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 problems have plagued Mexico over the past year, with Mexico’s top strikers struggling for fitness and form in recent months and it is unclear whether some of them will be able to recover in time.
Mexico announced its preliminary World Cup squad on October 26 ahead of a November 9 friendly against Iraq in Spain. This match will help Martin decide which 26 players to take to Qatar.
El Tri will camp in Girona, Spain before flying to Qatar. They will play games against Iraq on November 9 and Sweden on November 16, before opening Group C against Poland on Tuesday, November 22.
Here is the projected preliminary roster and final lineup for the World Cup in Mexico based on Martin’s invitations and lineup decisions in recent months.
Mexico World Cup squad 2022
Manager Tata Martino had 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 preliminary 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 it remains controversial given the player’s good form for the LA Galaxy and Mexico’s attacking woes.
Also not included was Chicharito’s LA Galaxy teammate Julian Araujo, Monterrey playmaker Rodolfo Pizarro, and Chivas midfielder Fernando Beltran. Pizarro is a well-known figure, but he has not been involved heavily with the national team since 2020, while Beltran has been a fringe player over the past six months.
| 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 ‘Tecatito’ 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 |
Mexico World Cup group
El Tri, No. 13 in the FIFA world rankings, were drawn into Group C of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Only the top two teams in each group will advance.
Mexico will hope to have mustered enough points from their first two matches, against Robert Lewandowski’s Poland and Lionel Messi’s Argentina, to be in position to advance on the final matchday against Saudi Arabia.
| Date | Match | Time (ET) | Stadium |
| Tues, Nov. 22 | Argentina vs. S. Arabia | 5 a.m. | Lusail Stadium |
| Tues, Nov. 22 | Mexico vs. Poland | 11 a.m. | Stadium 974 |
| Sat, Nov. 26 | Poland vs. S. Arabia | 8 a.m. | Education City Stadium |
| Sat, Nov. 26 | Argentina vs. Mexico | 2 p.m. | Lusail Stadium |
| Wed, Nov. 30 | Poland vs. Argentina | 2 p.m. | Stadium 974 |
| Wed, Nov. 30 | S. Arabia vs. Mexico | 2 p.m. | Lusail Stadium |
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