The Mexico Football Federation (FMF) has warned Liga MX players that they will be left off the final 2026 World Cup squad if they do not report to a pre-planned World Cup camp on May 6, despite it taking place outside of a designated FIFA international window and during some of the most important matches on the club calendar. In a Wednesday morning press release, the FMF said that per the national team staff’s direction “any player who does not turn up at the (national team’s) training center will miss the World Cup.”
This stems from an April 28 statement in which the FMF announced that 20 Liga MX-based players would take part in a mini pre-World Cup camp in Mexico City beginning Wednesday. Twelve of those players were guaranteed a World Cup squad place, according to an FMF spokesperson at the time. That would mean that players from Toluca and Chivas de Guadalajara called in by manager Javier Aguirre would miss everything from the second leg of the quarterfinals and on in the Liga MX playoffs in addition to the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal second leg and final.
On Tuesday, Toluca officials asked the FMF to grant the release of players Alexis Vega and Jesus Gallardo for the club’s Champions Cup semifinal decider against LAFC. Toluca is down 2-1 on aggregate after losing the first leg in Los Angeles (and the winner will advance to face Tigres UANL, which ousted Nashville SC 2-0 on aggregate Tuesday night). The ask by Toluca was deemed as a breach of the agreement that FMF had made with Liga MX clubs.
Meanwhile, Chivas faces Tigres in the Liga MX playoffs this Saturday, the second leg of a quarterfinal that Tigres leads 3-1 on aggregate. Club president Amaury Vergara responded on social media platform X late on Tuesday by writing, “The agreement is valid only when all parties respect it. I have instructed the club’s sporting leadership that our players are to report to the club’s facilities tomorrow.” The conflict impacts five Chivas players: former U.S. international midfielder Brian Gutiérrez, versatile veteran Luis Romo, winger Roberto Alvarado, forward Armando González and presumed starting World Cup goalkeeper Raúl Rangel.
La Selección Nacional de México informa: pic.twitter.com/ucCzxJ8uKX
— Selección Nacional (@miseleccionmx) May 6, 2026
FMF’s authoritative declaration on Wednesday now puts several players from Chivas and Toluca, who are otherwise expected to be part of Mexico’s World Cup squad, in a difficult position. Either they play with the clubs in May or play for their country this summer, but not both.
Coincidentally, FMF and Liga MX recently announced a new organizational structure that is intended to allow the domestic league to function as an independent entity. It hasn’t taken long for that autonomy to be tested.
Mexico is a cohosts of the World Cup along with the United States and Canada and will host the opening game when it faces South Africa at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on June 11.
Aguirre’s final roster is expected to be announced June 1, after friendlies against Ghana and Australia but before a final tournament tune-up against Serbia on June 4.