MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s roster for this summer’s World Cup could owe more than a little bit to its northern neighbor.
The country has already had Mexican-American players on previous squads for the tournament that is soccer’s biggest show every four years, but as many as four who were born and developed in the United States could be suiting up for El Tri in 2026.
“It would be a tremendous impact for the Mexican-Americans for me to play in the World Cup,” said midfielder Brian Gutiérrez, who was born in Berwyn, Illinois, and was selected for the World Cup roster Tuesday. “It would be really exciting.”
Canada, Mexico and the U.S. are co-hosting the World Cup, which will be a 48-team event for the first time, expanding by 16.
Gutierrez could be joined on the Mexican squad by Richy Ledezma, a midfielder and right back born in Phoenix, as well as Obed Vargas, a midfielder from Anchorage, Alaska, and right back Julián Araujo, a native of Lompoc, California. Gutierrrez and Ledezma are professional teammates with Chivas de Guadalajara in Mexico’s top-level Liga MX.
Coach Javier Aguirre released a partial World Cup roster this week composed exclusively of players from Liga MX. Although Ledezma wasn’t included, that doesn’t mean he couldn’t be on the 26-man roster Aguirre announces on June 1. Mexico plays its tournament opener against South Africa on June 11 in Mexico City.
Vargas, who plays for Atlético Madrid in Spain’s La Liga, and Araujo, who plays for Glasgow’s Celtic FC in the Scottish Premiership, will have to wait alongside Ledezma. Araujo has been training in Mexico’s facility alone this week even though his place is not assured.
“I am Mexican; I feel the flag, the country, and coming to Guadalajara was amazing,” Ledezma said. “It is an honor, a dream of mine to play in the World Cup in the country where my parents were born.”
Gutiérrez played two games for the U.S. men’s soccer team in senior-level competition and Ledezma and Araujo one each before switching affiliation, and all four appeared for the U.S. under-23 and under-20 teams. The quartet found themselves far back on the American depth chart, though.
Araujo made his Mexico debut in 2021, becoming the third player to appear for the U.S. and Mexican senior teams after Martín Vásquez and Edgar Castillo. Vargas debuted in 2024, and Ledezma and Gutiérrez did so this past January.
Mexico has never had more than two Mexican-Americans suit up for a World Cup. Two California natives, Isaac “Conejito” Brizuela and Miguel “Pocho” Ponce, were on the roster for Mexico in the 2014 tournament in Brazil.
Brizuela was born in San Jose, California, moved to Mexico when he was 2 and is now contemplating retirement after playing 16 years professionally in Mexico.
Ponce, who was born in Sacramento, also returned to Mexico when he was a child after his mother was deported. She had worked as a housemaid in California’s capital city.
“I don’t remember it because I was very young, but my mother told me about the deportation. It was a difficult time because my father stayed behind and we returned to Mexico, although years later we reunited,” said Ponce, who helped Mexico win a gold medal in men’s soccer at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Gutiérrez, 22, played for the U.S. in exhibitions against Costa Rica and Venezuela in January 2025.
The 25-year-old Ledezma played for the U.S. at the 2019 FIFA U20 World Cup and had one appearance with the senior squad in an exhibition against Panama on Nov. 16, 2020. His career was slowed by a torn right ACL incurred while playing for Dutch pro club PSV Eindhoven in December 2020.
Araujo appeared for the U.S. in an exhibition against El Salvador in December 2020.
Ledezma joined Chivas last summer from PSV and Gutierrez this year from Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire.
“After the MLS season, I was looking for another opportunity and Chivas came up. It was a dream come true,” Gutierrez told The Associated Press. “It was a no-brainer; it was bound to happen, and I am glad that it happened now.”
Playing under the Chivas spotlight helped both players reach the Mexican national team quickly, but both had already been contacted by Andrés Lillini, who oversees that country’s youth teams.
The same was true for Vargas, while Araujo had already been called up in 2021 when Argentine Gerardo Martino coached Mexico.
“Scouting is the foundation of any development process, that’s why I came to the national team,” said Lillini, who worked as a scout for CSKA Moscow. “Every eligible Mexican player with the necessary skill level should be here, and we decided to begin with the United States.”
As part of the plan constructed by Lillini and the Mexican Federation, the presence of Mexican-American players could increase in the future. In the last callup for the U16 national team, six players born in the U.S. were selected.
And although Lillini initially focused on the northern neighbor, he has also extended recruitment to children of Mexican parents living in Europe. He said he already has contacted 30 players abroad.
“All the federations in the world do it,” Lillini said. “We had to do it, too.”
Some fans and analysts believe the Mexican national team should consist only of players born in the country.
When Ponce and Brizuela played in the World Cup, there was no controversy because both were substitutes, and Brizuela’s nationality was not revealed until after the tournament.
In other sports, such as baseball, having players of Mexican descent on national teams is commonplace. In this year’s World Baseball Classic, 10 of the 30 players on the Mexican squad were born in the U.S.