Mexico

Mexico at the World Cup 2026

Mexico open the 2026 World Cup as one of three co-hosts and the only nation in football history to stage the World Cup three times — Mexico 1970, Mexico 1986, and now North America 2026. The opening match against South Africa on 11 June takes place at Estadio Banorte — the renamed Estadio Azteca, reopened in March 2026 after extensive renovation. The same venue hosted both previous Mexican-staged World Cup openers.

Javier Aguirre returned to the El Tri dugout in 2024 for his third stint, following his Mexico 2010 and Mexico 2002 tenures. The 2024 cycle has been productive: a Concacaf Nations League title and a Gold Cup title (beating the USA 2-1 in the Las Vegas final), broken only by a sobering 4-0 friendly loss to Colombia in October 2025 that reminded fans of Mexico's Qatar 2022 group-stage disaster.

The spine is Edson Álvarez (Fenerbahçe, captain), Raúl Jiménez (Fulham, the lone striker), Guillermo Ochoa (40 years old, 151 caps, sixth consecutive World Cup), and César Montes (Lokomotiv Moscow). Hirving 'Chucky' Lozano is OUT — he was excluded from the preliminary 55-man squad after a disciplinary fall-out with San Diego FC. The attacking options are Alexis Vega (Toluca), Uriel Antuna (Cruz Azul), Orbelín Pineda (AEK Athens) and a deep bench of Liga MX standouts.

Group A contains South Africa, South Korea and Czechia. Mexico are favourites at 1.70 to win the group. Outright tournament price 67.0 — among the longest of any host nation. The realistic ceiling is a Round of 16 result; the disaster scenario (Qatar 2022 repeat) is a group-stage exit, which would be the third in succession after the long pre-2018 streak of Round of 16 finishes.

Group A fixtures

All three group-stage matches for Mexico at World Cup 2026 with current odds from our partner books.

Squad & predicted XI

Ochoa · Sánchez, Montes, Vásquez, Gallardo · Álvarez (c), Ruiz, Pineda · Antuna, Jiménez, Vega

Formation: 4-3-3 · Coach: Javier Aguirre

How Mexico qualified for World Cup 2026

Mexico qualified automatically as a co-host of the tournament. The Concacaf federation gave the three host nations (USA, Mexico, Canada) auto-places without participation in the formal qualifying campaign.

Build-up form has been mixed but trending positive. Won Concacaf Nations League 2024-25 (4th consecutive title). Won Concacaf Gold Cup 2025 (beat USA 2-1 in Las Vegas final). The standout result was a 2-0 friendly win over Brazil at College Station in March 2024 — Aguirre's first match. The standout disappointment was a 4-0 loss to Colombia in Los Angeles in October 2025.

The pre-tournament friendly schedule consists of Ghana (22 May, Puebla), Australia (30 May, Pasadena) and Serbia (4 June, Toluca). The newly-reopened Banorte (formerly Azteca) hosted Portugal in March 2026 (1-1, Ronaldo scored) — the symbolic reopening of the venue that will stage the opener three months later.

World Cup history

Mexico have appeared at 17 previous World Cups — second only to Brazil for tournament appearances. Best finish: quarter-finals at Mexico 1970 and Mexico 1986 — both home tournaments. They have reached the Round of 16 seven times in nine appearances since 1994, an exit pattern broken only by the group-stage failures at France 1998 and Qatar 2022. They have never reached a semi-final.

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