Here are the Mexico players who benefit by FIFA changing Olympics to an U24 tournament

FIFA announced that they have agreed to change the Olympic games for an U23 tournament to a U24 tournament now that the Olympics have been changed from 2020 to 2021. This means the cutoff date of being born from January 1, 1997 onward has remained, instead of being changed to January 1, 1998. This is a big boost to every team, including Mexico. Taking into account the squad for the Olympic qualifiers, Mexico would have had 12 players that wouldn’t have been able to make it to the Olympic games if the switch had been made to 1998, including all of the goalkeepers who were on the roster.

The list of players born in 1997 is as follows:

Goalkeepers

Sebastian Jurado (Cruz Azul)

Jose Hernandez (Atlas)

Luis Malagon (Morelia)

Defenders

Cesar Montes (Monterrey)

Alan Mozo (Pumas)

Jorge Sanchez (America)

Midfielders

Erick Aguirre (Pachuca)

Ricardo Angulo (Chivas)

Sebastian Cordova (America)

Uriel Antuna (Chivas)

Forwards

Jose Godinez (Leon)

Alexis Vega (Chivas)

The switch means that all the players remain on track for the Olympic qualifiers. Had there not been a switch to an U24 tournament, Mexico would have been hit on all of their lines, including all goalkeepers. Key players like Cesar Montes, Alan Mozo, Sebastian Cordova, Jorge Sanchez, and Uriel Antuna would have missed the tournament, which would have most likely severely hurt Mexico’s chances to make it to the Olympic games. FIFA rightfully announced the measure, and the injustice of missing out on the Olympics because of an health emergency was avoided.