WC Countdown: Mrs. Fate's call - Make way for ageless Memo

People say one cannot escape fate. If something is predestined to happen, it will happen one way or another. This sometimes merciless and sometimes kind lady, Mrs. Fate, will arrange it herself.

Guillermo "Memo" Ochoa's appearance in the 2026 FIFA World Cup was neither plausible nor realistic for various reasons.

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He's almost 41 and past his prime. He was relatively standard between the posts of the eighth-placed side in the Cypriot league, AEL Limassol, but still played at a significantly lower level than his competitors for a place in Javier Aguirre's Mexico squad, Luis Malagon, Raul Rangel, and Carlos Acevedo, who all represent domestic giants: Club America, Chivas Guadalajara, and Santos Laguna. On top of that, he had not been called up since July 2025, nor had he featured for Mexico since November 2024. The national team door seemed closed to him.

The days when Memo was the popular El Tricolor's key player and looked like an octopus with eight arms in goal seemed long gone. But were they?

Everyone thought so, except for Mrs. Fate, whose hand was at work.

On March 10, three months and one day before Mexico's first World Cup game and the tournament opener against South Africa, Aguirre's projected first-choice custodian, Luis Malagon, tore his Achilles tendon, forcing the 67-year-old tactician to reach for his phone and dial Ochoa's number.

Now, Memo is back on the team, preparing, by a fortunate turn of events for him and unfortunate for his fellow-keeper, for his sixth World Cup, joining the icons, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who will achieve the same accomplishment in the USA, Canada, and Mexico, at the top of the all-time list.

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He was an unused substitute in both 2006 and 2010. The following three tournaments saw him rise to prominence and catapulted him to legendary status. In the upcoming WC, he's expected to start on the bench once again, perhaps even as the third choice.

However, as long as Mrs. Fate is on his side - and she apparently is - Memo has a chance. After all, every football fan in the world wants to see him between the posts one last time in the World Cup. One unfortunate injury or a potential red card to Rangel or Acevedo is all it takes.

Ochoa during his World Cup debut, against Cameroon in June 2014 (©Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

And if any of these setbacks still do not happen - no one wishes that on Mexicans, just to make it clear - let's hope the Tricolor will play at least one "dead rubber match" in the tournament and that Aguirre will follow the examples of two Argentinians, Jose Pekerman and Hector Cuper.

The former led Colombia in the 2014 World Cup, while the latter was the Egypt boss four years later, and, given that their teams played meaningless games in the third group stage rounds, they helped their backup keepers make history.

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Pekerman subbed on Faryd Mondragon in the 85th minute of the clash against Japan - when Colombia had already secured the top of their group - who became the oldest player to feature in a World Cup, aged 43 years and 3 days.

In 2018, Egypt goalie Essam El Hadary - aged 45 years and 161 days at the time - broke his record, as Cuper started him in the third group stage match against Saudi Arabia when both teams had already been eliminated.

That's the example Aguirre should follow in order to fulfill everyone's wish and let them see Memo in goal at the World Cup once again. If not, Mrs. Fate could intervene one more time. And when she does, there's no escape.