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Argentina Diego Cocca has been appointed as the new manager of Mexico’s men’s national team, the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) announced Friday.
Liga MX’s Tigres had effectively confirmed the move on Thursday after revealing in a statement that they had terminated Cocca’s contract as manager with an agreement already in place for him to take over the national team.
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Ahead of the 2026 World Cup that will be co-hosted by Mexico, the United States and Canada, Cocca is now in charge of a team that fell below expectations with a group stage exit in last year’s tournament in Qatar.
“I really feel happy, I feel proud, I feel privileged to be able to be the coach for the Mexican national team,” Cocca said at his unveiling.
“We’re going to identify players that feel proud, that’ll come to give their all and that feels that arriving to the national team is a privilege,” he added.
The role will be a first at the international level for the 50-year-old who has previously coached clubs in Argentina, Colombia, and most recently, Mexico, where he won back-to-back Liga MX titles with Atlas in the 2021 Apertura and 2022 Clausura.
Cocca replaces countryman Gerardo “Tata” Martino, who immediately left the role after his contract expired at the end of Mexico’s lackluster elimination from the World Cup.
Days before Cocca’s appointment, the FMF announced a restructuring effort that included the hiring of Rodrigo Ares de Parga as the new executive director of national teams and the formation of a national team committee, made up of Liga MX club leadership from Chivas, Santos Laguna, Club America, Necaxa, Club Tijuana and FMF president Yon de Luisa.
The committee, along with De Parga and the sporting director for men’s national teams Jaime Ordiales, were all involved in the process to select the next Mexico manager.
“The project that Diego presented was very good, very clear, very straightforward. One of the more important points is the daily work that Diego proposed with the technical teams [of Mexican clubs],” De Parga said.
“As the national team, we can’t be isolated from Liga MX clubs and we need to work with them day by day.”
Added Ordiales: “In Diego, what did we see? He’s an intelligent leader with values, he knows how to lead groups. He has proven ability and experience.”
Cocca has ties to the committee after previously coaching Club Tijuana and also Atlas, a team co-owned by Santos Laguna through Grupo Orlegi. Reports indicated that Miguel “Piojo” Herrera, Guillermo Almada, Ignacio Ambriz, Antonio Mohamed and Marcelo Bielsa were all also in the running for Mexico’s coaching job.
The national team and the FMF are currently working on reviving themselves following a period of turmoil that began with the men’s senior side losing the Gold Cup final and the inaugural CONCACAF Nations League final in 2021, both to the United States.
After then failing to qualify for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, the 2023 U20 men’s World Cup, and the 2024 Olympics for both the men’s and women’s teams, the first stage of restructuring was announced in 2022.
Last summer, general sporting director Gerardo Torrado, sporting director of national teams Ignacio Hierro, women’s national team manager Monica Vergara and men’s U20 coach Luis Perez were all subsequently dropped.
The FMF have since hired Andrea Rodebaugh as the new sporting director for women’s national teams, Pedro Lopez as the women’s national team coach, Ordiales as the sporting director for men’s national teams, and De Parga as executive director of national teams.
Cocca, the latest piece of the FMF puzzle, will now need to quickly prepare for Nations League matches in March away against Suriname and at home against Jamaica. In the build-up to the 2026 World Cup, Cocca’s first tournament with Mexico will be in June at the 2023 Gold Cup.
Asked about whether he felt immediate pressure to win those tournaments, Cocca responded: “I don’t see it as pressure. I’m the coach of the Mexican national team, you have to win even in pick-up games. If we transmit that competitiveness and that mentality, it’s going to be natural to enter the field and win.”
Before the start of his career as a coach, the former defender had short stints in Mexico as a player with Atlas (1999-2001), Veracruz (2003-04) and Queretaro (2005). As a manager, Cocca coached Santos Laguna (2011), Club Tijuana (2017-18), and Atlas (2020-22), before being brought on by Tigres last November.