XOLOS TO HOST CLUB AMERICA AT SNAPDRAGON STADIUM

It was only a matter of time before men’s professional soccer came to Snapdragon Stadium in Mission Valley. That time is March 26.

The Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles will host Club America in a Sunday afternoon friendly at 2 p.m. as part of Tour Aguila, the Mexico City giant’s annual North American series of exhibitions. Both are in Liga MX, Mexico’s

18-team top division, and are scheduled to play a league game Feb. 19 at Tijuana’s Estadio Caliente.

Snapdragon opened last August for San Diego State football, but it was specifically built to soccer specs — field width, seat pitch, sight lines, camera positions — with the intention of hosting dozens of games per year.

The San Diego Wave of the National Women’s Soccer League call Snapdragon home, and there are ongoing talks to bring an Major League Soccer expansion team to San Diego as early as 2024 or ’25. San Diego State’s men’s and women’s teams have played there, too.

This will be the third different San Diego venue where the Xolos have faced Club America. They played in 2012 at Qualcomm Stadium and again in 2018 when it was called SDCCU Stadium before its 2020 demolition to make way for Snapdragon. The two teams also played at

Petco Park in 2013. The Xolos have played other pro teams at USD’s Torero Stadium.

America is Mexico’s most decorated club, with 13 domestic league trophies and seven continental championships. In 2019, it held the Liga MX, Copa MX and CONCACAF Champions League titles at once.

America finished with the best record in the Liga MX Apertura season last fall but was knocked out in the semifinals of the playoffs. It currently sits in eighth place of the Clausura season, with one win and four draws from five matches.

The Xolos were founded in 2007 and gained promotion to Liga MX in 2011, then won the Apertura title in Mexico’s split seasons in 2012. They are currently in 14th place with no wins, four draws and a loss.

The March 26 game at 35,000-capacity Snapdragon falls during a mandated FIFA international break, meaning top players from both teams could be summoned for national team duty. Mexico has two games as part of the CONCACAF Nations League: March 23 against Suriname and March 26 against Jamaica.

Tickets go on sale Friday at noon at snapdragonstadium.com and will range from $40 to $120.

A free fan fest outside the stadium will open at 11 a.m.