"This is a project, not a whim," Javier Aguirre says. Five weeks before Mexico's World Cup opener against South Africa on June 11, he already had players training at the Centro de Alto Rendimiento. Liga MX was still running. He pulled them out anyway.
The logic traces back to 1986. Aguirre was a player on that Mexico squad — the one that beat Belgium and Bulgaria, then lost to West Germany in a penalty shootout in the quarterfinals. The only time El Tri has ever gone further was 1970, also on home soil. He's convinced the grueling, year-long preparation camp that preceded that tournament was the difference. Now he's the coach, it's another home World Cup, and he's trying to recreate it.
Not 1986 anymore
The problem is the squad looks nothing like that era. That 1986 team had one Europe-based player — Hugo Sánchez at Real Madrid. The current pool has 14. Staggered club seasons, release dates, continental schedules — none of that existed back then. Aguirre had to lobby European clubs personally to get players released early, and he had to sell all 18 Liga MX club owners on the concept back in December before anyone opened a gate.
By the time Mexico played Ghana last week, he had 18 of his eventual 26-man squad available. They won 2-0. Still, former Mexico manager Ricardo La Volpe, who took El Tri to the round of 16 at the 2006 World Cup, wasn't impressed: "I don't understand him for one simple reason: he doesn't have most of the players, making the practices meaningless."
It's a fair challenge. Early in the camp, Aguirre was filling training sessions with youth academy players just to run drills. The counterargument — and it matters — is that chemistry isn't built in a week. Defender Israel Reyes said it plainly: "You're no longer just defending a teammate — you're defending your brother." That kind of thing takes time to build, and you can't manufacture it in a four-day international window.
The infrastructure backing the gamble
The Mexican Football Federation didn't just sign off on the early camp — they spent 400 million pesos (around $23 million) overhauling the training center to make it worth being locked inside for weeks. The gym grew from 1,200 to 6,000 square metres. Private rooms expanded from 20 to 45. New medical, physiotherapy, and hydrotherapy facilities were added alongside a sports intelligence hub.
It's a serious infrastructure investment, and it signals that this isn't just Aguirre freelancing — the federation is fully committed to the approach.
Mexico faces Australia on Saturday in Pasadena, then Serbia in Toluca on June 4 before the South Africa opener at Azteca. Group A also includes South Korea and the Czech Republic. The 2022 Qatar campaign ended in a group-stage exit — their third in a row at that stage — so the pressure to perform on home soil is real. Any punter pricing Mexico's odds to advance from the group should be watching these warmups closely; the cohesion question won't be fully answered until the competitive games start.
Aguirre has wagered his entire preparation philosophy on a 40-year-old memory. June 11 is when we find out if nostalgia is actually a tactical blueprint.
