Although Mexico is under the jurisdiction of CONCACAF, the national team was invited since 1993 to participate in the Copa América, which is CONMEBOL's main continental competition, finishing runners-up twice (1993 and 2001), and obtaining third place in three editions.

Mexico hosted the 1970 World Cup and kicked off their campaign with a scoreless draw against the Soviet Union, followed by a 4–0 win over El Salvador.

Mexico failed to qualify for the 1974 World Cup in West Germany, but did make it into the 1978 finals, as they suffered an early exit after three defeats: 0–6 against the 1974 hosts, 1–3 against Tunisia, and 1–3 to Poland.

[12] In the 1990s, after hiring coach César Luis Menotti, Mexican football began experiencing greater international success.

Mexico won their opening fixture 3–1 against South Korea, drew Belgium 2–2, and against the Netherlands with the same score, qualifying for the round of 16.

Mexico was one of eight seeded teams at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, and entered Group D, being drawn with Iran, Angola and Portugal.

After losing the final match of the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup 1–2 against the United States, Mexico successfully rebounded at the 2007 Copa América.

In July 2009, Mexico won their fifth Gold Cup, and eighth CONCACAF Championship overall, after beating the United States 5–0 in the final.

[14] Mexico qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, where they were drawn into Group A alongside host South Africa, France and Uruguay.

The team placed second in the group, and won the quarterfinal match against Costa Rica and semifinal against Panama, both under controversial circumstances.

[24] Two days after the final, Miguel Herrera was released as coach of the national team after an alleged physical altercation with TV Azteca announcer Christian Martinoli.

[27] Mexico entered the Copa América Centenario, hosted in the United States, on a 13-match unbeaten streak that began in July 2015.

[29] In the quarter-final against Chile in Santa Clara, California, the team lost 7–0, ending the unbeaten streak at 16 after nearly a year.

This led to the end of Mexico's streak of reaching the round of 16 (which it had done in the previous seven World Cups), and as a result head coach Gerardo Martino stepped down immediately after the elimination.

[48] They defeated Panama 1–0 in the third place match that was largely boycotted by Mexican fans;[49] the following day, Cocca was dismissed from his post, with Jaime Lozano appointed on an interim basis to take charge for the forthcoming Gold Cup.

Friendly matches hosted by the Mexico national team often take place in stadiums across the United States, which are marketed under the branding MEXTOUR by FMF.

[59] In 2017, the Mexico national team's jerseys were updated to reflect their Spanish names correctly spelled, with the diacritic mark.

[67][68] The earliest documented usage of puto being chanted by fans in this manner occurred on 22 May 2004, during the second leg of the 2004 Clausura repechage match between Cruz Azul and Pachuca.

Fans of Pachuca repeatedly chanted puto every time Óscar Pérez performed a goal kick.

[69][67] Due to the homophobic meaning of the word puto in Mexican Spanish (a vulgar term for a male prostitute), the chant received negative attention in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

[71] In 2017, in advance of the 2018 World Cup, FIFA fined the Mexico football federation over fans' use of the chant and introduced escalating sanctions,[65] which were first applied in Liga MX games in 2019.

[64][72] On 18 June 2021, FIFA announced that as a penalty for the use of the chant in a pre-Olympics tournament in Guadalajara, spectators would be barred from Mexico's first two qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup.

[64] During the semifinals, the match between Mexico and the United States was stopped at the 90th minute and eventually ended early due to the chants.

Although the first match was played in 1934, their rivalry was not considered major until the late 20th century, when the U.S. emerged as a solid international side.

[75] On 10 October 2015, Mexico defeated the U.S. 3–2 in Los Angeles to qualify for the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia, winning on American soil for the first time since 1980.

On 11 November 2016, El Tri achieved their second consecutive victory on U.S. soil, in qualification for the 2018 World Cup, by defeating the U.S. in Columbus, Ohio.

[76] Since their first meeting in 1934, the two teams have met 78 times, with Mexico leading at 37 wins, 17 draws, and 24 losses, 147 goals scored, and 92 conceded.

This rivalry is more keenly felt by Mexican supporters than Argentines, who typically view Brazil, Uruguay, England and Germany as bigger rivals.

Costa Rica is also widely recognised as the only Central American national team to have sufficient quality to compete at the global stage, which increased the importance of the rivalry.

Win Draw Loss Fixture The following players were called up for the unofficial friendlies matches against Internacional and River Plate on 16 and 21 January 2025, respectively.