Unless Marcel Ruiz, the Toluca midfielder, makes a miraculous recovery from his knee ligament injury, Mexico's national team coach, Javier Aguirre, will wait for six players from the list of injured players who have been plagued the Tricolor. The six players approved by the Tricolor's coach are Edson Alvarez of Fenerbahce in Turkey, Gilberto Mora of Xolos de Tijuana, Luis Romo of Chivas, Luis Chavez of Dynamo Moscow, Santiago Gimenez of AC Milan, and Mateo Chavez of AZ Alkmaar. There are other options, such as Rodrigo Huescas of Copenhagen in Denmark, Julian Araujo of Celtic Glasgow in Scotland, and Cesar "Chino" Huerta of Anderlecht in Belgium, who could be included at the last minute, but the outlook for them seems complicated.

The reality is that the outlook for Aguirre has improved considerably, especially after the performance of players like Raul “Tala” Rangel in goal, Jorge Sanchez at right back, Erik Lira in midfield, and Brian Gutierrez and Julian Quinones in attack, who seem to be giving the team a new dimension.

Especially those who are direct competitors of Memo Ochoa in goal after Luis Malagon's injury: Jorge Sanchez competes with Ricky Ledezma, Mateo Chavez, and Israel Reyes; Erik Lira competes with Edson Alvarez in midfield; Brian Gutierrez from Roberto Alvarado and Julian Quinones from Alexis Vega.

So the last three games will allow Aguirre to define the list of 26 players called up after announcing at the beginning of next month a preliminary list of 40 players to report for training after a week's vacation at the end of the current Clausura 2026 tournament.

Aguirre was pleased with the team's performance in the first half against Belgium, where several players showed they have what it takes to be called up to the World Cup, while others, like Obed Vargas, took a step back in their World Cup chances, especially now that he isn't getting as much playing time at Atletico de Madrid.

This situation could affect his inclusion on the final roster, but not long ago the national team coach assured that,Simply by being signed by a European team, he would give him the confidence boost to be among the 26 chosen to attend the World Cup. So, in the next 30 days, we'll know which players have managed to regain their form in their respective tournaments after being injured, and we'll see if they make the final roster. For now, Alvaro Fidalgo, German Berterame, Julian Quinones, and Brian Gutierrez seem to have secured their spots, among the most interesting surprises on the national team. Another big question is whether "La Hormiga" Gonzalez will be included on the World Cup roster. Many believe that the Chivas striker will be included because of his unique style in the Mexican attack and that he could be a valuable asset who helps El Tri achieve great things in the World Cup, especially after the disappointment four years ago in Qatar. Although others also claim that the young striker is not Mexico's savior.

The possible 26 players called up

Thus, the likely 26 World Cup players would be: Goalkeepers: Raul Rangel, Guillermo Ochoa and Carlos Acevedo; Defenders: Jorge Sanchez, Ricky Ledezma, Mateo Chavez, Everardo Lopez, Johan Vazquez, Cesar Montes, Israel Reyes and Jesus Gallardo; Midfielders: Erik Lira, Obed Vargas, Alvaro Fidalgo, Edson Alvarez, Orbelin Pineda, Luis Chavez, Gilberto Mora and Brian Rodriguez; Forwards: Alexis Vega, Julian Quinones, Roberto Alvarado, Raul Jimenez, Santiago Gimenez, Armando Gonzalez, and German Berterame.

We'll have to see if there isn't a last-minute surprise like Marcel Ruiz or Jesus Angulo replacing Ricky Ledezma.