Rosters for the 2022 World Cup aren’t due in to FIFA until Nov. 14, but that’s not stopping Mexico from getting a head start on whittling down its player pool.
On Wednesday, manager Tata Martino revealed a 31-man squad, from which his 26-man group for Qatar will be selected. That final group will try to both extend Mexico’s streak of getting out of the group stage while simultaneously ending the curse of losing in the round of 16. For seven straight men’s World Cups, Mexico has been bounced in the first knockout game, with the fifth game—the quinto partido—remaining ever elusive. After a qualifying campaign that was unspectacular yet effective enough—Mexico finished behind Canada on goal differential (both were 8-2-4) but ahead of the U.S. by three points in the top three of Concacaf’s qualifying table—Martino has honed in on his desired group to take on that task.
It’s led by Napoli star Hirving Lozano, Ajax midfielder Edson Álvarez and Wolves forward Raúl Jiménez and bolstered by veteran goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa and longtime midfield stalwarts Andrés Guardado and Héctor Herrera. It had long been established by Martino that he would not be bringing Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, 34, despite his 18-goal season for the LA Galaxy in MLS, but there is room, at least for now, for a pair of attackers who seemed like they may miss out. Sevilla winger Jesús “Tecatito” Corona, who suffered a devastating leg injury in August, has made a speedy enough recovery to still be considered, while 21-year-old forward Santiago Giménez, who has a pair of Eredivisie goals and three more in the UEFA Europa League for Feyenoord after a standout run at Cruz Azul, has also been included.
