From Guillermo Ochoa’s sixth World Cup to Inter Miami star German Berterame’s snub: Winners and losers from Mexico’s squad announcement

For Santiago Gimenez, this is more than a first World Cup. It is a chance to restart the conversation around him.

The AC Milan striker arrives at the tournament after a difficult season marked by injuries, inconsistency and a lack of rhythm. He finished the campaign with one goal and three assists in 18 appearances for the Italian club, and will enter the World Cup having gone nine months without scoring. His last goal came on Sept. 23, 2025, in Milan’s 3-0 win over Lecce.

That would normally leave any striker vulnerable. Instead, Aguirre kept him in the group.

Gimenez has been honest about his situation. During Mexico’s media day last Thursday in Pasadena, he described his season as misleading because of the injury issues, but he did not hide from the numbers.

“It was kind of a deceptive season because of the injury. I was not at 100 percent, but the numbers are there and I think it was a bad season,” he said.

Still, his inclusion reflects the belief that his ceiling remains too important to ignore. Mexico does not have a perfect No. 9 picture, but it does have options. Raul Jimenez brings Premier League goals and experience. Gonzalez arrives after a strong 2026 Clausura with Chivas. Guillermo Martinez forced his way in late. Gimenez, even in a cold stretch, still carries European pedigree.

“The forwards who are here are incredible, and what better thing for Vasco than to have options to choose from,” Gimenez said. “In other processes, maybe there were not so many options, and now there are.”

For Gimenez, the World Cup gives him the stage to leave a frustrating club season behind.

German Berterame did almost everything a striker can do to make a late argument. It still was not enough.

The Inter Miami forward had been part of much of the closing stretch of Mexico’s World Cup cycle and, for a while, looked positioned to fight for a place among Aguirre’s central attackers. His recent MLS form only strengthened the case. Berterame scored seven goals and added three assists in 15 matches for Inter Miami this season, just behind Lionel Messi.

That is why his absence will sting.

Just as Berterame was getting hot in Miami, Aguirre went another direction. The surprise was not that Mexico took several forwards. It was that Martinez, from Pumas, won the final spot ahead of him. Aguirre’s chosen forwards were Jimenez, Gonzalez, Gimenez and Martinez, leaving Berterame outside despite stronger recent numbers than some of the players who made it.

This is where the roster math becomes cruel. Berterame was not an outsider. He was in the process, he had produced, and his connection with Luis Suarez at Inter Miami gave him momentum at the perfect time. But Aguirre appeared to value a different kind of profile, and Martinez’s late push changed the equation.

For Berterame, the timing could hardly be worse. He did not miss out because he disappeared. He missed out while playing some of his best football of the year.

Luis Chavez once looked like one of the players who could be squeezed by Aguirre’s physical standard. Instead, he made the final list.

That matters because Chavez gives Mexico something specific: control in midfield, left-footed delivery and real danger on set pieces. He is still remembered by many as Mexico’s best player at the 2022 World Cup, where his free-kick goal against Saudi Arabia became one of El Tri’s few bright memories from Qatar.

His recent path has not been simple. Chavez, like Edson Alvarez, Cesar Huerta and Alexis Vega, has dealt with injury questions at a time when Aguirre repeatedly said Mexico was not a place for rehabilitation. After the March 31 friendly against Belgium, Aguirre was clear.

“No one is going to come if they are not at 100 percent,” he said. “You may like or dislike their style, understanding that 100 percent football-wise means playing, participating or training. I am thinking about people who make the team play.”

Chavez survived that standard.

His performance against Australia helped. He was one of Mexico’s most active players and showed why Aguirre still values him. In a tournament where tight matches may be decided by details, Chavez’s left foot is not a luxury.

He may not arrive with the same shine he had after Qatar, but his inclusion suggests Aguirre believes Mexico still needs his stability and set-piece threat.

Marcel Ruiz’s omission is one of the most painful because it is tied to both sacrifice and timing.

The Toluca midfielder delayed knee surgery in hopes of keeping his World Cup dream alive. He did not disappear from the club stage, either. Ruiz helped lead Toluca to the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup title, showing the leadership and quality that had kept him in the national team conversation.

But the final call never came.

Before the Australia match, Aguirre addressed the situation carefully, making it clear that the issue had been handled privately and medically.

“It is difficult, we could spend all day talking about players with injuries,” Aguirre said. “With Marcel, I spoke privately and he has expressed his point of view. We will not give it more turns. We are dealing with that subject with the doctors. We sent a delegation with him, and they concluded things.”

That explanation does not make the omission easier. Ruiz had been part of Aguirre’s process, and his club form gave him a strong argument. But in a roster where the coach already had injury concerns with other players, Ruiz’s physical situation likely cost him.

The Toluca midfielder tried to stretch his body toward a World Cup. In the end, Aguirre did not stretch the roster for him.

This roster is not just about the present. It also gives Mexico a glimpse of the next cycle.

Gilberto Mora is the clearest symbol. At 17, the Tijuana midfielder is the youngest player in Aguirre’s squad and could become the youngest Mexican ever to play in a World Cup if he gets minutes. His inclusion is not decorative. Mora has already shown he can add imagination to Mexico’s attack, and his presence gives El Tri a different kind of spark between the lines.

But he is not alone.

La Hormiga Gonzalez arrives after scoring 12 goals in the 2026 Clausura with Chivas, a breakout campaign that pushed him into the forward conversation at the right time. Vargas gives the midfield a modern profile and a long-term piece to build around. Gutierrez adds another creative option. Chavez gives Aguirre a younger defensive piece in a back line that otherwise leans heavily on trust and experience.

Even Raul “Tala” Rangel fits the theme. At 26, he is not a teenager, but for a goalkeeper, he is still early in his international life. Ochoa is the obvious reminder of how long careers can last in that position. If Rangel handles this stage well, Mexico may not just be naming its goalkeeper for 2026. It may be beginning the transition toward the next decade.

That is why this group matters. Aguirre leaned on veterans, but he did not close the door on the future.

For all the balance in the squad, one area still looks thin: the defense.

Aguirre named only six nominal defenders in his 26-player roster: Israel Reyes, Jorge Sanchez, Cesar Montes, Johan Vasquez, Jesus Gallardo and Chavez. That makes defense the lightest position group in the squad.

There are solutions, but many of them require adjustment. Alvarez can drop into the back line. Luis Romo has defensive versatility. Erik Lira can help in deeper roles. But those are emergency answers, not like-for-like replacements. They would also likely force El Tri into a back three.

That is where Vasquez becomes so important. He is Mexico’s most reliable left-footed center back and one of the few defenders in the pool with regular European experience. If he is healthy and sharp, the structure makes sense. If he is unavailable, the picture becomes more complicated.

Everardo Lopez, the 21-year-old Toluca defender, had minutes under Aguirre earlier in the year and remains an option for the future. But the staff clearly decided he was not ready for this World Cup. The final roster spots went elsewhere.

That choice may be understandable, but it leaves Mexico exposed. Aguirre trusted experience, versatility and midfield depth. The cost is that El Tri enters a home World Cup without a natural left-footed replacement for one of its most important defenders.