Mexico’s Raúl Jiménez and Diego Lainez ‘to miss’ 2022 World Cup

Mexico national team manager Gerardo Martino has already decided which five players called into his preliminary 2022 World Cup roster will not go to the tournament in Qatar. Of the 31 players called up, five will be left off the final roster, which will be announced on Monday, 14 November. Fernando Ceballos, a jounralist for Fox Sports, has revealed that Raúl Jiménez, Tecatito Corona, Diego Lainez and Jesús Angulo will not be selected for the World Cup, with the fifth man yet to be named.

Erick Sánchez or Johan Vásquez the last man to be left off Mexico’s 2022 World Cup roster

On Fox Sports’ Última Palabra show, Ceballos disclosed that Martino had already informed Jiménez, Corona, Lainez and Angulo that they would not be going to Qatar, while the fifth player to be left out would be either Erick Sánchez or Johan Vásquez.

Recently, Jiménez assured ESPN that if he didn’t feel fully fit on the day of the roster announcement, he would be honest with himself and let Martino know. “I’ve made it this far...but if I don’t feel up to it, I’ll wish the team luck. If I feel good, I’ll be there” he said.

Meanwhile, Corona is not expected to recover in time from the fibula fracture he suffered in August, which means he will also be left at home.

Mexico’s pre-2022 World Cup schedule

Since last Tuesday, the Mexican national team has been in Girona in Spain, where they stay until the make the trip to Qatar. They will play two friendly matches in Girona, on Wednesday, 9 November against Iraq and on Wednesday 16 November versus Sweden, six days before their get their World Cup campaign underway against Poland.