Will Mexico ban players from World Cup? Javier Aguirre threatens to drop Chivas, Toluca stars who miss May camp
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Will Mexico ban players from World Cup? Javier Aguirre threatens to drop Chivas, Toluca stars who miss May camp originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
There is a power struggle happening at the Mexican Football Federation (FMF), as head coach Javier Aguirre has made a strong and controversial move just a month prior to the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on home soil.
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As El Tri hopes to make a strong push at its third-ever home World Cup, Aguirre has looked to give his team maximum preparation time before the start of the competition on June 11.
To that end, Aguirre has called a special domestic-based national team camp beginning May 6. The FMF announced in late April that all players who were called in but refused to attend would be excluded from consideration for the World Cup this summer.
Already a strong statement of intent by Mexico, the federation has now made exceptions to that rule, which has angered certain clubs and caused a rift within parts of Mexican football.
The Sporting News explains what is going on and which players are potentially going to be excluded from consideration for the World Cup this summer -- a harsh punishment for those wishing to remain available for important club matches.
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Mexico to hold World Cup preparation camp
On April 28, Mexico head coach Javier Aguirre announced that the senior national team would hold a World Cup preparation camp at the federation's training ground in Mexico City.
El Tri have three friendlies scheduled for their World Cup preparations. They are scheduled to face Ghana on May 22, Australia on May 30, and Serbia on June 4, with their first competitive match to be played on June 11 against South Africa, which is the first game of the 2026 World Cup.
Thus, Aguirre has hoped to begin his preparations early. However, this directly conflicts with multiple club football competitions.
The CONCACAF Champions Cup is ongoing, as the North American continental competition has the second leg of its semifinals on May 5 and 6, and the final on May 30. Additionally, the Liga MX Clausura playoffs are just beginning, with the second leg of the quarterfinals to be played on May 9 and 10. The tournament will conclude on May 24 with the second leg of the final.
FIFA requires that all players are released by their clubs on May 25, except those participating in continental finals who must be released as soon as the competition is concluded.
Mexico threaten absent players with World Cup ban
Javier Aguirre and the Mexico national federation have come out strong, announcing that any player called into this camp who does not appear at the start on May 6 will be excluded from consideration for the World Cup roster.
However, they issued one exception for this blanket rule, giving Toluca players Jesus Gallardo and Alexis Vega — two regulars within the Mexican national team — the ability to stay with their club to participate in the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinals against LAFC.
This has enraged many other clubs who saw their players yanked away during the Liga MX playoffs, most notably the president of Chivas, Amaury Vergara. Chivas are missing five players who were called into national team camp, and their absences contributed to a 3-1 defeat to Tigres in the first leg of their Liga MX quarterfinal playoff. The players will also be absent for the second leg unless they return to their club in defiance of the federation's order.
Vergara came out heavily on social media, saying on the morning of May 6, "Agreements are only valid when all parties respect them. I instructed the sports directorate that our players will report tomorrow at the club's facilities."
Essentially, Vergara has said his Chivas players will return to their club for the second leg of the Liga MX playoffs, daring the Mexican federation to ban them from World Cup consideration. Those players include regulars in the Mexico squad such as Luis Romo, Roberto Alvarado, and Brian Gutierrez.
On May 6, the day camp was set to commence, the Mexican federation doubled down, throwing the Toluca players into the line of fire as well.
"As announced last Tuesday, April 28, 2026, the Mexican National Team’s training camp...will commence this Wednesday, May 6, at 8:00 PM, with the 20 LIGA MX players called up by Head Coach Javier Aguirre," the federation said in a statement. "All players are required to report to the High Performance Center in Mexico City. Per instructions from the coaching staff, any player who fails to report to the training camp today will be excluded from the World Cup squad."
Reports now claim that the special permission granted to Gallardo and Vega has now been withdrawn, and both are expected to arrive at camp with the rest of the call-ups.
Players called up to Mexico World Cup preparation camp
The following 20 players have been called in for the World Cup preparation camp.
Players in bold are those contracted to Chivas, who have been the most vocal against the threat to exclude players from the World Cup. Players in italics are those contracted to Toluca who were initially given an exemption to miss a portion of the camp to participate in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
PositionNameClubGKOscar Garcia*TigresGKRaul RangelChivasGKCarlos AcevedoSantos LagunaDEFEduardo Aguila*San LuisDEFJesus Gomez*TijuanaDEFDenzell Garcia*JuarezDEFLuis Rey*PueblaDEFIsrael ReyesClub AmericaDEFJesus GallardoTolucaMIDIker Fimbres*RayadosMIDJairo Torres*JuarezMIDErik LiraCruz AzulMIDGilberto MoraTijuanaMIDLuis RomoChivasMIDBrian GutierrezChivasFWDRoberto AlvaradoChivasFWDGuillermo MartinezPumasFWDArmando GonzalezChivasFWDAlexis VegaTolucaFWDKevin Castaneda*Tijuana* Players included largely for the post-World Cup 2026 cycle.