Mexico vs Paraguay time, TV channel, live stream, lineups and betting odds for Atlanta friendly

Places on the Mexico 2022 World Cup roster will be up for grabs when El Tri faces Paraguay in a Wednesday friendly at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Players battling to impress manager Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino will be given only the few tuneups that remain — Peru and Colombia are up next in September — before the 26-man squad for Qatar is unveiled.

Since the match is taking place outside of official FIFA international match windows, Mexico will need to rely on a group of players who ply their trade in the Liga MX domestic top-flight. And those are the same players who are still battling for a spot on the plane in Qatar, where Mexico was drawn into Group C against Poland, Argentina, and Saudi Arabia. Only the top two teams in each group advance to the World Cup knockout rounds.

The friendly will be staged in Atlanta, at the stadium that Martino called home when he led Atlanta United in its first two seasons, including a championship run to the 2018 MLS Cup title.

Paraguay, another one of the teams formerly managed by Martino, is coming off a disappointing World Cup qualifying campaign in which it finished 10 points out of the automatic qualifying zone. The Albirroja are looking ahead to the 2024 Copa America.

MORE: Complete FIFA World Cup schedule

Mexico vs Paraguay TV channel, live stream

• Date: Wednesday, August 31
• Time: 9 p.m. ET
• TV Channel: Univision, TUDN
• Live stream: fuboTV, TUDN.tv, TUDN app

The match from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta will be broadcast live on both Univision and TUDN with the pre-match show starting at 8:30 p.m. ET. Both those channels are streamed on fuboTV.

MORE: Lookahead to Mexico’s Group C opponents at the World Cup

Mexico vs Paraguay lineups

Tata Martino called up a less experienced group, leaving veterans like Guillermo ‘Memo’ Ochoa, Hector Moreno, and Hector Herrera off the list as the bubble players assume the spotlight.

Two players from the original 21-man list will be out due to injury. Chivas forward Angel Zaldivar replaced Liga MX top scorer Henry Martin after the latter picked up a left hamstring injury in his most recent league match. Tigres playmaker Sebastian Cordova will also have to sit out due to injury, and he was not replaced.

Club America’s 20-year-old defender Emilio Lara is an intriguing selection. He has only 11 career appearances in Liga MX, but he’s been a standout for his club, featuring at center back and right back during the current campaign.

Goalkeepers (2): Carlos Acevedo (Santos Laguna), Luis Malagon (Necaxa)

Defenders (7): Kevin Alvarez (Pachuca), Jesus Angulo (Tigres), Jesus Gallardo (Monterrey), Emilio Lara (Club America), Cesar Montes (Monterrey), Israel Reyes (Puebla), Luis Reyes (Atlas)

Midfielders (8): Uriel Antuna (Cruz Azul), Roberto ‘Piojo’ Alvarado (Chivas), Fernando ‘Nene’ Beltran (Chivas), Luis Chavez (Pachuca), Rodolfo Pizarro (Monterrey), Carlos ‘Charly’ Rodriguez (Cruz Azul), Luis Romo (Monterrey), Erick Sanchez (Pachuca)

Forward (3): Eduardo Aguirre (Santos Laguna), Angel Zaldivar (Chivas), Alexis Vega (Chivas)

Paraguay is managed by Martino’s Argentine compatriot Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who took over the program in the middle of its World Cup qualifying debacle. He will also have 20 players available to him after Cerro Porteno’s Alexis Duarte pulled out due to injury.

But unlike Martino, Schelotto will have six players at his disposal who are based outside of Paraguay: Matias Galarza (Coritiba / Brazil), Antony Silva (Puebla / Mexico), Bruno Valdez (Club America / Mexico), Richard Sanchez (Club America / Mexico), Andres Cubas (Vancouver Whitecaps / Canada), Carlos Gonzalez (Toluca / Mexico). There are also eight players who hail from Paraguayan power Olimpia.

Paraguay projected starting XI (4-3-3, right to left): Antony Silva-GK (Puebla) — Ivan Piris (Libertad), Bruno Valdez (Club America), Saul Salcedo (Olimpia), Mateo Gamarra (Olimpia) — Richard Sanchez (Club America), Andres Cubas (Vancouver Whitecaps), Richard Ortiz (Olimpia) — Derlis Gonzalez (Olimpia), Carlos Gonzalez (Toluca), Lorenzo Melgarejo (Libertad)

Paraguay projected subs: Santiago Rojas-GK (Nacional Asuncion), Alfredo Aguilar-GK (Olimpia), Luis Zarate (Olimpia), Ivan Torres (Olimpia), Marcos Gomez (Olimpia), Angel Cardozo Lucena (Cerro Porteno), Matias Segovia (Guarani), Diego Gomez (Libertad), Matias Galarza (Coritiba)

Mexico vs Paraguay betting odds

Odds courtesy of BetMGM (USA) and Sports Interaction (Canada)

Without their first-choice players, both teams will be far from their best, but the Mexican players should be extra motivated by Tata Martino’s pre-match comments that “40 or 50 percent” of the 20 players on hand in Atlanta can potentially be part of the World Cup team.

However, Mexico will still be facing the same challenge it has faced throughout its road through World Cup qualifying: scoring goals. And without several of their best forwards — Monterrey’s Rogelio Funes Mori is also out injured — it’s hard to see the goals flowing in this one.

The under 2.5 total goals prop is juiced, but it’s still the best bet on the board, especially given that the odds on both teams not to score are not that much more attractive.