Mexican Footballers Andres Guardado, Guillermo Ochoa Make Their 5th World Cup As Teammates

Mexican footballers Andres Guardado and Guillermo Ochoa are getting ready to play their fifth world cup as teammates.

Andres Guardado and Guillermo Ochoa made their debuts with the Mexican national team on Dec. 14, 2005. There have been four World Cup tournaments since and the duo have both been to all four tournaments. The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar marks the duo's fifth time playing in the world cup as teammates. This makes Mexico the first country to have two players in the same tournament participating in their fifth World Cup, Associated Press News reported.

“I look back and I am proud of what I have been able to achieve,” Guardado said. “It’s not easy to remain here. It takes hard work to maintain a high competitive level day after day and to continue to be taken into consideration for the national team.”

Guardado and Ochoa will make history when Mexico faces Poland in the team’s opening match on Nov. 22 in Group C.

Several players like the German great Lothar Matthaus, former Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and another pair of Mexicans, Antonio Carvajal and Rafael Márquez, have previously played in five World Cups. However, none were teammates at the tournament, Bally Sports reported.

Guardado and Ochoa have been sharing the same locker room since a match where Mexico beat Hungary in December 2005.

“It’s easier to do it with a friend to share it with. And because you have something in common from Day 1, it’s a path and a journey that I’ve really enjoyed with him,” said Guardado.

Guardado, a midfielder who plays in Spain with Real Betis, made his Mexican league debut in August 2005. He was called to the national team a short time later. He was then called to his first World Cup in Germany six months after that.

Meanwhile, Ochoa made his league debut in August 2004 with América, one of the most popular teams in Mexico. He was then chosen by Argentine coach Ricardo La Volpe to go to Germany in 2006 behind starter Oswaldo Sánchez and José de Jesús Corona.

Ochoa was also on the bench in South Africa four years later, behind Oscar Pérez. He made his World Cup debut at the 2014 tournament in Brazil and has been a starter for the national team since then.