USA 3-0 Mexico and how the rivalry's balance has shifted since 2002

The United States beat Mexico 3-0 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on October 3, 2026, in a friendly between the two World Cup co-hosts. Julian Hall, 18, scored in the 28th minute, 17-year-old Cavan Sullivan became the youngest scorer in USMNT history after the hour, and Malik Tillman sealed it late. Mexico finished with 10 men after Mateo Chávez was sent off in the 67th minute.

It was the 80th meeting between the neighbours and the first since the 2025 Gold Cup final, which Mexico won 2-1 in Houston. It also came less than three months after both nations left the 2026 World Cup in the Round of 16, Mexico against England and the USA against Belgium. So the question for the archive is simple. Is this a one-night statement, or one more swing in a rivalry that has been tilting back and forth since a single afternoon in South Korea?

The afternoon that changed the series

For decades the series belonged to Mexico. The two nations met only once at a World Cup, and it came on June 17, 2002, in Jeonju, where the USA won 2-0 in the Round of 16 with goals from Brian McBride and Landon Donovan. You can see the full record on the page for Mexico vs USA at the 2002 World Cup. The scoreline gave the rivalry its nickname, "dos a cero", and a score the Americans have returned to again and again.

Mexico still leads the all-time series, and the gap is wide. Before this match the count stood at 38 wins for Mexico, 25 for the United States and 16 draws over 79 meetings. The 3-0 in Glendale makes it 38, 26 and 16.

Sources disagree on the exact split of draws and defeats in older editions of the series, so we use the tally most outlets reported at the time of the match.

How big is a 3-0?

The biggest American win over Mexico remains the 4-0 at RFK Stadium in Washington on June 18, 1995, in the U.S. Cup, with goals from Roy Wegerle, Thomas Dooley, John Harkes and Claudio Reyna. Mexico's biggest win is a 7-2, and that is the clearest sign of how lopsided the early decades of the series were.

Against that background a 3-0 is a heavy result. The table below lists the American wins by three goals or more that we could find, which shows how rare they are.

The 2000 and 2023 results come from a single published results list, so treat those two lines as provisional until the archive confirms them.

The swings since 2002

The pattern since 2002 is not a handover. It is a pendulum. The Americans took control in the years right after the Round of 16 win, then Mexico answered with a 5-0 in the 2009 Gold Cup final and a 4-2 in the 2011 final at the Rose Bowl. Mexico held the upper hand again in the late 2010s, capped by a 3-0 at MetLife Stadium on September 6, 2019, the last defeat the USMNT suffered in the series for more than five years.

That run ended only on October 15, 2024, when Mexico won 2-0 in Guadalajara, ending a seven match unbeaten streak for the United States. It included the 2021 Nations League final, won 3-2 in extra time in Denver, and the 2021 Gold Cup final, won 1-0 in Las Vegas. Mexico then won the 2025 Gold Cup final, so the last two competitive finals went to different sides.

What is different about October 2026 is the age of the winners. Hall is 18 and Sullivan 17, and Sullivan turned 17 only five days before his goal. Hall has now scored in each of his first three caps, according to match reports. Between them they supplied two of the three goals against Mexico.

What it means

This was a friendly, played after a World Cup that ended in the Round of 16 for both co-hosts, so it should be read with care. Mexico, coached by Rafael Márquez, were also without the injured Hirving Lozano and played the final stretch with 10 men. Mauricio Pochettino's side had already beaten Peru 4-1 and Chile 4-2 in the same international window, which made this their third win in a row.

Even so, the result matters for the story the rivalry tells. The USMNT now has a young core that has scored against its fiercest opponent, and the next competitive meeting will show whether that carries over. A pendulum does not stop because one swing was large.

Our verdict is simple. Mexico still owns the series, and 38 wins to 26 is not a gap that closes in a single night. But the Americans won the 2021 Nations League and Gold Cup finals and the 2023 Nations League semi-final against Mexico, so the 2002 win no longer looks like a lone exception.

Explore more. See the full 2026 World Cup edition, Mexico's World Cup history and the complete World Cup archive.