Mexico announce squad for friendly against Iceland.
Mexico has announced the 21 players that will face Iceland in a friendly on Wednesday February 25th. Mexico will play their final non FIFA date friendly before the March FIFA break where they will once again return to Mexico and play with their Euro based players. Coach Javier Aguirre made a heavy Chivas side for their all Liga MX squad. The game will have Mexico return to the country as the match will take place in Estadio Corregidora in Queretaro after playing their last two matches away in Panama and Bolivia.
The call up list by Aguirre was the following:
Goalkeepers: Raul Rangel (Chivas), Angel Malagon (America), Carlos Acevedo (Santos)
Defenders: Jesus Gallardo (Toluca), Israel Reyes (America), Richard Ledezma (Chivas), Everardo Lopez (Toluca), Victor Guzman (Monterrey), Diego Campillo (Chivas), Jesus Garza (Tigres)
Midfielders: Marcel Ruiz (Toluca), Carlos Rodriguez (Cruz Azul), Roberto Alvarado (Chivas), Erik Lira (Cruz Azul), Alexis Gutierrez (America), Brian Gutierrez (Chivas), Erick Sanchez (America), Denzell Garcia (FC Juarez)
Forwards: Armando Gonzalez (Chivas), Guillermo Martinez (Pumas), Efrain Alvarez (Chivas)
With few surprises, Mexico made the call up list. Some key players were missing because of transfers to Europe (Obed Vargas, Alvaro Fidalgo) or MLS (German Berterame). The main surprise is the return of Guillermo Martinez to the National team after a lackluster Apertura 2025 that ended with an injury. The call up is most likely a result of A) the need of a replacement for Berterame and B) his height that might be needed against the tall players expected to play for Iceland. Besides that the other surprise is the call up of Diego Campillo, who had been an improving player, first with FC Juarez and now with Chivas. Also surprising is the call up of Jesus Garza although there is few chances for him to get another call up unless he really shows something else in the match if he gets playing time. Among the omission, the big one is Diego Lainez. Lainez has been one of the best players in Liga MX but his performance against Bolivia wasn’t the best although not bad enough to not get a call up for this match. This might be the end of his chances for the World Cup.
What do you think of the call up? We await your comments about the list and the game.
