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Mexico announced today the list of 38 players facing the upcoming FIFA international break and the beginning of the Concacaf Nations League. On paper, the squad is gigantic but ends up being reasonable, considering El Tri will be playing five games in just 18 days, and one of those matches — vs. Nigeria — will be too close to the end of the European season.
Among the players called up stands out the name of Marcelo Flores, who just penned a letter informing the world about his decision to commit to Mexico on a permanent basis, leaving behind any flirtation with the Canadian national team.
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The big absent? Hirving Lozano.
Why is Chucky Lozano not in the Mexico squad?
A rumor in the Mexican media says that any player not on this list has zero chance of being among the 26 players that will go to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. And Chucky is not anywhere to be seen. What's going on? Has Hirving Lozano become the latest player vetoed by Tata Martino? Is he the new Chicharito Hernández?
Calm down, people! Chucky Lozano's spot in the World Cup should not be at risk, but he will not be in these games because he needs shoulder surgery. The medical procedure has been scheduled to fix some remaining damage from an injury suffered in a qualifier game against Panama last February.
It is unclear how long the recovery will take, but the process shouldn't affect his preparation for the 2022-23 season nor interfere with the Mexican preparation for the World Cup in November.
Mexico squad for MexTour and Concacaf Nations League
It is safe to say that there are no big surprises in the squad. Most of the players have been part of the Martino era in official games or non-FIFA friendlies.
What is going to be interesting to see is if any of those players called for non-FIFA friendlies could push for a spot in the World Cup. We talked about players like Carlos Acevedo, Kevin Álvarez, Jesús Angulo, Luis Chávez, Erik Lira, and Marcelo Flores to name a few.
We will see.
And here is the full squad for the MexTour friendlies and the Nations League:
Goalkeepers: Carlos Acevedo (Santos Laguna), Rodolfo Cota (León), Guillermo Ochoa (América), Alfredo Talavera (sin club)
Defenders: Erick Aguirre (Monterrey), Kevin Álvarez (Pachuca), Jesús Angulo (Tigres), Julián Araujo (LA Galaxy), Néstor Araujo (Celta), Gerardo Arteaga (Genk), Julio César Domínguez (Cruz Azul), Jesús Gallardo (Monterrey), César Montes (Monterrey), Héctor Moreno (Monterrey), Israel Reyes (Puebla), Jesús Sánchez (América), Jesús Vásquez (Genoa)
Midfielders: Edson Álvarez (Ajax), Roberto Alvarado (Chiva), Uriel Antuna (Cruz Azul), Luis Chávez (Pachuca), Sebastián Córdova (América), Erick Gutiérrez (PSV), Andrés Guardado (Betis), Héctor Herrera (Atlético de Madrid), Diego Lainez (Betis), Erik Lira (Cruz Azul), Erick Sánchez (Pachuca), Orbelín Pineda (Celta), Rodolfo Pizarro (Monterrey), Luis Romo (Monterrey)
Forwards: Jesús Corona (Sevilla), Marcelo Flores (Arsenal), Santiago Giménez (Cruz Azul), Raúl Jiménez (Wolverhampton), Henry Martin (América), Alexis Vega (Chivas)
¡Un verano de fútbol! ⚽️
Aquí los 3️⃣8️⃣ convocados de Gerardo Martino para los juegos de la Liga de Naciones y #MEXTOUR.¡A disfrutarlo!
➡️https://t.co/LH0k0PRs11#HechoDeLosMexicanos | #FMFporNuestroFútbol pic.twitter.com/sJIFXbFmMF— Selección Nacional (@miseleccionmx) May 17, 2022
Mexico friendlies and Nations League games
The games Mexico will be playing in the following days are:
- Saturday, May 28 vs. Nigeria at AT&T Stadium, 8:08 p.m. ET (Friendly)
- Thursday, June 2 vs. Uruguay at State Farm Stadium, 10 p.m. ET (Friendly)
- Sunday, June 5 vs. Ecuador at Soldier Field, 7:30 p.m. ET (Friendly)
- Saturday, June 11 vs. Surinam at TSM Corona, 10 p.m. ET (Nations League)
- Tuesday, June 14 vs. Jamaica at National Stadium Independence Park, 8 p.m. ET (Nations League)
