The Mexican defending champion exceeded a slow beginning to defeat the Dominican Republic 3-2 on Saturday night in a match of the Concacaf Gold Cup.
West Ham’s midfielder Edson Álvarez opened the scoring in the 44th minute, Fulham striker Raul Jiménez added a goal in 47 and defender Montes obtained another in 53.
Jiménez now has 40 goals with the Mexican national team and is six from Jared Borgetti, secondly in the race score for the Tri. Javier Hernández is from Mexico to score with 52.
Mexico leads group A with three points, while the Dominican Republic is at the bottom. Costa Rica and Surinam, the other countries of the group, will face Sunday at the Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego.
Peter González in the 51st minute and Edison Ascona in 67 scored for the Dominicans, who obtained their first qualification as one of the four winners of the group in the B Le League of the Concacaf Nations League.
The game was played at the Sofi stadium before 54,309 fans, most of them supporting Mexico.
There was uncertainty about how many Mexican fans would attend the party. On Friday, the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, urged US officials not to attack people who attend the game.
The workers have been arrested by the federal immigration authorities in a series of raids in the Los Angeles fashion district and in the parking lots of Home Depot in southern California. More than 100 people have stopped their legs.
Mexico will try to qualify for the next round next Wednesday when they play Surinam, while the Dominican Republic will play in Costa Rica. Both games will be played at the AT&T stadium in Arlington, Texas.
