Mexico national team manager Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino has been promising that there will not be many surprises in the list of players he names to the final roster for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The intrigue with El Tri will come in the form of injuries, especially among the forwards. Scoring issues have plagued Mexico over the last year, with the best Mexican attackers struggling for fitness and form in recent months, and it’s unclear whether some of them will be able to recover in time.
Mexico has announced their preliminary roster for the World Cup on October 26 ahead of a pair of November 9 friendlies against Iraq in Spain to help Martino decide the 26 players to take to Qatar.
El Tri will set up camp in Girona, Spain before departing for Qatar. They will play matches against Iraq on November 9 and Sweden on November 16, before kicking off Group C play against Poland on Tuesday, November 22.
Here is a projected preliminary list and final World Cup squad for Mexico, based on Martino’s call-ups and lineup decisions over recent months.
Head coach Gerardo Tata Martino has until Friday, October 21 to submit to FIFA an official preliminary list of 35-55 players, from which he will select his final 26-man roster for Qatar by Monday, November 14.
The preliminary list was officially unveiled on October 26 by the Mexican federation. Below is the list of players.
Those that didn’t make the list include Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez who has been frozen out of the national team since 2019 by Martino. Chicharito’s exclusion is unsurprising given Martino’s continued stance on the player but remains controversial considering his good club form this season for LA Galaxy and Mexico’s recent attacking woes.
Also not included were Chicharito’s LA Galaxy teammate Julian Araujo, Monterrey playmaker Rodolfo Pizarro, and Chivas midfielder Fernando Beltran. Pizarro is a well-known figure but has not been involved heavily with the national team since 2020, while Beltran has been a fringe player over the past six months.
Final 31-man Mexico FIFA World Cup roster
Position | Player | Club | Age | Caps |
---|---|---|---|---|
Goalkeeper | Rodolfo Cota | Club Leon (MEX) | 35 | 8 |
Goalkeeper | Guillermo Ochoa | Club America (MEX) | 37 | 129 |
Goalkeeper | Alfredo Talavera | FC Juarez (MEX) | 40 | 38 |
Defender | Kevin Alvarez | Pachuca (MEX) | 23 | 5 |
Defender | Jesus Angulo | Tigres UANL (MEX) | 24 | 11 |
Defender | Nestor Araujo | Club America (MEX) | 31 | 60 |
Defender | Gerardo Arteaga | Genk (BEL) | 24 | 16 |
Defender | Jesus Gallardo | Monterrey (MEX) | 28 | 76 |
Defender | Cesar Montes | Monterrey (MEX) | 25 | 27 |
Defender | Hector Moreno | Monterrey (MEX) | 34 | 124 |
Defender | Jorge Sanchez | Ajax (NED) | 24 | 24 |
Defender | Johan Vasquez | Cremonese (ITA) | 23 | 6 |
Midfielder | Edson Alvarez | Ajax (NED) | 24 | 58 |
Midfielder | Luis Chavez | Pachuca (MEX) | 26 | 5 |
Midfielder | Andres Guardado | Real Betis (ESP) | 36 | 177 |
Midfielder | Erick Gutierrez | PSV Eindhoven (NED) | 27 | 33 |
Midfielder | Hector Herrera | Houston Dynamo (USA) | 32 | 101 |
Midfielder | Orbelin Pineda | AEK Athens (GRE) | 26 | 48 |
Midfielder | Carlos Rodriguez | Cruz Azul (MEX) | 25 | 33 |
Midfielder | Luis Romo | Monterrey (MEX) | 27 | 25 |
Midfielder | Erick Sanchez | Pachuca (MEX) | 23 | 6 |
Forward | Roberto Alvarado | Chivas (MEX) | 24 | 30 |
Forward | Uriel Antuna | Cruz Azul (MEX) | 25 | 33 |
Forward | Jesus Corona | Sevilla (ESP) | 29 | 71 |
Forward | Rogelio Funes Mori | Monterrey (MEX) | 31 | 15 |
Forward | Santiago Gimenez | Feyenoord (NED) | 21 | 8 |
Forward | Raul Jimenez | Wolves (ENG) | 31 | 96 |
Forward | Diego Lainez | Braga (POR) | 22 | 20 |
Forward | Hirving Lozano | Napoli (ITA) | 27 | 59 |
Forward | Henry Martin | Club America (MEX) | 29 | 23 |
Forward | Alexis Vega | Chivas (MEX) | 24 | 20 |
Source: MARCA