Mexico Return to Concacaf Summit: Takeaways from El Tri's Nations League Title Win | OneFootball

Mexico defeated Panama 2–1 to dethrone the USMNT and win the first Concacaf Nations League in El Tri's history.

Raúl Jiménez followed up his brace against Canada in the semifinals by scoring the opener to become Mexico's third all-time leading goalscorer. El Tri couldn't capitalize on their chances in the first half and slowly Panama grew into the game, equalizing through Adalberto Carrasquilla from the penalty spot. Mexico pushed forward and finally, Jiménez secured his brace from the spot as well.

Mexico really needed this title run.

Less than 10 months after Javier Aguirre returned as manager and only 14 months away from the 2026 FIFA World Cup Mexico will co-host, signs that El Tri are beginning to break out of their longstanding, nightmarish struggles are starting to see the light.

Defeating an up-and-coming Canadian team and a Panama side that eliminated the USMNT will help boost confidence in the squad. With the World Cup quickly approaching, Mexico could be returning to form at exactly the right rime.

Takeaways from the Mexico's Concacaf Nations League final win below.

Raul Jimenez Finally Has the Recognition He Deserves

The Fulham striker confirmed that he is, by some distance, the best Mexican player and arguably the best player in Concacaf right now.

Seeing Jiménez back to his best following a near career-ending injury suffered in 2020, truly is a feel-good story not only for El Tri fans, but for soccer fans in general. After years where Mexico were defined by lacking goals and center forwards that could carry the load, Jiménez's return to form comes at the perfect time.

Back-to-back braces plus his overall quality of play resulted in a first Concacaf Nations League title for El Tri. He became the first player in Mexico national team history to score at least once in 13 consecutive years, and is now only behind Jared Borgetti and Javier "Chicharito" Hernández as the nation's third best ever goalscorer.

Jiménez has never been a starter in a FIFA World Cup. Now, 14 months away from Mexico hosting what would be his fourth World Cup, the Tepeji del Río, Hidalgo native would be the first name in the lineup. Something his career truly deserves.

Aguirre Must Find Solutions in Midfield

Over the course of both games in the Concacaf Nations League Finals, Panama and Canada dictated the tempo of the match for long periods of time.

Mexico looked incapable of sustaining long periods of controlled possession in midfield—especially when playing ahead—relying instead on continually playing long balls, jumping the line hoping the two center forwards could win duels and make something happen. Against Canada, the lack of control didn't translate into conceding clear scoring chances, but Panama's constant insistence derived from playing the game on their terms led to the temporally equalizer in the final.

Aguirre decided to play both of his in-form strikers, Jiménez and Santiago Giménez up top and, while the gamble payed-off in attack, it cost him presence in the middle of the pitch. There are ways to play with two strikers without having to sacrifice a player in the central areas. Pivoting to a 5-3-2 formation instead of a 4-4-2 could be the answer moving forward.

Renouncing control of the game and relying on moments of brilliance in attack might be enough to win in Concacaf, but it won't be against stronger opponents in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Mexico's Biggest Win of the 2020s

After half-a-decade of embarrassing failures in major tournaments and painful defeats, this generation of Mexico national team players finally have a major accomplishment to hold onto.

The core of this team has been loudly criticized for their inability to perform with the national team and responsible for Mexico's significant decline over the past five years. Disappointing group stage exits in both the 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2024 Copa América and constant embarrassing defeats against the USMNT defined this generation.

Perhaps the most important thing that comes out of Mexico's first ever Concacaf Nations League title run is that these players can finally believe they are ready to leave all of those past failures behind and correct the course of a previously rudderless ship.

Sure, beating Canada and Panama and being at the summit of Concacaf has historically been the bare minimum for Mexico, but it's also something many didn't think would happen leading up to the Nations League Finals.

With many players missing out on the 2025 Gold Cup because they'll be with their clubs in the 2025 Club World Cup, these were Mexico's biggest games of the year. Anything but winning the tournament would've been considered a failure and continue fueling the negative talk around El Tri. Finally, these players stepped up and delivered.