Which players were left out of Mexico’s World Cup roster?
The Mexican national team announced the 31-player roster that will travel next month to Spain to play two friendlies prior to the start of the World Cup.
The Mexican national team has announced the preliminary roster that will be traveling to Spain next month to play against Iraq on November 9 and then against Sweden on November 16. The head coach of El Tri, Gerardo Martino, included injured players Raúl Jiménez and Jesús ‘Tecatito’ Corona in this list.
Following the friendly matches in Europe, Gerardo Martino will announce the final 26-man roster that will be traveling to Qatar 2022 ahead of the start of the group stage. It is almost certain that Jiménez and Corona will not reach full fitness in time, so Martino will only have to cut three players from this preliminary list.
The Mexico players that were not included
With the announcement of the preliminary list, it is now confirmed that Mexico’s all-time leading scorer Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernández will not play in Qatar with El Tri. Other players that were left out of World Cup preliminary roster are Alejandro Zendejas (Club América), goalkeeper Carlos Acevedo (Santos Laguna) and Marcelo Flores (Real Oviedo).\
Chicharito had a breakout season with the Los Angeles Galaxy and scored 18 goals and provided two assists in 32 regular season appearances. The Mexico international helped the Galaxy reach the playoffs for the first time since 2019, but Martino decided to choose other forwards. Hernández was always vocal about wanting to play in the upcoming World Cup, but his relationship with several players prevented him from receiving a call up.
Mexico’s 31-player preliminary list
Goalkeepers: Rodolfo Cota, Guillermo Ochoa, Alfredo Talavera
Defenders: Kevin Alvarez, Jesus Angulo, Nestro Araujo, Gerardo Arteaga, Jesus Gallardo, Hector Moreno, Cesar Montes, Jorge Sanchez, Johan Vasquez
Midfielders: Edson Alvarez, Roberto Alvarado, Uriel Antuna, Luis Chavez, Andres Guardado, Erick Gutierrez, Hector Herrera, Diego Lainez, Orbelin Pinea, Carlos Rodriguez, Luis Romo, Erick Sanchez, Jesus Corona, Hirving Lozano
Forwards: Rogelio Funes Mori, Santiago Gimenez, Raul Jimenez, Henry Martin, Alexis Vega