Mauricio Pochettino’s appointment as the new head coach of the US Men’s National Team has consumed much of the oxygen in CONCACAF over the last month. The Argentine is the highest-profile manager the USMNT has ever had and there is great interest in how the former Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur boss will fare in his new job.
Mexico, however, are in much the same position having appointed Javier Aguirre following a disappointing Copa America campaign. El Tri are also preparing to play matches at the 2026 World Cup on home soil as one of three hosts of the tournament alongside Canada and the USA. The pressure is on.
Aguirre has already served as Mexico manager twice before, first between 2001 and 2002 and secondly between 2009 and 2010. In both stints, Aguirre guided El Tri to the knockout rounds of the World Cup. This was the bare minimum for a Mexico manager at this time with Aguirre forced out after failing to take El Tri to the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup.
The landscape of Mexican soccer has dramatically changed since then, though. While Mexico made the knockout rounds of every World Cup between 1994 and 2018, they failed to make it out of the group stage at the 2022 World Cup. This was reflective of the decline of the country as a force at the top level of international soccer.
At the 2022 World Cup, Mexico had one of the oldest squads in the entire competition. Indeed, Tata Martino selected 10 players over the age of 30 and the ageing nature of the team was shown in the performances produced by a team that scored just two goals in three games and went home early.
Martino could have chosen a younger squad, but Mexico has a lost generation. Stalwarts like Andres Guardado, Memo Ochoa, Hector Moreno and Hector Herrera were picked to travel to Qatar because El Tri currently lacks young talent coming through. This continues to be a major problem.
‘Project 2030’ is a long-term programme devised by the FMF to turn around the fortunes of the Mexican national team. “We are convinced that Project 2030 is the route to meet our medium and long-term objectives: first, consolidating the best version of the national squad for 2026 and, in parallel, building firm foundations for the future,” said FMF executive president Ivar Sisniega.
Alongside Aguirre, Rafa Marquez has been hired as Mexico’s new assistant manager and the idea is that the former Barcelona defender will one day take over as manager. The FMF hopes that Aguirre will use his experience to guide Mexico through a challenging period and mentor Marquez, one of his former players.
Marquez was previously working as Barcelona B head coach and was offered a role working under Hansi Flick as part of the new coaching staff at the Catalan club this summer. Many expected Marquez to take up that offer, but he instead answered the call from his national team. Mexico has placed a lot of stock in the former centre back and their succession plan.
Ultimately, though, Mexico’s fortunes at the 2026 and 2030 World Cups will hinge on whether or not the country can produce better players. El Tri has a number of top-level performers who are playing at a high standard in Europe – see Edson Alvarez, Raul Jimenez, Cesar Montes and Johan Vasquez – but they need more.
Once seen as the kings of CONCACAF, Mexico have been surpassed by the USA and even Canada in recent years. Most expect Aguirre to adopt a conservative, compact style of play now that he has returned as El Tri head coach because he doesn’t have the talent higher up the pitch to impose an attacking game plan.
A lot of work is to be done at grassroots level for Mexico to return to the level that once saw them ranked as the fourth best team in the world in 2006. There’s only so much Aguirre can do to raise the standard of the national team when he doesn’t have the tools to rebuild. The best El Tri can hope for in the immediate term is to stop themselves from sliding any further.
