It may not have been a full-blooded reality check, but the Socceroos have been given food for thought after their opening World Cup warm-up game ended in a 1-0 defeat to Mexico.

In front of a sea of green made up of 78,479 mainly Mexican fans at Los Angeles’ iconic Rose Bowl Stadium, Johan Vasquez’s first-half header proved the difference in a match where performance was ultimately more important than the result.

Australia will take positives from the showing in terms of their defensive structure, led by a strong Harry Souttar showing in his first Socceroos game since late 2024.

But with coach Tony Popovic’s gameplan predicated on not conceding goals and winning the important moments, they will need to be sharper in the latter are ahead of three looming tough, tight World Cup matches.

While the Socceroos were not disgraced by Mexico and they did have the two best chances of the match — Mo Toure in the first half, Ajdin Hurstic in the second — they had just a tick over 40 per cent of the ball and that figure stayed below 20 per cent for most of the first half.

It is not unusual for a Popovic-coached side to sit back and let their opponents attempt to pry open their defence, waiting for the right moment to strike and indeed, it has worked well for the coach so far in his tenure.

But while initially Mexico failed to make the necessary surgical incisions in midfield, their weight of possession eventually began to tell.

Three minutes after Mat Ryan tipped over an Alexis Vega header attempt, Mexico eventually took the lead through Vasquez’s 28th minute header which rebounded in via the post.

When Australia began to make tentative trips into their opponents’ half with the electric pace of Jordan Bos their main outlet down the left wing.

With Jackson Irvine and Aiden O’Neill well-beaten in the middle of the park, forwards Mathew Leckie and Conor Metcalfe were busy but ultimately unable to provide a cutting edge or a connective link between midfield and isolated striker Toure.

Having already been left perplexed by referee Rubiel Vazquez’s decision to ignore Edson Alvarez blatant pull-back on him, Toure missed a golden chance to level the scores at the break when he looped a shot wide with an open net after a back-pedalling Mateo Chavez headed the ball away from on-rushing goalkeeper Raul Rangel.

Mexican goalkeeper and World Cup hero Guillermo Ochoa was given a rousing reception after his half-time introduction and immediately further endeared himself to fans when he kept out O’Neill’s swerving long-range effort.

The Socceroos were more open after the restart and Toure began to make a nuisance of himself, running channels and putting his body on the line to win possession.

And after a raft of substitutes, two of them should have combined for the equaliser, but Kai Trewin’s tidy inside pass to Hrustic in the box went unrewarded following Israel Reyes’ last-ditch challenge.

Chippiness infiltrated the game in its latter stages as few spot-fires ignited, including a scuffle involving both teams after Mexico had a goal scrubbed out because the referee was not ready for their quick free-kick, while Trewin had a late chance at an equaliser but his touch evaded him.