MEXICO CITY — Mexico opened its final push toward the 2026 World Cup on Friday night with a friendly against Ghana in Puebla, the first of four tune-ups Javier Aguirre must use to shape his squad before the tournament begins on June 11. The match came with Mexico playing at home in the altitude of Puebla and with Aguirre still sorting through a camp that was not yet whole.
Aguirre had called up 20 Liga MX players to start camp on May 6 and had been working with that group for two weeks before the Ghana game. Captain Edson Álvarez and Guillermo Ochoa had begun joining from overseas leagues, but Johan Vásquez had yet to report, leaving Mexico’s camp incomplete even as the countdown to the World Cup moved closer. With 26 spots available on the final roster, every training session and every friendly carries weight.
The Ghana match was scheduled as the first of four pre-tournament friendlies for Aguirre, who also had another test against Australia ahead before he unveiled his final World Cup roster. Mexico had already drawn against Portugal and Belgium, results that gave the coach a rougher measure of where the team stood than a routine win would have. Friday’s opponent arrived in a very different place, with Ghana’s traveling squad made up mostly of local league players and U-23 talent because most of its top stars were still tied up by club seasons.
That made the night in Puebla as much an audition as a match. The source described it as one of the final two chances for fringe players to impress Aguirre before the roster is cut, a narrow window for men trying to force their way into a 26-man plan. For Mexico, the challenge is not just choosing the right names. It is building a team that can survive the pressure of June 11, when South Africa waits at the start of the World Cup.
