According to the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), the Portuguese team will face the Mexicans on March 28 next year, in Mexico City, marking the inauguration of the renovated Azteca Stadium, which will host, among others, the opening match of the final phase of the biggest international competition for national teams.

Three days later, the team led by Spaniard Roberto Martínez will travel to Atlanta to face the Americans at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, another venue for the tournament.

Portugal will face Mexico for the sixth time, after three wins and two draws. The last two matches took place in the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia, with the Portuguese triumphing in extra time in the third-place match (2-1), after a draw in the first phase of Group A (2-2).

The national team has never visited the 'Aztecs', unlike what happened against the United States in 1992, when they lost in a friendly in Chicago (1-0), the fourth of seven matches between the two, which resulted in two wins, three draws and two losses for the Portuguese, a record last updated in 2017, in a draw in Leiria (1-1).

Preparations

Portugal will play its first two matches of 2026 in North America, with the added significance of completing its 700th match in Mexico, the final stage before the announcement of the squad for its ninth, and seventh consecutive, participation in the World Cup, which it qualified for in November as leader of Group F of the European qualifiers.

“The holding of the two matches, with times yet to be defined, in addition to allowing the national teams to fulfil their preparation plans, reinforces the alignment of these countries which, in the coming years, will share a prominent role in the organization of the two biggest events in world football: the 2026 and 2030 World Cups,” says the FPF statement.

The 23rd edition of the largest international national team competition is scheduled to take place on Friday at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, and will be held between June 11 and July 19, 2026, featuring for the first time 48 participating teams, in an unprecedented tripartite organization between the United States, Mexico, and Canada.