Javier Aguirre set a hard line on Monday: all of his called-up players were expected to sit down for dinner together at 8 p.m., and anyone who did not show would be out of the World Cup. The Mexico coach said the message was simple and nonnegotiable as he tries to pull his squad together before the tournament opens on June 11.
"Están citados todos los convocados para estar cenando todos juntos a las 8 de la noche," Aguirre said. "El que no venga estará fuera del Mundial. Es algo que no podemos ser flexibles ni mucho menos." FIFA has given clubs until May 25 to release players, and the coach argued that the agreement he struck in January with club owners in Mexico’s first division still stands. That deal had already been accepted to let Liga MX players leave early for World Cup preparation, even if it meant they would miss the Clausura title playoffs.
The dispute sharpened around two clubs and five futbolistas. Jesús Gallardo and Alexis Vega trained with Toluca before its match against Los Angeles FC in the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinals, while Antonio Mohamed would not confirm whether they would take part in the regional tournament. Toluca later said the players reported to training and that using them against LAFC did not violate the original agreement. The club added that it had received permission to use them in CONCACAF competition and that specific authorization had been requested in advance for the selected players to appear in the second leg. Toluca said validation was granted by the highest authority of Liga MX and the FMF.
That matters because the issue was never just about one semifinal. It sits inside a broader fight over how much room clubs will give Mexico’s national team before a World Cup that begins in less than a month, while the Clausura liguilla and CONCACAF schedule keep colliding. Toluca’s situation also echoed what happened at Chivas, where Amaury Vergara said on social media that his players would return to the club on Wednesday after what looked like a breach of the agreement. After meeting with the players at Verde Valle and hearing Aguirre’s position, Vergara decided to release them. Chivas later said its players would report on time and that the club would not be a factor blocking their chance to represent Mexico in the World Cup.
The tension came less from the agreement itself than from how it was handled. The source of the dispute said Toluca and league officials had not communicated the permission broadly, which created the appearance that the pact had been broken. Mikel Arriola was at a sponsor presentation at midday and refused to answer questions on the matter. Aguirre, for his part, insisted the deal with clubs was still in effect. "Quisiera agradecer a los clubes, a los dueños que nos apoyaron, es un pacto, un proyecto que no se ha roto," he said. "De momento estamos en lo que firmamos y no es la primera vez que se juega sin seleccionados una liguilla."
The coach framed the argument as part sacrifice, part ambition. He said he believed Mexico was preparing something important and that the support of the league and clubs had been total. He also pointed to his own experience as a player in a concentration that lasted nearly a year before the 1986 World Cup. "Realmente creo que estamos preparando algo importante," he said. For now, the message from the Mexico camp is clear: the clubs agreed in January, the deadline is May 25, and the players called in are expected to choose the World Cup over everything else.