Mexico row: players warned off World Cup if clubs don't release them | OneFootball

With the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada just over a month away from kickoff, the national teams are in the final stretch of preparation, and one of them is Mexico, one of the hosts, which will play three friendlies against Ghana, Australia, and Serbia. In recent hours, a major controversy erupted after coach Javier Aguirre threatened to leave several players off the squad list.

The coach called up 20 players from Liga MX for the training camp that will begin this Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. (Mexico time), while the tournament is in its final stages, since the quarterfinals will be played between Saturday and Sunday. However, the conflict broke out when El Vasco gave special permission only to Toluca players to be absent, as they are playing in the Concachampions semifinals.

Given this situation, several teams asked for their players to be released for the knockout matches in the domestic tournament, and the Mexican Football Federation issued a strongly worded statement indicating that anyone who does not report to camp will be left out of the World Cup.

Mexico National Team statement

As published last Tuesday, April 28, 2026, the Mexico National Team training camp for the three preparation matches against Ghana, Australia, and Serbia, and for the World Cup, will begin this Wednesday, May 6, at 8:00 p.m. with the 20 LIGA MX players called up by head coach Javier Aguirre.

All players must report to the High Performance Center in Mexico City. By order of the coaching staff, any player who does not report to camp today will be left out of the World Cup.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.