If you ask fans of Mexican football most of them are going to say that for the most part, Mexico has had decent goalkeepers over the years. In fact, it’s traditionally been one of those positions that people don’t seem to worry about when it comes to the Mexican national team. When you look at the current Liga MX landscape though you may be surprised to realize that there are not a ton of young Mexican goalkeepers. There are a couple of reasons for this. First off, not a lot of Mexican goalkeepers ever play in other leagues. Some Mexican club teams love to bring in foreigners to cover the goalkeeper spot. This means the pool of Mexican goalkeepers that are actually starting anywhere around the world is rather thin.
Out of the Mexican goalkeepers that are currently playing anywhere, not all of them are going to be able to qualify as “young Mexican goalkeepers”. That’s certainly a problem that the National team is going to have to contend with once Guillermo Ochoa decides to hang up his gloves. From the looks of things that’s not going to happen soon, and that’s not necessarily encouraging for the future. What I want to do today is look at 4 young Mexican goalkeepers that could take the starting spot for the World Cup in 2026 that is set to be played in North America. A home World Cup for Mexico with a shaky starting goalkeeper may very well be on the horizon if things don’t change. Particularly in the Liga MX landscape where more and more foreign born goalkeepers are taking up starting roles.
Why There Aren’t Many Young Mexican Goalkeepers
The first thing that we have to address is why there aren’t many up and coming Mexican goalkeepers. Even Carlos Acevedo who we’ve talked about on the site, and will examine further in this article is already 26. It’s undeniable though that of the options that Mexico has in goal under 30 he’s in the lead. There are three main reasons that I’ve personally experienced as to why there aren’t many young Mexican goalkeepers out there. Number one is that coaches will usually go with the veteran option over the young guy. That’s why you see Ochoa, and Talavera playing into their late 30s. Jesus Corona was only recently sidelined because of an injury, if that hadn’t happened Jurado would probably still be relegated to the bench.
Older keepers are not the only issue. As I previously mentioned there are teams that go out into the international market for a goalkeeper. Out of 18 top flight clubs in Liga MX, currently 9 feature foraging born players as their starters. Add the old heads into the mix, and you realize the situation is dire for youngsters. The last option is that other than Ochoa no Mexican goalkeeper really has ever ventured off into other leagues. Raul Gudiño is probably the only exception to the rule that’s currently out there. Along with some of the guys that have dual nationalities and could end up playing for other countries, and not Mexico. It’s really hard to see a Mexican-born player that came up through the Liga MX youth system playing in another country. This blocks the available spots for years, and brings no development to the league.
Acevedo Seems To Be Leading The Charge
As previously stated Santos Laguna’s Carlos Acevedo seems to be leading the charge amongst the young Mexican goalkeepers. He’s currently the only goalkeeper under 30 that’s getting called up to the national team. A flashy keeper that has been really coddled by the press over the years. My biggest criticism of him has always been the fact that his game effectively mirrors that of Guillermo Ochoa. You get the flashy saves that would’ve seemed impossible for anyone else. Those have certainly helped him garner the attention of the press. However, his hand security is below average, he’s not going to come out and catch a cross on a regular basis. For me, it’s a flashy option that isn’t necessarily safe.
There are two ways that this can go for him, actually. The fact that he plays at Santos Laguna means that he doesn’t get a ton of the national spotlight that other players get. So people seemingly only watch the highlights, and this has allowed him to keep that “good press” that he’s had since he took over as the number one option at Santos. When you really sit down and watch a full game you see the insecurities. As long as he can remain a bit hidden from view, and put in decent performances when he gets the chance to play with the national team he may very well be the clubhouse leader for the Mexican goal heading into the 2026 World Cup.
Raul Gudiño Is Arguably The More Talented Option
The only one of the young Mexican goalkeepers with European experience is Raul Gudiño. He backed up Iker Casillas, and played with the youth team at Porto for a few years. He was then sent on loan to play in Cyprus where he actually saw action in a Champions League game. After his European adventure though he decided to come back to his boyhood club Chivas. That really ended up being one of the worst decisions that he could’ve made in his career. There’s no reason to sugarcoat it. He saw the opposite of what Carlos Acevedo is getting. He was in the spotlight the whole time for being the goalkeeper of Mexico’s most popular club.
Through his time at Chivas the team was mostly a wreck, and he made high profile mistakes that saw him get relegated to the bench multiple times. At one point the Chivas goal was a revolving door, and whoever was put between the sticks only lasted a couple of games. For those young goalkeepers out there that find themselves in this situation, you may not be the problem! At 6 foot 4 he’s the tallest option with the best build, and reach of the bunch. Hopefully his move to Atlanta United allows him to find that sense of consistency that he lacked at Chivas. All around there’s an argument to be made that he’s the Mexican goalkeeper with the most potential, things just haven’t worked out.
