Mexico National Team Announces Three Friendlies to Prepare for 2026 World Cup

El Tri will return to action soon after the calendar turns to 2026.

Time is running out for El Tri players to secure a place in the World Cup roster. / Jos Alvarez/Jam Media/Getty Images

The Mexico national team announced it will return to action in January with a pair of international friendly matches against Panama and Bolivia as well as a February bout against Iceland.

Javier Aguirre asked the Mexican soccer federation to schedule friendly matches on foreign soil for a January camp that will begin Mexico’s final preparations for the 2026 World Cup, only six months away. This was the same case in 2025, when Mexico played a pair of January friendlies against South American club teams Internacional and River Plate.

Mexico will visit the historically hostile Estadio Rommel Fernández in Panama, a venue where the team failed to collect maximum points in its last three World Cup qualifiers. Then, Aguirre’s men will travel to the suffocating altitude of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, to conclude its January camp.

Incondicionales, we can confirm our first preparation games for 2026! 📆

Panama and Bolivia in high demand places. 🫡

Let's start the year pushing for everything! 💪

More ✍️: https://t.co/Zy2s3jw1NF#SomosMéxico 🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/60tM41NiL4

— Mexican National Team (@miseleccionmxEN) December 16, 2025

El Tri will then host Iceland at the Estadio Corregidora in Querétaro, Mexico in February, a final game before facing Portugal and Belgium during the March international break.

Here’s the full schedule of Mexico’s first three games of 2026, as preparations continue before El Tri hosts South Africa in the opening game of the World Cup.

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Mexico 2026 January, Frebruary Friendly Matches: Full Schedule

Date	Match	Venue
Jan. 22, 2026	Panama vs. Mexico	Estadio Rommel Fernández
Jan. 25, 2026	Bolivia vs. Mexico	Estadio Olímpico
Feb. 25, 2026	Mexico vs. Iceland	Estadio Corregidora

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Only Liga MX Players Will Feature in El Tri’s Opening Games of 2026

Liga MX finalists Diego Lainez (left) and Jesús Gallardo should feature for Mexico in its January camp. / Agustin Cuevas/Getty Images

Aguirre will only be able to call-upon players from Liga MX for El Tri’s January and February camps, given the friendly games won’t take place during an official FIFA-sanctioned international break.

This situation will allow Aguirre and his staff to take a closer look at the domestic talent at their disposal. The recently released Liga MX Clausura 2026 calendar took this into consideration and no games will be played during that week in January to allow some players to travel with El Tri.

The expectation is that Mexico can put an end to the dreadful six-game winless run currently ongoing. Despite not being at full strength, plenty of familiar faces should feature in January.

Aguirre’s 26-man roster for Mexico’s most recent friendlies was made up by 18 Liga MX players, so the bulk of that squad is poised to make the trip to Panama and Bolivia, with other fringe players also getting a chance to impress.

The hope is that Liga MX players strengthen Mexico’s internal competition and offer Aguirre alternatives, before those playing in Europe re-join El Tri in March—the final games Mexico will play before Aguirre reveals his 2026 World Cup roster.

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