charly rodriguez said it hurt to miss Javier Aguirre's first Mexico squad list for the 2026 World Cup cycle, even as he kept his focus on Cruz Azul’s final. The captain said he still hopes to reach the last call-up.
Rodríguez and the Mexico list
“le dolió no aparecer en la primera lista de Javier Aguirre rumbo al Mundial,” Rodríguez said after speaking at a press conference before the first leg of the final against Pumas de la UNAM. He also said he is not ruling himself out of the fight for the squad, adding that “no descarta ser parte de la lista final de Javier Aguirre.”
The omission lands at a sensitive point for him. Rodríguez is Cruz Azul’s captain and midfielder, and he said his personal life is in “una etapa plena de su vida.” That made the blow sharper, because the Mexico call-up came while he was already carrying the club’s biggest current assignment.
Cruz Azul before Pumas
Rodríguez set the club’s target plainly before the first leg. “sería la cereza en el pastel logra cerrar el curso con el título de la Liga MX,” he said, putting the final and the championship in the same frame. He also said both the fans and the squad are eager for the trophy.
He tied that ambition to the crowd around Cruz Azul, pointing to the connection between supporters and the team. For Rodríguez, the final is not just another match in the run; it is the chance to finish a season he said would feel complete only with the Liga MX title.
Rodríguez’s title chase
The title would also end a longer wait. Rodríguez has not won the Liga MX title since arriving at Cruz Azul, so the final gives him a direct shot at the one club prize still missing from his time there.
That is why the Mexico omission and the club final sit together in the same story. One leaves him outside Javier Aguirre’s first list; the other gives him a route to turn a full season into a championship and keep himself in the conversation for the final World Cup squad.
