West Ham United pair Lucas Paquetá and Edson Álvarez faced off against one another in an international friendly in the United States on Saturday night.
It was Paqueta's Brazil who came out on top in a five-goal thriller, as Álvarez's Mexico came back from two down only to lose out in stoppage time.
Álvarez, earning his 78th cap for El Tri, skippered the side in their final warm-up fixture before the Copa América gets underway later this month.
Brazil made the faster start at Texas A&M University's 102,000-capacity Kyle Field, taking a fifth minute lead through a goal from Fulham's Andreas Pereira.
Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli then made it 2-0 at the start of the second period, before Paquetá emerged from the bench just past the hour for his 45th Brazil appearance.
Mexico would not lie down though, and gave themselves hope 17 minutes from time when Julián Quiñones cut the deficit.
Into a dramatic period of stoppage time and Guillermo Martínez popped up with an equaliser two minutes past the 90.
The scoring was not finished there, however, and Brazil landed the decisive blow three minutes later through their teenage striker Endrick.
Both sides' attention now turns to the continental summer tournament, with Mexico set to face Jamaica, Venezuela and Ecuador in their group, while Brazil play the United States in one final friendly, before their group campaign gets underway against Costa Rica, Colombia and Paraguay.
On Sunday, Jamaica made it two wins from two in 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying, but Michail Antonio was not involved in the Reggae Boyz' 3-2 victory in Dominica, which kept them second in second round Group E behind Guatemala on goal difference.
Jamaica now take a year-long break from World Cup qualifying to concentrate first on the Copa América later this month, then the CONCACAF Nations League in September and October.
Heimir Hallgrímsson will name his final 23-man squad for the Copa América ahead of the 12 June deadline.
And later on Sunday evening, Alphonse Areola was again an unused substitute as Didier Deschamps fielded No1 Mike Maignan for a UEFA Euro 2024 warm-up fixture with Canada. The game ended goalless at the Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux.
