Sporting Kansas City striker Alan Pulido has been selected to the Mexico Men’s National Team for the 2021 Concacaf Nations League Finals on June 3 and 6 in Denver, the Mexican Football Federation announced today.
Pulido is part of a 23-player roster assembled by Mexico head coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino for the highly anticipated competition. El Tri will meet Costa Rica in the Concacaf Nations League semifinals on June 3 and face either the United States or Honduras in the final or third-place match on June 6, with both games taking place at Empower Field at Mile High. The camp will conclude with a friendly on June 12 when Mexico and Honduras square off at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Mexico MNT Match Schedule (June 3-12)
<strong>Date</strong> |
<strong>Time (CT)</strong> |
<strong>Opponent</strong> |
<strong>Location</strong> |
<div>Thursday, June 3</div> |
<div>9 p.m.</div> |
<div>Costa Rica<br>
(Nations League Semis)</div> |
<div>Empower Field at Mile High<br>
Denver, Colorado</div> |
<div>Sunday, June 6</div> |
<div>5:30 or<br>
8 p.m.</div> |
<div>USA/Honduras<br>
(Nations League Final/3rd Place)</div> |
<div>Empower Field at Mile High<br>
Denver, Colorado</div> |
<div>Saturday, June 12</div> |
<div>6:30 p.m.</div> |
<div>Honduras</div> |
<div>Mercedes-Benz Stadium<br>
Atlanta, Georgia</div> |
The inaugural Concacaf Nations League Finals were originally scheduled to be played in June 2020 before being postponed. Marquee semifinal matchups on June 3 will see El Tri battle Costa Rica and the U.S. play Honduras, with the winners progressing to the final and the losers meeting in the third-place game in a June 6 doubleheader. The Concacaf Nations League Finals will be shown live in English on Paramount+.
Pulido will join Mexico following Saturday’s match between Sporting and Houston Dynamo FC at Children’s Mercy Park and is expected to return to Kansas City following El Tri’s friendly versus Honduras on June 12. The 30-year-old is one of two MLS players on Mexico’s star-studded squad alongside LA Galaxy midfielder Jonathan dos Santos.
After coming off the bench in Sporting’s first two matches this season, Pulido has caught fire with a league-leading four goals and 25 shot attempts during the month of May. He has three goals and an assist in Sporting’s last two matches, including a brace in a 3-0 triumph over Vancouver Whitecaps FC on May 16 and a goal and an assist in a 3-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes last Saturday. Pulido is one of 10 MLS players this season with five combined goals (four) and assists (one) and enters the weekend with two straight selections to the MLS Team of the Week presented by Audi.
Pulido had seven goals and five assists in 14 appearances across all competitions during his first MLS season with Sporting in 2020. His six goals and five assists in regular season play were both team highs, marking the first time since 2005 that a player has led Sporting in both goals and assists. Sporting went 8-2-1 and averaged 2.27 goals per match in the 11 regular season games he started last year. Pulido was one of three finalists for 2020 MLS Newcomer of the Year and earned team Offensive Player of the Year honors after helping Manager Peter Vermes’ side finish atop the Western Conference standings with a 12-6-3 record and 1.86 points per match, the highest clip in club history.
A native of Ciudad Victoria, Pulido has recorded five goals in 14 career caps for Mexico, most recently featuring in El Tri’s 2-2 friendly draw against Algeria last October in the Netherlands. The striker last joined Mexico in March and did not participate in friendlies against Wales and Costa Rica. He has notably represented his country at the 2011 Copa America in Argentina and the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Pulido has featured for Mexico at the U-20, U-23 and senior levels. He led El Tri to the 2011 Concacaf U-20 Championship title, scoring three goals at the tournament, before making five appearances at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia as Mexico finished in third place.
In April 2012, Pulido and the Mexico U-23s hoisted the Concacaf Olympic Qualifying Tournament title at Children’s Mercy Park. The semifinal and final matches both took place in Sporting’s home stadium, with Pulido scoring in a 3-1 semifinal victory over Canada. He finished as the competition’s leading scorer with five goals, helping Mexico book their place at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, and guided El Tri to the Toulon Tournament championship later that year in France.
Pulido 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.