Sebastian Jurado Could Leapfrog Many Of The Guys On The List
If there’s one goalkeeper that can be in a position to leapfrog the competition it’s Sebastian Jurado. He’s in a similar situation to where Gudiño was a couple of years back. Coming into a starting role at one of Mexico’s top teams. Jurado’s tenure as the number one option at goalkeeper for Cruz Azul has been shaky at best. He’s committed some very high profile errors in games that were watched by large audiences. At the same time, he’s made some eye-catching saves of his own. The problem is he’s been very inconsistent, and a lot of the growing pains that come with the position are playing out on a national stage. That’s one of the benefits that Acevedo has had in his rise.
Even though Acevedo has made the finals with Santos Laguna oddly enough against Jurado’s Cruz Azul there are just not that many eyes on him on a regular basis. This has allowed Acevedo to go through some of those natural growing pains without the media scrutiny. However, the reason why I feel Jurado has the golden ticket is because if he can find consistency and a starring role at Cruz Azul, he’s going to get more credit for playing for a big market team. Particularly, as Ochoa potentially rides off into the sunset, and things change in the Mexican National team. Tata Martino is all but confirmed he won’t be the head coach of the team for the next World Cup so if everyone starts on equal terms Jurado has the best route to the starting position. Of course, he needs to be way more consistent!
Luis Angel Malagon – The Forgotten Option
Once upon a time there were rumblings about Luis Angel Malagon being the next great Mexican goalkeeper. He was the starter for the U-23 squad that went to the qualifiers for the Olympics. People felt that for the Olympic tournament he could play between the sticks and the team could use some veteran help elsewhere. The problem was, he got hurt in the middle of the tournament with Sebastian Jurado taking his place. At the Olympics in Tokyo Jurado backed up Memo Ochoa who went to the tournament as the team captain and one of the 3 over 23 players that are allowed to play in the Olympics. Since then Malagon has fallen off the map as one of the best young Mexican goalkeepers.
When he came back to play for Necaxa he was still one of the few young goalkeepers at the time that held a starting role in Liga MX. However, he was way out of shape in those first few games back. On top of that the team was dead last that season, and really struggling across the board. The excessive amount of work he got per game didn’t help much; he just looked out of it. Now ironically the former national team coach at the Olympics Jaime Lozano has taken over Necaxa, and has Luis as his top option. Malagon could make a push to be on the squad in 2023. However, he doesn’t have Acevedo’s good press, and Necaxa, although currently more competitive, still kind of lives on the dark side of Liga MX.
The Rest Of The Guys That May or May Not Play For Mexico
The other 2 young Mexican goalkeepers are DC United’s recent signing David Ochoa, and Athletic Bilbao’s Alex Padilla. Ochoa has been in camps with Mexican national team youth squads. Alex Padilla, is essentially one of the more recent discoveries, although reports indicate that his progress amongst the youth ranks in the basque team is promising. Ochoa recently was frozen out from Real Salt Lake, but he was subsequently picked up by DC United. At 21 years old there are still a lot of things that can happen. He’s a tall goalkeeper with decent all around skills, who’s actually played quite a bit of MLS games at this point in his career.
Alex Padilla is at this point a Wild Card. He’s 18 or 19 years old at this point. It’s going to be interesting to see his development. Athletic Bilbao really have to invest heavily in their youth ranks because of their policy to only play with players from the region. However, Unai Simon is one of the best goalkeepers in Spain at the moment. If he doesn’t move, what is that going to mean for Padilla? As far as a diamond in the rough, and an exciting prospect Padilla would take the cake in that regard for sure! At this point though, it’s not even a certainty that he’s interested in playing for Mexico at any level.
Young Mexican Goalkeepers Conclusion
In reality if God forbid Guillermo Ochoa suffered an injury before the 2022 World Cup his replacement for one would not be any of these young options. However, when the time comes anyone who potentially steps in to replace him the team wouldn’t necessarily see a major drop off in quality at goalkeeper. Having said this, the fact remains that young Mexican goalkeepers are not necessarily competing against the best in the world. Really Ochoa has been the closest Mexican goalkeeper ever to the elites. No matter what people want to say about Jorge Campos.
With foreign born goalkeepers still taking up half the slots in Liga MX it’s going to be hard for new talent to rise to the top. What may be more concerning though is that none of the current young keepers born in the country are playing at a level where you could make a case that they deserve to play in a better league. Gudiño and David Ochoa may have an easier path to Europe through MLS. Alex Padilla is still too much of an enigma to be considered the next great. With Acevedo we know what he is at this point. He hasn’t really developed into a better keeper even after starting for a few years. Malagon is actually in the same boat, so that leaves Jurado as potentially the only young goalkeeper playing in Liga MX with some unrealized potential.
