stream, TV channel
- Date: Saturday, June 14, 2025
- Time (ET): 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT
- TV channel (English): FS1
- Streaming (English): Fubo, Fox Sports app, ViX
- TV channel (Spanish): TUDN, Univision
- Streaming (Spanish): Fubo, TUDN.com, Universo NOW
The entirety of the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup will be broadcast by Fox Sports, with the tournament opener televised on FS1.
Some games, including the first USMNT match of the competition against Trinidad & Tobago, will be televised on FOX network channel.
All games on Fox family of channels will be available to stream on Fubo, who are offering a free trial for new users.
