Mexico World Cup 2026 squad: Javier Aguirre's 55-man preliminary squad

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The Mexico World Cup 2026 squad will be in the spotlight this summer.

World Cup 2026 will see the Mexicans become the first nation to ever host a World Cup three times – and though El Tri won’t be among the favourites for the competition, they’ll have one of the more recognisable squads of the tournament.

40-year-old 151-cap legend Guillermo Ochoa will be heading to his sixth competition – the World Cup without him would be like Christmas without Mariah Carey, wouldn’t it? – with manager Javier Aguirre naming players with a combined 1,399 caps in his 55-man longlist.

Jesus Gallardo, Edson Alvarez and Raul Jimenez will be an incredibly experienced spine of this team ahead of Ochoa, with the likes of Santiago Gimenez, Cesar Montes, Alexis Vega and Orbelin Pineda older heads in this side, now, too.

There’s plenty of exciting talent though as well, with midfielders Gilberto Mora and Obed Vargas now on five senior international caps a-piece, and both having been subjects of FourFourTwo’s The Boy’s A Bit Special series.

There are two high-profile players left out of this attack: Hirving Lozano misses the opportunity to recreate the magic he showed in 2018, while 33-year-old Henry Martin won’t be in the squad either.

This squad will be whittled down to 26 ahead of the opening fixture, which sees Mexico take on South Africa, in a repeat of the game that began the 2010 World Cup.

Squad

Mexico World Cup 2026 squad: The March selection

GK: Guillermo Ochoa (AEL Limassol)
GK: Raul Rangel (Guadalajara)
GK: Carlos Acevedo (Santos Laguna)
GK: Jose Antonio Rodriguez (Tijuana)
GK: Carlos Moreno (Pachuca)
GK: Alex Padilla (Athletic Bilbao)
DF: Jesus Gallardo (Toluca)
DF: Cesar Montes (Lokomotiv Moscow)
DF: Jorge Sanchez (PAOK)
DF: Johan Vasquez (Genoa)
DF: Israel Reyes (America)
DF: Jesus Alberto Angulo (UANL)
DF: Julian Araujo (Celtic)
DF: Mateo Chavez (AZ)
DF: Victor Guzman (Monterrey)
DF: Richard Ledezma (Guadalajara)
DF: Everardo Lopez (Toluca)
DF: Denzell Garcia (Juarez)
DF: Bryan Gonzalez (Guadalajara)
DF: Ramon Juarez (America)
DF: Eduardo Aguila (Atletico San Luis)
DF: Alejandro Gomez (Tijuana)
DF: Luis Rey (Puebla)
MF: Edson Alvarez (Fenerbahce)
MF: Orbelin Pineda (AEK Athens)
MF: Carlos Rodriguez (Cruz Azul)
MF: Roberto Alvarado (Guadalajara)
MF: Luis Romo (Guadalajara)
MF: Luis Chavez (Dynamo Moscow)
MF: Erick Sanchez (America)
MF: Diego Lainez (UANL)
MF: Erik Lira (Cruz Azul)
MF: Marcel Ruiz (Toluca)
MF: Efrain Alvarez (Guadalajara)
MF: Alexis Gutierrez (America)
MF: Brian Gutierrez (Guadalajara)
MF: Gilberto Mora (Tijuana)
MF: Obed Vargas (Atletico Madrid)
MF: Jesus Ricardo Angulo (Toluca)
MF: Jordan Carrillo (Pumas)
MF: Kevin Castaneda (Tijuana)
MF: Alvaro Fidalgo (Betis)
MF: Jorge Ruvalcaba (New York Red Bulls)
MF: Alexei Dominguez (Pachuca)
MF: Jeremy Marquez (Cruz Azul)
MF: Elias Montiel (Pachuca)
MF: Isaias Violante (America)
FW: Raul Jimenez (Fulham)
FW: Alexis Vega (Toluca)
FW: Santiago Gimenez (Milan)
FW: Cesar Huerta (Anderlecht)
FW: Julian Quinones (Al-Qadsiah)
FW: German Berterame (Inter Miami)
FW: Guillermo Martinez (UNAM)
FW: Armando Gonzalez (Guadalajara)

Fixtures and results

Fixtures

May 22, 2026: Mexico vs Ghana, Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Puebla, Mexico
May 30, 2026: Mexico vs Australia, Rose Bowl, Pasadena, United States
June 4, 2026: Mexico vs Serbia, Venue TBC, Mexico
June 11, 2026: Mexico vs South Africa, Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico
June 18, 2026: Mexico vs South Korea, Estadio Akron, Zapopan, Mexico
June 24, 2026: Czechia vs Mexico, Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico

Who is Mexico’s manager?

Now in his third stint in charge of the Mexican national team, Javier Aguirre is as experienced as they come. He took Mexico to the final of Copa America as far back as 2001 and was the manager that won the group at World Cup 2002, losing to the United States in the round of 16, naturally.

In 2010, it was the round of 16 again as Aguirre led Mexico for a second time. He won the Gold Cup in 2009, a feat he repeated last year in his third spell.

The 67-year-old has extensive managerial experience that includes international roles with Japan and Egypt, as well as the top job at Atletico Madrid and Mexican giants Monterrey and Pachuca.

Star player

Who is Mexico’s star player?

Raul Jimenez of Mexico | Credit: Getty Images

If putting the ball in the back of the net is the most difficult thing to do in football, there are few better than Raul Jimenez at doing it.

There are younger pretenders but he’s still going strong at 34 and nobody in Mexico’s World Cup squad can lay claim to anything like his 44 international goals.

The Fulham striker was selected in the squad for the March friendlies against Portugal and Belgium on the back of nine goals in 25 Premier League starts in 2025-26. With a strong end to the season for the Cottagers, the experienced frontman will be difficult to unseat.