The 2026 World Cup has shown that the CONCACAF federation has come to play. The three hosts, United States, Mexico and Canada have each surprised critics with strong showings in the group stage. Among them, Mexico has enjoyed the best start, with three wins and no goals conceded in their first three matches. Ahead of a knockout match against Ecuador, Mexican fans now dream of the famous Quinto Partido (“Fifth Game”), a feat that has not been accomplished since 1986.
Though the rallying cry ¿Y Si Si? (“What If We Can?”) has taken over the country by storm, this newfound unity is a distraction from the structural problems Mexican football has had in the four years leading up to this tournament.
After a long period of dominating CONCACAF, the North American and Caribbean confederation, the past several years have been humbling for Mexico. The team’s group-stage exit at the 2022 World Cup—following a win against Saudi Arabia, a loss to Argentina, and a listless goalless draw with Poland—was a particular low point that led to the sacking of Gerardo Martino, the former coach of Argentina, Paraguay and Barcelona, who had entered the job promising a turnaround.
On the way out, Martino confirmed what fans on social media and pundits in TV studios had been pointing out as the root causes of Mexico’s lackluster performances: poor local player development, a domestic league saturated with foreign players, the outsize power of club owners in the affairs of the national team, and limited European transfers. Recent squad trends show a decline in the number of European-based players, a general benchmark for gauging the quality of a national side. Gone are the days of Hugo Sanchez, Rafa Marquez or even Hirving Lozano: The most prominent Mexican player in Europe’s top five leagues is 35-year-old Raul Jimenez. (After a respectable season at Fulham, he has recently been transferred to the English second-tier club Wolves.)
Chief among the issues plaguing Mexican football are a lobby of influential club owners. The Federation runs as an administrative branch, while these owners ultimately hold an informal executive power over the entangled structures of Mexican football, allowing them a high degree of influence over consequential decisions regarding the Liga MX—Mexico’s domestic league—and, by extension, the national team itself. Among them was a 2016 decision to exit Copa Libertadores for the Leagues Cup, a summer tournament between the Liga MX and the MLS which promised higher profits. In addition, during the COVID-19 pandemic, owners suspended relegation, promising its return after the 2026 World Cup. Second-tier clubs have appealed for its immediate reinstatement but, as of now, relegation remains blocked with no plans to bring it back.
Meanwhile, multi-club ownership has plagued Mexican football as it has its European counterpart. Club León missed the last FIFA Club World Cup due to shared ownership with Club Pachuca while Grupo Caliente, which owns multiple teams (including Club Tijuana and Club Queretaro) and sponsors much of the league, has expanded through national and regional sponsorships. Most recently, Grupo Orlegui co-owned Club Santos and Atlas FC while Atlas was sold to Grupo PRODI in the latest Owners Assembly. Only recently has the league adopted measures to overhaul its multi-club ownership model.
In 2023, Juan Carlos Rodríguez, a former TV executive, embarked on a failed push to attract investment capital to the Liga MX. Working with Apollo Global Management, the largest shareholder in Atlético Madrid—which owns Mexican club Atlético de San Luis—and a stakeholder in Nottingham Forest and Wrexham, he hashed out a proposed deal worth up to $1.25 billion, enough to fund his ambitious projects and streamline the league’s fragmented television rights into a single agreement. Rodriguez threatened to resign if Liga MX didn’t accept the deal. He left in 2024.
The owners’ lack of ambition trickles down to the players. Most mid-tier Mexican national team players earn far better wages in Mexico than they would in Europe, while also ensuring stability with their clubs. Diego Lainez returned from Europe to play for Tigres UANL on a better salary than he had at Real Betis in La Liga. (Liga MX allows up to nine foreign players, though only seven can be on the field at the same time.)
After a series of appointments and firings, the FMF turned to its usual fixer: Javier Aguirre, who led Mexico to the 2002 and 2010 World Cups and is considered a stabilizing force. (Before Aguirre, Mexican club owners had hand-picked Argentinean manager Diego Cocca and Mexican manager Jaime Lozano to little success between the both of them.) To balance the choice, they named Rafael Márquez, a Mexican icon and former Barcelona star alongside Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi, as Aguirre’s deputy and confirmed successor. Few could argue against the pragmatism of this approach, which brought in Mexico’s most respected manager and most decorated player, to restore prestige and stability.
Aguirre had proposed his plan of action to the owners for this year’s tournament: Get rid of the play-in game of the Mexican playoff tournament to shorten the match calendar, thus granting domestic league players an extra period of rest and preparation heading into the World Cup. This gives Liga MX players — 12 of the 23 players on the national team — an advantage over its rivals. We are now waiting to see how the plan works out.
The gap between the federation and its supporters isn’t just about internal management; it’s about priorities. Increasingly, the focus tilts toward profits and marketing. The limited number of home friendlies, rooted in the 2003 SUM deal, shifted attention toward U.S. audiences (and the richer Mexican American diaspora) and revenue rather than domestic engagement. As leadership extends the SUM agreement, the message lands the same: business first, supporters second. Recent moves have only sharpened that perception. Selling Mexican national team TV rights to stream exclusively on Netflix widened the distance, reinforcing the sense that access—and allegiance—are being rerouted away from core fans. Or other moves such as in the most recent Owners Assembly disavowing the footballing pyramid, creating a more MLS league model, not only getting rid of relegation, but inexistent. These issues show the divide is stronger than ever.
Players have started to acknowledge the divide. The team’s captain, Edson Álvarez—who plays at Fenerbahçe SK in Turkey—has noted that fans in Mexico are often more critical, while Raúl Jiménez has noted that many of the team’s matches are played in the U.S. because the reception there is warmer. Álvarez also praised U.S.-based supporters as more consistently supportive. What neither addressed, though, is the excessive amount of matches in the backdrop—that helps produce this dynamic in the first place. It’s worth noting that most of the matches the National Team plays are held during international breaks, so the quality of the matches are also sub-standard to what the fans expect of the national team. And yet, the crowds in the U.S always fill the stadiums El Tri plays in.
There are developments in the right direction, some of the outcomes which may pay off in the World Cup. Consider Andrés Lillini’s appointment as national youth sporting director. Since 2023, Lillini has expanded scouting to include Mexican league players and anyone worldwide with Mexican heritage. Atlético Madrid’s Obed Vargas, developed by Seattle Sounders, was one of his early finds. (Seattle even tried to hide Vargas’s call-up.) Brian Gutierrez, developed in the Chicago Fire set-up, initially declined a 2023 call-up but is now key to the current Mexican set-up, thanks in large part to Lillini’s persistent outreach. Lillini has also called up dual nationals from countries such as Brazil, Spain and Italy to the Mexican youth-set up. Lillini also pushed for the return of the famous 20/11 rule, which requires clubs to field U-21 players for at least 1,000 minutes during the tournament. This rule famously allowed for the development of Andrés Guardado and Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, two legends of Mexican football.
Mexican fans have undoubtedly been behind the team that stepped up for the three group stage games. The three Mexican host cities, Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey, have brought out a passion that few of the other host cities have displayed, even as the Mexican federation and club owners have shown little interest in the average fan. Mexican fans may forget the federation’s troubles by hanging on to the promise of the Quinto Partido, or the drama and raw emotion of the tournament, but those who hold the power will still be there to handle the future of the national team for years to come.