Sporting Kansas City striker Alan Pulido has been named to the Mexico Men’s National Team for the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup.
Concacaf announced the final 23-player rosters on Thursday for the Gold Cup, which will kick off on Friday and conclude Aug. 1, with Mexico drawn into Group A alongside Curacao, El Salvador and an opponent to be determined following the conclusion of the preliminary round on July 6. Mexico will play all three group stage matches in the Dallas Metroplex from July 10-18, with each game airing live on FS1 and streaming on the FOX Sports app.
The top two finishers in each group will progress to the Gold Cup quarterfinals on July 24-25, followed by the semifinals on July 29 and the final on Aug. 1 at Allegiant Stadium near Las Vegas.
Mexico Schedule: 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup – Group A
- Saturday, July 10 vs. opponent TBD (9 p.m. CT | FS1, FOX Sports app)
- Wednesday, July 14 vs. Curacao (8:30 p.m. CT | FS1, FOX Sports app)
- Sunday, July 18 vs. El Salvador (9 p.m. CT | FS1, FOX Sports app)
Pulido, 30, returns to Mexico’s squad after representing El Tri last month. The forward featured as a second-half substitute in the Concacaf Nations League Semifinals on June 3 in Denver, burying his penalty kick as Mexico edged Costa Rica in a shootout following a scoreless stalemate. On June 12, Pulido earned his first start for El Tri since 2018 in a 0-0 friendly draw against Honduras in Atlanta.
Mexico head coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino has assembled a Gold Cup roster that features three MLS players in Pulido along with LA Galaxy teammates Jonathan Dos Santos and Efrain Alvarez. Sitting at No. 11 in the FIFA world rankings, Mexico are the reigning Gold Cup champion—having defeated the United States in the 2019 final—and will look to extend their tournament record with a ninth title this summer.
Per tournament rules, a player may be replaced on the roster up to 24 hours prior to a team’s first match of the group phase in the case of injury. The replacement player must come from the 60-man preliminary roster.
Pulido is one of two Sporting players set to compete in the 2021 Gold Cup, with 19-year-old midfielder Gianluca Busio earning his first selection to the United States Men’s National Team. The U.S. MNT will be based in Kansas City – a Candidate Host City for the 2026 FIFA World Cup – throughout the group stage, as Children’s Mercy Park hosts Gold Cup matches for a fourth time (2011, 2015, 2019, 2021) since opening a decade ago. Tickets start at $45 via SeatGeek.com and three-day passes can be purchased for access to all five international matches at the state-of-the-art venue, headlined by U.S. MNT matches on July 11, July 15 and July 18.
Pulido, who joined Sporting ahead of the 2020 campaign, has recorded 12 goals and six assists in 23 MLS appearances over the last two seasons. The striker is one of three MLS players to score six goals in each of the last two regular seasons and Sporting boasts a 15-6-2 record when Pulido plays.
Tied for fourth in MLS with six goals this year, Pulido scored in each of Sporting’s three consecutive wins from May 16-29 and struck a second-half equalizer in a dramatic 2-1 comeback victory over LAFC on Saturday. His contributions have helped Sporting climb to second place in the Supporters’ Shield standings with a 7-3-2 record and a league-leading 22 goals.
A native of Ciudad Victoria, Pulido has bagged five goals in 16 career caps for Mexico. He has notably represented his country at the 2011 Copa America in Argentina and the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The forward made his senior international debut on Jan. 29, 2014, scoring a hat trick in a 4-0 friendly win against South Korea in San Antonio, Texas. He added another goal in a 2-2 friendly draw with the United States over two months later and bagged his fifth Mexico goal in a friendly win over Iceland in February 2017.
First held in 1991 and taking place every two years, the Gold Cup is Concacaf’s premier international competition and features men’s national teams from across North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The 16th edition of the tournament will unfold in eight different U.S. markets.
