Mexico to play August 14 friendly vs. Ivory Coast in New York

Mexico will return to the United States in two months and they will do so for another African opponent when they take on the Ivory Coast on August 14 at MetLife Stadium. Technically, the stadium is in New Jersey, but this is about Mexico heading to New York and on a FIFA international date so both teams will have their full compliment of players available to them.

Mexico played Nigeria in Houston on Friday and managed a 2-2 draw despite playing much of the match down a man after Pablo Barrera was shown a red card. Now they have three World Cup qualifiers coming up, followed by a trip to Brazil for the Confederations Cup before finishing the summer with the August friendly against the Ivory Coast.

The Ivory Coast is coming off of a disappointing Africa Cup of Nations, where they were upset by eventual champions Nigeria, but they are doing well in CAF World Cup qualifying. They have seven points from three matches, which is best in Group C.

Whether El Tri bring their best team to New York to play the Elephants remains to be seen. While Chepo de la Torre can call in anyone he wants, he may choose to leave his European-based players with their clubs instead of making them fly across the Atlantic for a single midweek friendly at the beginning of the European club season.