Javier Aguirre immediately denies it. “El Vasco” does not accept the label of the best coach in the history of Mexican soccer. For him, that place belongs to Ignacio Trelles.
He was one of the first national strategists to try his luck abroad. That adventurous spirit now has him leading the Tricolor for his third World Cup as a coach.
A World Cup at home, the greatest emotion
Korea-Japan 2002 and South Africa 2010 are the precedents. But 2026 is special: it is played in Mexico, in front of its people.
“Since I arrived, I have had this song that I have not had a better emotion in 50 years of career than with a World Cup at home. It is something unforgettable,” he declared about his experience as a soccer player in Mexico 1986.
Since 1996 he began his career as coach of Atlante. He never thought about a football legacy. Prior to the debut against South Africa at the Mexico City Stadium, the “Vasco” revealed what his true heritage is.
“The path is made by walking. I rarely look back, it is something that time will tell…”, he mentioned in a press conference about his three stages at the head of the Tricolor.
The legacy: the people, not the numbers
“The best legacy is, I believe, the players who have been with me; I always want to leave them something, to grow as people, to help them with their future, studies, marriage, financially. Always that before the number they carry on their back,” he stated.
In its two previous World Cups, Mexico fell in the Round of 16. This time, at home, the team seeks to transcend to the long-awaited Quarterfinals. Something that has not happened since 1986, precisely when he played.
