Monterrey’s familiar football divide has surfaced again in Mexico’s first senior squad under Rafael Márquez: while Rayados have supplied two players for the September and October international window, Tigres have no member of the 30-man group selected to play.
Víctor Guzmán and Orbelín Pineda are the representatives from the blue-and-white side of the city in Márquez’s opening call-up as national-team coach. Across town, Tigres are absent from the match squad despite the arrival of a new manager for El Tri.
The selection blends 17 players who featured at the 2026 World Cup with younger footballers and newer faces being assessed for the road towards 2030. Gilberto Mora, Armando González, Santiago Sandoval and Hugo Camberos are among those brought into the group as Márquez begins shaping his cycle.
A training role for Simeone
Tigres will nevertheless have a presence around the senior national side. Young midfielder Henrique Simeone has been invited as one of three Under-20 players who will train with the full squad during the camp.
Simeone is not included among the 30 footballers available for the friendlies in the two FIFA windows. His role is limited to sessions with the senior group, where the coaching staff will be able to observe him at close range.
For now, that leaves Simeone as Tigres’ only connection to Márquez’s new Mexico set-up, while the club waits for a future call-up to restore a playing representative in the senior side. The first list of the new era has therefore underlined the local contrast in Nuevo León: two Rayados players selected, and none from Tigres for the international matches.
