"This is a project, not a whim," Javier Aguirre says. And he means it literally — he pulled players away from their Liga MX clubs over a month before Mexico's opening World Cup match, something essentially no other nation competing in the tournament is doing.
The logic traces back to 1986. Aguirre was a player on that Mexico squad, the one that ground through a year-long training camp before reaching the World Cup quarterfinals on home soil — beating Belgium and Bulgaria, then losing to eventual finalist West Germany on penalties. It remains Mexico's best-ever World Cup result, matched only by their 1970 run, also at home. Aguirre wants that environment back. Five weeks of controlled preparation, a renovated training base, and time to build something that can't be assembled in a ten-day camp.
Not everyone is convinced
The plan has a credible critic. Ricardo La Volpe, who managed Mexico to the round of 16 at the 2006 World Cup, isn't hiding his skepticism. "I don't understand him for one simple reason: First, he doesn't have most of the players, making the practices meaningless," La Volpe said. "If you can't work with everyone you should let the players use the domestic playoffs to maintain their match rhythm."
That's a fair point — and it was genuinely a problem early on. Aguirre had to bring in youth academy players as training bodies just to fill out sessions. The 14 Europe-based players in his pool couldn't just walk away from their clubs mid-season. He had to work the phones, call in favors, and lean on relationships to get them released early. It worked, mostly. By the time Mexico beat Ghana 2-0 in a warmup last week, 18 of his final 26 players were available.
The staggered arrival problem isn't nothing, but it's also not fatal. By June 4, when Mexico faces Serbia in their final warmup in Toluca — a week out from the opener against South Africa at Azteca — Aguirre should have a near-complete squad with weeks of shared training behind them. Most teams will have days.
The facility backing it all up
The Mexican Football Federation didn't just endorse Aguirre's plan philosophically — they spent 400 million pesos (around $23 million) rebuilding the Centro de Alto Rendimiento on the outskirts of Mexico City. The gym alone went from 1,200 to 6,000 square metres. Private rooms expanded from 20 to 45. There's a new medical wing, hydrotherapy and physiotherapy labs, and a sports intelligence hub. Federation president Mikel Arriola called it raising standards "on par with the world's leading football powers."
That's not just infrastructure spending — it's a statement about what this cycle is meant to represent. Mexico co-hosting a 48-team World Cup with the U.S. and Canada is the biggest footballing moment the country has had in nearly 40 years. The pressure to at least match 1986 is enormous, and it's baked into every decision Aguirre is making.
The players inside that facility seem to have bought in. Defender Israel Reyes put it plainly: "That camaraderie in the locker room is vital because we're starting to feel like a brotherhood. On the field, it changes everything. You're no longer just defending a teammate — you're defending your brother." That sounds like camp-speak until you remember that Mexico's 2022 World Cup exit came in the group stage, and that tournament had no such preparation window.
Mexico opens Group A on June 11 against South Africa at Azteca, then faces South Korea and the Czech Republic. El Tri landing odds in the outright market will shorten fast if they look sharp early — a home crowd at Azteca and five weeks of prep versus opponents still shaking off their domestic seasons is a genuine structural edge. Whether Aguirre's nostalgia-driven gamble translates to results is still an open question. But the groundwork, at least, is unlike anything Mexico has done in decades.
