The Mexican team will have a difficult task in the 2026 World Cup. Being one of the hosts, like the United States and Canada, Mexico has the responsibility of doing a good job in the tournament. Winning the World Cup seems like a very ambitious challenge, but Hugo Sánchez had that goal in mind during his process.

The former Real Madrid player believes that the mentality of the Mexican footballer and his environment work against them. Hugo Sánchez recognizes that in Mexico they do not believe they are capable of lifting the World Cup. This would be the main reason why El Tri has not achieved better results.

"When they introduced me as coach, I said: 'I hope they give me three World Cup periods, we are talking about 12 years, and that I was committed to being world champion with Mexico as technical director.' What does it mean? That I do believe it, and I have always believed it because there are my achievements on an individual level," Sánchez said in statements compiled by Record.

Hugo Sánchez recalled the disbelief with which they observed him after setting out his objectives. There was no real conviction about the possibility that Mexico could win a FIFA World Cup.

“It made me very sad that the main supporters, who were the owners and presidents of the teams, looked at me as if to say: 'What are you saying? Is he crazy?'” he recalled.

This is the argument that Hugo Sánchez relies on to explain the lack of results in the history of Mexican football. In the Aztec football environment there is much more talk about getting past the round of 16 than about winning the World Cup. The mentality has made El Tri unable to advance, according to the perception of Hugo Sánchez

"Then I told them: 'Do you know why we are not going to be champions?' Because you don't believe it. So you need to believe it. Not only them, but all of us because we really have the same capabilities as any human being from any other country," he concluded.

Mexico in the 2026 World Cup

The Mexican team will debut on June 11 in the opening match against South Africa. The path of El Tri will begin at the Azteca Stadium. The second duel will be against South Korea on June 18. This match will take place at the Akron stadium in Guadalajara. The last match of the first round will be played on June 24 against the Czech Republic team at the Azteca Stadium.