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Mexico Trims Its World Cup Pool to 31 Players Before Final Cut

Rosters for the 2022 World Cup aren’t due in to FIFA until Nov. 14, but that’s not stopping Mexico from getting a head start on whittling down its player pool.

On Wednesday, manager Tata Martino revealed a 31-man squad, from which his 26-man group for Qatar will be selected. That final group will try to both extend Mexico’s streak of getting out of the group stage while simultaneously ending the curse of losing in the round of 16. For seven straight men’s World Cups, Mexico has been bounced in the first knockout game, with the fifth game—the quinto partido—remaining ever elusive.