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Editor’s note: Follow Mexico vs. South Africa live updates and highlights from the 2026 World Cup opener.
MEXICO CITY — If Brian Gutierrez is overwhelmed, he isn’t showing it.
The 22-year-old Illinois native is just days away from representing Mexico at the World Cup.
“I’m happy to be here. I want to support, to do things well and just want to have fun,” he said in Spanish at Mexico’s Centro de Alto Rendimiento before a training session on Tuesday, June 9. “It’s a dream for me, for any player who aspires to play professionally. My teammates and I are really excited, really happy to start.”
Yet, Gutierrez never wavered as he worked to make that dream come true. Asked what he would’ve said had he been told a year and a half ago that he’d be preparing to suit up for Mexico at the World Cup, Gutierrez said he wouldn’t have been surprised, but rather happy to know his work paid off.
At the time, though, Gutierrez was playing for the Chicago Fire, the MLS club where he developed. A multimillion-dollar move to Chivas de Guadalajara in January helped put Gutierrez firmly on the radar of Mexico manager Javier Aguirre, who called him to El Tri’s preparation matches before the tournament.
Now, along with fellow MLS product Obed Vargas, Gutierrez is the first Mexican-American on a Mexico World Cup roster since the 2014 tournament. That isn’t a surprise, either, Gutierrez said. He and many young soccer players with Mexican roots grow up in the U.S. supporting the national team their parents and grandparents also root for.
“I think it’s international,” Gutierrez said of the Mexico national team, which also has players born in Spain, Colombia and Argentina on its squad. “The Mexican national team goes to the United States to play often and I think it’s partly our parents who influence and give their support to the national team. That’s what they gave to me.
“The development (in the U.S.) helped me a lot. I think I matured a lot in that way. My father also helped me a lot.”
Rather than feeling overwhelmed on the eve of his first World Cup, Gutierrez seems ready for the ball to get rolling in Mexico’s opener against South Africa, a game he could start as one of Mexico’s two-way midfielders.
“We’re very happy, very excited as I said,” he said. “I think the group is really focused. We want to do things well June 11.”
