The Swiss national team beats Mexico after a turbulent match

The game at Rice-Eccles Stadium took place under special conditions. The pitch, on which the University of Utah's college football team normally plays, was somewhat narrower compared to normal football pitches, but the temperature was high in the early afternoon.

This also explains why the final score was so high. The many changes in the second half, seven on both sides, also contributed to the fact that the game became rather disjointed and random as it wore on. The Swiss had the better end, celebrating victory against the upcoming World Cup hosts thanks to four different goalscorers.

Amenda from the start

Murat Yakin, who said in the run-up to the match that the two June test matches were intended to whet the appetite for the 2026 World Cup, relied mainly on established players. The absence of Denis Zakaria, who the national team coach wanted to field in defense, meant that Yakin switched to a back four - with 21-year-old Aurèle Amenda alongside defensive boss Manuel Akanji. The Eintracht Frankfurt central defender made only his third international appearance.

The only other surprise was that Ardon Jashari was not on the pitch from the start. The midfielder, who was named the best player in the Belgian league, was initially left behind established players such as Granit Xhaka, Remo Freuler and Vincent Sierro. The Mexicans, who won the North and Central American Nations League in March, also had some, but not all, of their supposed regulars on the pitch.

The Swiss took the lead in the 20th minute through Breel Embolo. After winning the ball, Ricardo Rodriguez played a long pass, Embolo played around the goalkeeper with a bit of luck and then easily slotted the ball past the defender into the net.

First goal for Rieder

In the second half, the Mexicans equalized in front of 41,508 official fans. The fact that Switzerland were then able to regain the lead was partly down to the strong Zeki Amdouni, who scored immediately after coming on as a substitute to make it 2-1. It was his eleventh goal in his 26th international match. However, this was preceded by a clear offside by Cédric Zesiger, which was not whistled off - a VAR was not in action.

Amdouni also had a hand in Dan Ndoye's 3:1 goal. He successfully disrupted the defender in the build-up and Fabian Rieder then set up the Bologna attacker, who scored his second goal for the national team. It was also Rieder who provided the assist after the Mexicans had scored the final goal. It was the 23-year-old's first goal for the national team.

he Swiss now travel on to Nashville, Tennessee, as part of their tour of the USA. The second test match will take place there on Wednesday night, kicking off at 2.00 a.m. Swiss time. Their opponents will be the USA, another host of the 2026 World Cup, who lost 2-1 to Turkey in a test match on Saturday.

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