After a winless start to the Rafa Márquez era, Mexico’s national soccer team has an opportunity to right the ship on Saturday evening in Kingston, Jamaica.

El Tri will take the field at Independence Park against underdog Jamaica in the first leg of the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals, making it Márquez’s first official match as Mexico manager.

Márquez, who succeeded Javier Aguirre after serving as his top assistant during the 2026 World Cup, has yet to win a match as Mexico’s top man. El Tri is 0-2-2 since he took over, including an embarrassing 3-0 loss to Team USA.

For this two-game stretch (the second leg will be played in Monterrey on Tuesday), Márquez summoned a more experienced squad than he did for the four friendlies during the September-October window.

Back with the team is forward Julián Quiñones, who was Mexico’s leading scorer during the World Cup. Also returning are winger Jesús Corona (a 33-year-old with experience in Europe) and fullback Rodrigo Huescas, who missed the World Cup after suffering a knee injury 13 months ago.

However, the team will be without top striker Raúl Jiménez, who underwent surgery to repair his medial collateral ligament last month.

Teen midfielder Gilberto Mora will be expected to direct the El Tri attack, while captain Johan Vásquez and Erik Lira form the backbone of the defense. All eyes will be on goalie Raúl Rangel whose two howlers against Team USA won’t soon be forgotten.

As humiliating as it was to lose to the U.S. in the manner they did, Mexico’s players realize that, as heavy favorites to advance to the semifinals, a loss to Jamaica would be even more devastating.

The defending Nations League champions are ranked 59 spots above Jamaica in the FIFA World Rankings (Mexico is No. 10, Jamaica No. 69), losing just three of 29 matches against The Reggae Boyz, while winning  21 and drawing five. And El Tri has outscored Jamaica 72-15 overall.

However, Mexico is only 3-3-1 in its last seven official matches against Jamaica, including a 1-0 loss in the 2017 Copa Oro semifinals.

Jamaica’s other two victories over Mexico were by identical 1-0 scores: in an Oct. 11, 2008, World Cup qualifier and in a Nov. 17, 1996, World Cup qualifier.

Still, The Reggae Boyz failed to qualify for this summer’s World Cup even though Concacaf had six slots in the tournament. Jamaica finished second to an upstart Curaçao side in the regional final group stage, then lost to DR Congo in an interconfederation playoff. 

With reports from SBNation, ESPN and Soy Fútbol