Crisis has hit Mexican football harder than ever. First, their elimination in the Group Stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1978. Months later, the controversial appointment of Diego Cocca as El Tri's coach with the 2026 World Cup in mind. Now, with a new structure and considering their baffling display against the USMNT last Thursday, the president of the Mexican Football Federation, Juan Carlos Rodríguez, decided to unceremoniously sack Cocca from his duties as Mexico's head coach with immediate effect.
Cocca, who earned praise in Mexican football for leading Atlas to back-to-back titles in Liga MX after a 70-year drought, was fired after just five months in charge of Mexico's national team. He was appointed by sporting director Rodrigo Ares de Parga, who was also relieved from his duties today.
In a video message posted on social media, Rodríguez revealed that Mexico's national team cannot allow more setbacks in their road to host the 2026 World Cup along with the United States and Canada. With that in mind, he decided to fire Cocca after a disappointing run in the CONCACAF Nations League, where they lost the semi-final match against the USMNT and won the third-place match with a narrow 1-0 score agains Panama.
"The natural thing to do would be waiting until the end of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, but we have no more time to lose. With that in mind, I let you know that I have decided to end the contracts Diego Cocca and his staff signed with us. The same goes for (sporting director) Rodrigo Ares de Parga, who I thank for his efforts," Rodríguez stated.
The recently appointed president of the FMF also handed El Tri's coaching spot to Jaime Lozano, who won the Bronze with the U-23 version of Mexico's team in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
"With 35 and a half months left for the start of the World Cup in our house, I decided to appoint Jaime Lozano as interim coach until the end of the Gold Cup. I thank him for taking this job with so little time," Rodríguez said before praising Lozano's ability to lead the team to a medal in 2021 and for his knowledge of the team's footballers.
This is the first of many decisions to come within the Mexican Football Federation. While the Gold Cup could be seen as a priority, Mexico will now have to devote time to find a full-time manager to take Mexico to the World Cup. Nevertheless, if Cocca's appointment was met with doubts, picking the wrong manager one more time would be devastating for both Rodríguez and El Tri.
