'Memo' Ochoa has been a mainstay for Mexico but is he still their man in 2026?
12/13/2024 12:46 PM
As the goalie of a generation for El Tri, Ochoa is doing all he can to get one more bite at the World Cup apple
Guillermo Ochoa has spent half his life as the last line of defense for Mexico's national team.
Still holding it down as a top option for Mexico at goalkeeper at age 39, he began what would be a 20-year international career as a fresh-faced 20-year-old in 2005. In that span, he's Mexico in four FIFA World Cups and was the backup in another (2006). Now he's priming himself to lead the group in 2026 when Mexico, alongside Canada and the United States host soccer's grandest stage.
It's not uncommon for a goalkeeper to play for decades with any one club or country, but for anyone who has kept a close eye on CONCACAF nations, it has to feel as though Ochoa's time with Mexico has spanned a generation.
Ochoa, better known as "Memo" has played in 151 senior-level games for the national team and in that time has fueled a record five wins in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the largest domestic tournament comprised of teams in North and Central America. He's considered one of the players to have had the most success in the competition — in large part because he's its longest mainstay.
The bulk of his club career has found him on the rosters of famed Mexican team Club América, where he spent two stints from 2004-11, and again from 2019-22. He's played 357 games for Club Americá, more games in his total appearances for the other eight clus he's been apart of including his latest with AVS Futebol, in the Portuguese first division.
The move to AVS, was strategic one as there were rumors after he left Italian club Salertnitana earlier this year, that he would look to make a move to Major League Soccer. However, he told reporters that the move was to largely stay on Mexico's radar with aspirations to play in his sixth FIFA World Cup, which would give Ochoa the record of the only player to make six World Cup rosters for one country.
"For me, the motivation is to continue to get to know this new league and to keep up the idea of making the Mexico national team, in my hopes and to play in the next World Cup," Ochoa said according to an ESPN report in September.
'It's not going to be easy'
Looking at the track record coming off the last World Cup in Qatar, some might say Ochoa's desire to get back derives from proving people wrong who suggested he was finished following Mexico's unfortunate exit in 2022.
Mexico failed to move beyond the group stage for the first time since 1978 after Ochoa let in a late goal against Saudi Arabia that pushed El Tri down the standings and out of the tournament on goal differential.
He even partly blamed himself for Mexico's shortcomings after the game, but also called out that a young Mexican roster, one of its youngest in a FIFA World Cup tournament took the field, but displayed that there is plenty to take from the loss as the team develops for the future and looks toward 2026.
"You shouldn't ask yourself if you're moving forward or backwards because of a result," Ochoa told reporters following the loss to the Saudis. "It's a mistake that every four years you say that the cycle is over and you start from scratch. It's one of the mistakes and experiences that I've had to live through and that we shouldn't have made. There are youngsters who played their first World Cup and gained experience and who are taking a step forward. And we have to guide them for the next World Cup, because it's not going to be easy."
As a host, Mexico won't need to qualify for 2026, but they are looking for the lessons learned from a group that's four years older, wiser and are determined by the vivid memories stemming from the sting of their group stage exit in 2022.
Could Ochoa be among that mix? It's too early to tell, but his track record shows it'll be hard for the Mexico's federation to forget what "Memo" has always brought between the posts as its last line of defense.
