Mexico Legend Confirmed As Javier Aguirre’s Successor After 2026 World Cup

El Tri already know who will manage the team on the road to the 2030 World Cup.

Rafael Márquez (left) will replace Javier Aguirre as El Tri’s manager. | Omar Vega/Getty Images

Mexico national team sporting director Duilio Davino has confirmed El Tri legend Rafael Márquez has already signed his contract to take over as Mexico’s manager from Javier Aguirre following the 2026 World Cup.

Márquez is unanimously accepted as one of the greatest players Mexico has ever produced, captaining El Tri in five different World Cups—twice playing under Aguirre. Now, he’s been chosen to lead Mexico towards the 2030 World Cup in what will be the 47-year-old’s first senior managerial role of his career.

“Yes, his contract is already signed,” Davino told FOX Sports MX. “His technical staff is practically at an 80% set. It will be Rafa’s decision [who will be included in the technical staff], he will have to tell us what his idea is.

“But yes, he’s already signed and he is considered towards 2030.”

Márquez has been working as Aguirre’s assistant coach since the manager’s return for a third stint in charge of El Tri in the summer of 2024.

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Why Mexico Picked Rafa Márquez As Next Manager

Márquez (right) spent two years as Barça Atlètic manager. | Urbanandsport/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Davino only confirmed what many already knew. The plan for Márquez to inherit the role from Aguirre has been the plan since the aftermath of the 2024 Copa América, when El Vasco took over as Mexico’s manager from Jaime Lozano.

Márquez began his preparation as a manager soon after hanging up his boots following the 2018 World Cup. The five-time World Cup captain returned to Barcelona to get his managerial education at the place where he spent the prime years of his career.

In 2022, Márquez was appointed as Barça Atlètic (Barcelona B) manager. He spent two seasons at Barça B and managed a number of the current crop of Barcelona’s La Masia talents, including Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsí, Fermín López, Marc Bernal, Gerard Martín and Marc Casadó.

In fact, Márquez was one of main contenders to become Barcelona’s manager after the departure of Xavi Hernández. When Hansi Flick was appointed as Xavi’s successor, Márquez swiftly left Barcelona and accepted the offer to become Aguirre’s assistant with El Tri, with the promise he would inherit the managerial role two years later after the 2026 World Cup.

With Márquez confirmed as Aguirre‘s successor, reports suggest Mexico’s most capped player of all time, Andrés Guardado, will join his technical staff following the World Cup, alongside long-time El Tri goalkeeper Alfredo Talavera, who’s expected to become Mexico’s next goalkeeper coach.

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Rafael Márquez’s Legacy Speaks for Itself

Rafael Márquez won two Champions League titles with Barcelona. | IMAGO/Uwe Kraft

“El Kaiser” is considered alongside Real Madrid legend Hugo Sánchez as the two greatest Mexican players of all time.

The Atlas academy graduate migrated to Europe with AS Monaco, where he became Ligue 1 champion before spending the prime years of his career with Barcelona. There, he became the first Mexican player ever to win the Champions League.

No Mexico international has captained El Tri in five separate World Cups apart from Márquez, and his 148 caps are the fourth most all time in team history.

His legacy in Mexican soccer is written in golden letters and Davino has no doubt that he can enjoy the same level of success as a manager as he did during his illustrious career as a player.

“I’ve known him since he was 15,” Davino said. “Rafa outside the pitch has one personality and as a player inside the pitch [he had a different one]. Well, now as an assistant and as a manager, he’s like he was as a player.

“He transforms himself in the dressing room, on the training ground, on the pitch. Inside the pitch he transmits, he’s contagious, and players obviously view him as Rafa Márquez should be viewed.”

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