MEXICO CITY — Mexico used Friday night’s friendly against Ghana in Puebla as one of its last auditions before Javier Aguirre names his final World Cup roster, with fringe players still fighting for one of the 26 places available. The match came as Mexico worked through the closing stretch of a camp that began May 6 and has now given Aguirre four pre-tournament friendlies to judge who stays and who goes.
Mexico had been training together for two weeks, longer than most of the players Ghana brought to Puebla, and the home side also held the clear edge in altitude, familiarity and overall talent. That made the game less about the result than about whether the players on the edge of the squad could do enough to stay in the conversation before Mexico faces Australia in its next friendly and then opens the World Cup against South Africa on June 11.
The setting was the product of a rushed but deliberate build toward the tournament. Aguirre opened camp on May 6 with 20 Liga MX players while the playoffs were still looming in Mexico, then brought in overseas-based players gradually as the weeks went on. Captain Edson Álvarez joined from abroad, and Guillermo Ochoa also linked up from overseas leagues, giving the coach a fuller picture of the group he is trying to narrow down.
Ghana arrived with a very different makeup. Its traveling squad was built mostly from local league players and U-23 prospects, a reflection of the fact that many of its top names were still tied up with their club seasons. That left Mexico facing an opponent that could not mirror the depth or rhythm of a full-strength international side, but still provided the kind of late-stage test Aguirre needed.
The tension for Mexico is not whether the team can win a friendly at home. It is whether the players outside the core can make a late move for one of those 26 roster spots before the coach turns the page after the Australia match. With only four pre-tournament friendlies to work with and June 11 closing in, every minute in Puebla carried weight for the men trying to convince Aguirre they belong.
