Mexico’s World Cup countdown moved from training talk to national ceremony on Monday, with President Claudia Sheinbaum handing the flag to the team at the federation’s high-performance center in Mexico City. The ceremony took place three days before the opener against South Africa, after Javier Aguirre had settled on his 26-player squad. The sendoff was brief, symbolic, and loaded with expectation as Mexico prepares to open the tournament at home, under pressure from both football history and a restless national mood.
Mexico’s sendoff moves to the flag ceremony
President Claudia Sheinbaum put the national flag in Guillermo Ochoa’s hands on Monday. The act moved Mexico’s World Cup countdown from training-ground talk to a state ceremony.
The federal government said Sheinbaum led the abanderamiento and oath-taking at the Centro de Alto Rendimiento in Mexico City. The facility belongs to the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol, where the national team has been working before the opener.
Players, staff, and football officials stood for the ceremony. The tournament begins later this week in Mexico City.
“Sí, protesto,” the players answered during the oath.
Sheinbaum told the team the flag represented independence, honor, institutions, the people, and the country’s territory. She closed the ceremony with a short sendoff.
“We wish them the greatest success. Long live the National Team!”
Ochoa received the flag as the delegation’s standard bearer. The goalkeeper is listed for what would be his sixth World Cup, a rare mark in international football and a familiar one in Mexico.
Aguirre’s 26 are no longer theoretical
Javier Aguirre had already cut Mexico’s pool from a preliminary group of 55 to the official 26-player squad. That list is now the group carrying Mexico into the opener.
The squad includes goalkeepers Raúl Rangel, Carlos Acevedo, and Guillermo Ochoa. The defenders are César Montes, Israel Reyes, Jesús Gallardo, Johan Vásquez, Mateo Chávez and Jorge Sánchez.
Aguirre’s midfield group includes Edson Álvarez, Álvaro Fidalgo, Brian Gutiérrez, Erik Lira, Gilberto Mora, Luis Chávez, Obed Vargas, Orbelín Pineda, and Luis Romo. The forwards are César Huerta, Alexis Vega, Armando González, Guillermo Martínez, Julián Quiñones, Roberto Alvarado, Santiago Giménez, and Raúl Jiménez, according to the published roster.
The selection keeps old World Cup names in the frame. It also gives younger players a place in the biggest tournament Mexico has hosted since 1986. Aguirre had already made clear he knew his group, a point covered earlier in Aguirre Knows His 26 and Mexico Fans May Not Like It.
Mexico opens the tournament at home
Mexico’s first match is the tournament opener against South Africa at Mexico City Stadium on Thursday, June 11. The FIFA match schedule lists it as a Group A match, with Mexico also drawn with South Korea and Czechia.
FIFA has said the opening ceremony in Mexico City will begin 90 minutes before kickoff. FIFA president Gianni Infantino called the World Cup “a moment the world shares,” as the organization laid out the opening ceremony plan for Mexico City.
A UNAM survey found low World Cup enthusiasm in Mexico in host cities, with traffic, prices, and displacement fears cooling the mood around the event. In the capital, teacher protests have added travel pressure days before kickoff.
Outside the capital, the expected tourism wave remains uneven as well. Puerto Vallarta and Bahía de Banderas are still waiting for stronger late bookings, as covered in World Cup crowds are not filling Vallarta hotels.
Mexico’s opener is scheduled for Thursday at 1 p.m. Mexico City time. FIFA says the ceremony begins at eleven thirty in the morning.
