The authorities of the Mexican Football Federation have apparently already begun the process of changing Federations so that the Mexican-Americans Richard Ledezma and Brian Gutierrez can travel with the Mexican national team to face Panama and Bolivia on the 22nd and 25th of this month.

After both Chivas players became the biggest surprises on Javier Aguirre's 27-man roster for the two friendly matches to be played in Panama and Bolivia next week as part of Mexico's preparation for the 2026 World Cup.

The unofficial process already underway by Tricolor officials is necessary because both players have a history of representing the United States national team and, for that reason, can only train with the Mexican team until the change of federation is completed with FIFA.

According to unofficial reports, both players have already given their consent for the relevant documentation to be sent to the US Soccer Federation and are awaiting a response from the Americans to finalize the paperwork and send it to FIFA for authorization of the change.

Ledezma has only played one friendly match with the senior national team from the United States, and it was in November 2020 when they thrashed Panama 6-1, where he came on as a substitute for Giovani Reyna. The American goals were scored by Giovanni Reyna, Nicholas Gioacchini (twice), Sebastian Soto (also twice), and Sebastian Lletget. Richard Ledezma acknowledged that Mexican authorities approached him some time ago to invite him to play for Mexico, but at that time he only left the possibility open, which now seems to be on the verge of becoming a reality. It should be noted that if the United States does not respond to the request, they can still play for Mexico, as they will have to prove that there was no response, and FIFA can proceed with the process without any problem.Mexico does not want to repeat the same mistake they made with Alejandro Zendejas when he was called up to the Mexican U-23 team for a series of matches, even though his eligibility was only for the United States. The player was subsequently sanctioned and, for that reason, refused to play for the Mexican national team. It is true that although both players wore the United States jersey before turning 21, they are currently only eligible to play for the United States. Therefore, they can only play for Mexico until the change of federation is authorized. Ledezma played in the 2019 U-20 World Cup in Poland, where he appeared in three of the five matches played by the U.S. team. Since then, he has not been considered for any category. Brian played two matches with the senior U.S. national team in January 2025 against Costa Rica and Venezuela, but those matches were played outside of FIFA international windows.