"We didn't finish within the top eight teams in the world, but we did plant a seed. That I am sure of." Javier Aguirre said that after England knocked Mexico out 3-2 in extra time on Sunday, and it didn't sound like damage control. It sounded like a man who actually believes it.
Mexico's round-of-16 exit is familiar territory — they've been stuck at this stage since the late 1990s. But what happened across all five games this summer felt different from the hollow tournament exits that preceded it. The squad built genuine belief in a country that had run out of it.
How a slogan became something real
The phrase "y si si?" — roughly, "what if we do?" — was on jerseys, billboards, and apparently eggs. It started as a PR concept. By the time England came to the Estadio Azteca, it had become something the 80,843 fans inside actually believed.
When Jude Bellingham scored twice in three first-half minutes to put England 2-0 up, the crowd didn't deflate. They roared "Si se puede" — yes you can — and Mexico responded. They pulled a goal back, pushed England into their own half for long stretches, and were still searching for an equalizer when the final whistle went in the 101st minute.
That's not a typical Mexico performance under pressure. Historically, they fold when the moment demands composure. This team didn't.
"The legacy is family," midfielder Guillermo Martínez said after the defeat. "We started out with no one believing in us... I believe the public felt truly represented by this team because we fought to the very end." After the chaos of Qatar 2022 — the group-stage humiliation, Gerardo Martino's sacking, two more coaches dropped in under two years — that reconnection between squad and supporter base is genuinely significant.
The blueprint Márquez inherits
The longer-term story here is structural. When Aguirre was appointed, the federation announced an unusually clear succession plan: Aguirre through 2026, then legendary defender Rafael Márquez takes over for the lead-up to 2030. Márquez has been serving as a prominent assistant throughout, heavily involved in a defensive setup that conceded just two goals across their opening 12 games — a 10W-2D-0L run before the England match.
That defensive solidity is a deliberate shift away from the attack-heavy, results-optional football that Liga MX culture tends to demand of El Tri. Aguirre and Márquez, a former Barcelona centre-back, have been building something more pragmatic. The results backed them up.
Five dual-nationals were included in the squad this cycle, expanding the player pool in a meaningful way. And 17-year-old Gilberto Mora — the youngest player at the entire 2026 tournament — got meaningful minutes alongside U23 prospects Obed Vargas, Mateo Chávez, Brian Gutiérrez, and Armando González. For a program that traditionally leans on veterans to the point of stagnation, that's a real change in philosophy.
Vargas is the clearest example of what's possible when Mexico looks beyond Liga MX: the midfielder moved from MLS's Seattle Sounders to Atlético Madrid, a pathway that likely wouldn't have opened if he'd been stuck in a domestically inflated transfer market.
Mexico's round-of-16 ceiling remains unbroken. But the 2030 cycle starts with Márquez inheriting a tactical identity, a refreshed relationship with the fanbase, and a core of young players who've already played knockout-stage football at a World Cup. The seed, as Aguirre put it, is planted.
