Groningen winger Uriel Antuna and Royal Excel Mouscron midfielder Omar Govea have been called into the Mexico squad for the first time for friendlies against Belgium on Nov. 10 in Brussels and Poland on Nov. 13 in Gdansk.
Former Santos Laguna player Antuna, 20, has only played two games for Groningen in the Eredivisie since his move last summer, while Govea, 21, has been a regular in Belgium's top division, where he is on loan from Porto.
The rest of coach Juan Carlos Osorio's 26-man squad was shorn of major surprises, with the bulk of the players from the Confederations Cup involved, including in-form winger Hirving Lozano.
West Ham United's Javier Hernandez is part of the squad, as is Porto's quartet of Jesus "Tecatito" Corona, Diego Reyes, Hector Herrera and Miguel Layun.
The Mexico squad to face Belgium and Poland.
— Tom Marshall (@mexicoworldcup) November 3, 2017
Thoughts?
Via (@miseleccionmx) pic.twitter.com/Ne4vQRgRC3
Atlas captain Rafa Marquez is back playing in Liga MX, but was left out of the Mexico squad. His international career remains uncertain as he seeks to clear his name after he was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department back in August for alleged links to a drug trafficking organization.
There was a rumor earlier Friday that Real Sociedad forward Carlos Vela would be left off, following a slow start to the season in Spain, but he was included, as were LA Galaxy duo Giovani and Jonathan dos Santos.
Belgium and Poland both named strong squads for the matches.
The Mexico squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Jesus Corona (Cruz Azul), Rodolfo Cota (Chivas), Guillermo Ochoa (Standard Liege)
Defenders: Nestor Araujo (Santos Laguna), Hugo Ayala (Tigres), Jesus Gallardo (Pumas), Miguel Layun (Porto), Cesar Montes (Monterrey), Hector Moreno (Roma), Diego Reyes (Porto), Carlos Salcedo (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Midfielders: Edson Alvarez (America), Giovani Dos Santos (LA Galaxy), Jonathan Dos Santos (LA Galaxy), Omar Govea (Royal Excel Mouscron), Andres Guardado (Real Betis), Hector Herrera (Porto)
Forwards: Uriel Antuna (Groningen), Javier Aquino (Tigres), Jesus Corona (Porto), Jurgen Damm (Tigres), Javier Hernandez (West Ham), Raul Jimenez (Benfica), Hirving Lozano (PSV Eindhoven), Oribe Peralta (America), Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad)