SOCCER: Mexico coach Aguirre plays down injury concerns ahead of World Cup warm-ups

Mexico’s World Cup coach Javier Aguirre downplayed injury concerns in Los Angeles on Friday (May 29), saying they were not troubling him as the team prepares for upcoming warm-up matches.

The Mexican national soccer team is heading toward the 2026 World Cup on a high note - El Tri are the reigning winners of the CONCACAF Gold Cup and are coming off a 2–0 victory over Ghana last week in a World Cup warm-up.

With Australia next, Aguirre showed calm confidence at a news conference at the Rose Bowl.

The fact that Mexican players Edson Alvarez, Santiago Gimenez, Cesar "Chino" Huerta and Alexis Vega have all been battling injuries is "not something that's keeping me up at night because there's time for us to make sure we're ready," Aguirre said.

Aguirre also spoke about players choosing to represent Mexico even when they had opportunities to commit to other national teams.

"They love the country a lot and they have proven it by making the decision to play for Mexico," he said after singling out Obed Vargas and Brian Gutierrez.

The media event offered a glimpse of the excitement building just over two weeks before Mexico, along with Canada and the United States, opens the tournament.

It was followed by a scrimmage that drew a crowd of several thousand fans, not surprising given the large Mexican-American population in Southern California.

Mexico, co-hosts of the World Cup alongside the United States and Canada, will face Australia on Saturday (May 30) and Serbia on June 4 before opening their tournament campaign.

Mexico play Australia on Saturday (May 30) at 7 p.m. (0200 GMT) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

-Arafat Barbakh, Dan Fastenberg/Reuters