Javier Aguirre and his Mexico side suffered a major set back last week as his number one goalkeeper for the national side, Luis Ángel Malagón suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon while playing for Club América.

The keeper is expected to be out for 6 to 9 months, effectively ruling him out of the 2026 World Cup and this situation has forced head coach Aguirre to look back toward the veteran Ochoa to provide stability and leadership.

The door of opportunity has swung wide open for the 40-year-old veteran to not only join the squad but potentially start for ‘El Tri’. This season ‘Memo’ has been playing with Cypriot side AEL Limassol and has featured in 22 games for the ‘Lions’.

Tri competition

Holding down the main goalkeeping spot with Limassol, Ochoa is in the twilight of his career but has stayed active playing with less glamorous sides recently such as Salernitana in Italy and AVS in Portugal as the Guadalajara born stopper keeps the dream of a sixth World Cup alive.

Recent reports also indicate that the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) has already contacted his club to discuss his availability for the upcoming March friendlies against Belgium and Portugal.

Ochoa is far from guaranteed the starting spot yet for Mexico as he will likely compete with Raúl “Tala” Rangel (Chivas) and Carlos Acevedo (Santos Laguna) for the No. 1 shirt.

Sixth World Cup

While he has been a part of five World Cup tournaments, he was the starting goalkeeper for only the most recent three in 2022, 2018 and 2014.

Both Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo are widely expected to be included in their respective squads of Argentina and Portugal, which would make them the first players to reach six tournaments with Ochoa potentially set to become the first goalkeeper to hit the six-squad milestone.

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