Mexico national team squad for the Gold Cup 2023: selected players, absences...

To say that the Mexico national team are in a state of disarray would be something of an understatement. After suffering a 3-0 defeat at the hands of bitter rivals the United States, and despite beating Panama in the Concacaf Nations League third-place playoff, the Mexican Soccer Federation decided to fire head coach Diego Cocca less than a week before the 2023 Gold Cup gets underway.

Some players were unhappy with the logistics of their Nations League Finals appearance, while others were threatening to boycott the Gold Cup because of a perceived lack of game time. Sub-par performances on the field, meanwhile, led to another boycott ahead of the match against Panama, this time from those in the stands.

Jaime Lozano in temporary charge of Mexico

El Tri head into Concacaf’s second summer tournament with interim head coach Jaime Lozano in charge, with little prospect of a permanent boss being named before play gets underway in the United States and Canada. The belief is that Lozano will only play his way into contention for the job if his team wins and the tournament and wins in well, which seems to be a big ask given recent ongoings. However, the fact that the USMNT are sending a weakened roster to the tournament can only work in their favour.

El Tri’s attacking absentees

Mexico, meanwhile, named the same roster for the Concacaf Nations League and the Gold Cup, selecting the strongest possible group of players. That said, there are still some notable absentees, particularly in attack.

Both Hirving Lozano and ‘Tecatitio’ Corona would almost certainly start but are not fully fit and won’t be involved, while Chivas’ Alexis Vega would be a possible stand-in for either but was forced to pull out because of injury. He was due to wear the number 10 shirt but hasn’t, as yet, been replaced.

Striker Raúl Jiménez is perhaps the other big-name absentee, but he has really struggled to recapture his best form since suffering a fractured skull in November 2020 and is no longer as key as he once was.

Mexico roster for the 2023 Gold Cup

Mexico’s 2023 Gold Cup schedule

Group B

Sunday 25 June

Mexico vs Honduras, NRG Stadium, Houston

Thursday 29 June

Haiti vs Mexico, State Farm Stadium, Glendale

Sunday 2 July

Mexico vs Qatar, Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara