Los Llanos · Goalkeeper · #0 · 0 yrs
Javier Aguirre expressed absolute confidence ahead of the 2026 World Cup, stating that everything is lined up for Mexico to lift the trophy at home. The 2026 World Cup is rapidly approaching. This tournament features a historic format, co-hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada, with an expanded field of 48 teams. Mexico are scheduled to open the tournament on June 11 against South Africa at the Estadio Azteca, as coach Javier Aguirre believes his squad can finish the campaign by lifting the trophy. Speaking with ESPN ahead of the tournament, Aguirre stated that Mexico are in the best possible position to win the championship, driven by the advantage of playing on home soil, particularly during the group stage. “When I saw the schedule and the home games, I told my players, ‘It’s on a silver platter for us to not let it slip away,‘” Aguirre said. “Playing at home is priceless. England won the championship at home. Never again. They disappeared. But at home, at Wembley, they were lions”. While the 26-player roster has already been decided internally, Aguirre will wait until the June 1 deadline to officially announce the squad. The manager remains confident that Mexico can go all the way and achieve a breakthrough that has eluded the nation across its 18 previous World Cup appearances. 😎 Vasco Aguirre confía en que jugar en casa pesará en la Copa del Mundo 2026.👀 ¿El Tri sacará provecho de su localía? Vía: elposscassdecompass pic.twitter.com/0JNWaYJcxk— ESPN.com.mx (@ESPNmx) May 28, 2026 History supports Aguirre’s focus on home advantage. Mexico’s two best World Cup campaigns occurred when hosting the tournament in 1970 and 1986. In both instances, El Tri reached the quarterfinals, which remains the furthest the nation has ever advanced in the competition. Mexico’s 2026 World Cup schedule As a host nation, Mexico will head Group A alongside South Africa, South Korea, and the Czech Republic, giving Aguirre’s squad the advantage of playing all their group stage matches on home soil. El Tri will feature in the tournament’s opening match on June 11 against South Africa at the Estadio Azteca, a rematch of the 2010 World Cup opener. Mexico will then face South Korea on June 18 in Guadalajara before closing out the group stage against the Czech Republic on June 24 at Monterrey’s Estadio BBVA.
El Tri reached the quarter-finals the last time they hosted the tournament. They’re hoping old methods can revive the team after a disastrous outing in 2022It was January 1986 and the temperature at the peak of La Malinche, one of Mexico’s tallest mountains, had plummeted to a bone-chilling cold. A group of soccer players training for that year’s World Cup ran through a dense fog to the summit 14,600ft above sea level gasping in the thin air. Their Serbian coach, Bora Milutinović, had pushed his players to the limit, seeking not only to test their physical endurance but also hoping for a psychological breakthrough. Up there, the Mexico players suffered, shivered and cursed. But through hardship they became a family. That fabled image of survival on the mountain became the foundation for Mexico’s best-ever World Cup performance, the last time they played on home soil and one of only two times El Tri reached the tournament’s quarter-finals.Forty years later, the myth of La Malinche hangs over Mexico’s preparation for this summer’s tournament, which once again will be played on home turf. The team’s coach, Javier Aguirre, was one of Milutinović’s players at the 1986 World Cup and he has seemingly been inspired by the old belief that isolation and shared struggle can work miracles. At Aguirre’s urging, the Mexican Football Federation – just as it had in 1986 – took the controversial step of removing national team players from their clubs during the most decisive phase of the Liga MX playoffs. By the time the World Cup kicks off on 11 June, the players will have been sequestered together for 30 days. Continue reading...
The co-hosts are likely to put pragmatism above style under Javier Aguirre in a home atmosphere that can be both an inspiration and a burdenThis article is part of the Guardian’s 2026 World Cup Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 48 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from three countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 11 June. Continue reading...
