Baltimore provides Rafael Márquez with his first stop as Mexico coach, a former Barcelona defender stepping into the national-team job with admiration for the football he once knew at Camp Nou but without any intention of forcing it on a different set of players.
Mexico face Colombia at M&T Bank Stadium in Maryland at 03:00 in the night from Saturday into Sunday. Márquez takes over from Javier Aguirre, whom he previously assisted during the last World Cup.
Quick facts
- Rafael Márquez, 47, will make his Mexico coaching debut against Colombia in Baltimore.
- Mexico will then play Peru in Harrison, New Jersey, on Tuesday.
- The United States await in Glendale, Arizona, on 3 October, followed by Chile in Los Angeles on 6 October.
- Márquez coached Barça Atlètic between 2022 and 2024.
- He praised former Colombia playmaker James Rodríguez after the end of his international career.
Márquez played for Barcelona from 2003 to 2010 and said that, in an ideal setting, he would like Mexico to reflect that identity. But he stressed that an international coach must work from the squad in front of him rather than impose a pre-set model.
“I have to adapt to what I have,” he said. “Of course I would like to play like Barcelona, but I do not have the same raw material. We must build on what worked at the last World Cup.”
The new coach expects continuity before transformation. Mexico’s defensive work at the tournament offered a base, he said, while the next steps include cleaner progression through the pitch, better spacing between the lines and greater individual development.
His time with Barcelona’s reserve side shaped that view. Márquez said his experience with young players taught him that helping them grow can unlock considerable potential for the collective, and he intends to apply that principle with El Tri.
Colombia arrive with a changing group, including a number of younger call-ups, and Márquez expects a difficult test. Mexico have gone a long time without beating the Colombians, he noted, describing them as physically strong, fast in attack, bold and direct.
He also paid tribute to James Rodríguez, the Colombian No. 10 whose international involvement has ended. Márquez called him an idol and a rare kind of creative player, adding with a smile that Mexico would no longer have to face him.
After Baltimore, Mexico remain in the United States for the rest of the international window. Peru are next at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, before matches against the United States at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on 3 October and Chile at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles three days later.
