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- Mexico's national soccer team will play Switzerland in Salt Lake City on June 7.
- The match at Rice-Eccles Stadium highlights Utah's growing sports culture and underscores the state's growing Latino community.
- The economic impact of the game is expected to total $11.4 million and showcase Salt Lake City as a sports hub.
SALT LAKE CITY — Mexico's national soccer team is coming to Utah to play Switzerland, a nod to the local Latino population, soccer fans and what boosters say is Salt Lake City's rising profile as a sports hub.
It will mark the second time since 2015 that the Mexican team will have played in Utah. This time, on June 7, it will be at a much larger venue — the 51,000-seat Rice-Eccles Stadium on the University of Utah campus. The game 10 years ago against Trinidad and Tobago was played at Real Salt Lake's field in Sandy, which seats around 20,000.
"There's a big fan base of Mexican soccer fans in the states, not only in Utah, but it has grown here in Utah," said Moisés Muñoz, a retired goalie for the Mexican national team who took part in a press conference Monday to promote the game. "That's one of the reasons the national team has decided to come here."
Utah Sen. Luz Escamilla, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Mexico, took part in the event and noted the Latino population in Utah, nearly 20% of the total, and the Mexican roots of the vast majority of those Latinos. The game, which kicks off the national team's annual MexTour in the United States, is set for June 7 and will be the first of five matches against other national teams from around the world.
"This is going to be crazy and crazy exciting," she said. Escamilla also helped promote an exhibition game between two professional Mexican baseball teams last October.
More generally, Escamilla said the decision to hold the game here underscores the strong sports culture in Utah. The state hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics and will host them again in 2034, while numerous professional teams call Utah home, including the Utah Jazz and the Utah Hockey Club.
"Utah is no stranger to hosting teams and even the world," she said. Next month's game is "a perfect fit for Utah with (its) vibrant sports culture, a growing international reach and a passionate fan base."
In fact, Muñoz, who also played for Club América and other professional Mexican teams, said the Real Salt Lake stadium was packed during Mexico's game in Utah 10 years ago, which underscores the interest here and the decision to play in a larger venue this time. The interest, moreover, contrasts games in Mexico involving the national team, which sometimes don't even fill the stands.
Both teams are competitive on a global scale; Mexico ranked the 17th-best national team, and Switzerland sits at No. 20, according to the latest international rankings from FIFA, the international soccer governing body. "It's not going to be a friendly match. It's going to be a really tough match for both national teams," Muñoz said. For Mexico, he said, the game will serve to prepare it for the Gold Cup tournament next month, featuring the national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean.
Ryan Mack, vice president of communications for Visit Salt Lake City, noted the expected $11.4 million economic impact from hosting the game. Visitors from at least 30 other states are expected to attend, which, aside from the economic impact, serves to showcase the city. "This game helps strengthen Salt Lake's reputation on the global stage and solidifies our position as a sports boom town," he said.
On an even larger scale, the United States, Canada and Mexico will host the World Cup soccer tournament in 2026. Salt Lake City isn't a host city.
The MexTour launched in 2003 in a bid to let fans of the Mexican national team in the United States see it in action.
