Two former U.S. men’s national team players have reportedly completed their one-time switch to represent Mexico.
Richie Ledezma and Brian Gutierrez have had their one-time switches approved by FIFA, ESPN reported Tuesday. The news comes after both players were called up by El Tri for January friendlies against Panama and Bolivia this month.
Ledezma, 25, previously played for several U.S. youth national teams before earning his senior debut in 2020 under then-USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter. He registered two assists on his debut in a 6-2 win over Panama.
The midfielder-turned-fullback previously played for Dutch giants PSV 2020-25, most recently delivering his best club season yet. Ledezma made 38 appearances for PSV last season, helping the club repeat as Eredivisie title winners.
He then joined Chivas last summer on a free transfer from PSV and has registered six assists in 22 appearances since. Ledezma also featured for NYCFC in 2023 during a season-long loan spell from PSV.
The 22-year-old Guiterrez is also at Chivas with Ledezma since joining on a permanent deal from the Chicago Fire this winter. A former academy product of Chicago, Gutierrez scored 24 goals in 161 appearances for the Fire, delivering his best season in 2025 with 11 goals.
Also a former USYNT player, Gutierrez’s lone two USMNT caps came in January 2025.
Mexico will certainly be looking at both players ahead of this summer’s FIFA World Cup on North American soil.
Can anyone name the players who have made the switch to Mexico? Point being these players seem to disappear when they make the switch.
JoGonzalez, Ochoa, Araujo, Zendajas (but he came back), Efrain Alvarez (but really never repped USA), Obed Vargas, and now Guti, and Ledezma.
i remain concerned we’re getting nibbled away at while not being very aggressive to bring in new face dual nationals from outside. i grant they vary in quality but araujo, who people laughed off originally, has since had stints with barca, bournemouth, and celtic, and a healthy amount of caps.
assuming dest is healthy and freeman plays to his high end and not his erratic end, we’re ok, but for a bit there we had a weird mix of RB need with arrogant indifference to frittering away options. if something happened we might wish araujo or ledezma were contingencies, not just scally.
i was underwhelmed by gutierrez. he seems semi-technical but like little foot speed to create the separation to get the ball off at the highest level. like someone needs to take him to the Brad Davis School For Slow Wingers. brad came up with some tricky one-footed cutbacks and moves and also seemed to work on his fitness — he went from a 60 minute guy to a 90 guy, with more assists more often. and at that point he made the NT.
but as recently as this past summer harriel was an option. so the “C team trash” rings a little hollow. backline in general doesn’t seem fully ready. particularly CB. the older wides have health issues and the younger ones are glitch prone. perhaps a little too comfortable.
to be fair, GK is worse, we just hand that job around on coach vibes and not because anyone stands on their head and takes the gig. the wingbacks have at least had That Game where they made a case, which you can balance against some shockers. and the attacking lines are a lot more decided on the field, with the exception of zendejas. but you can generally point to a showcase game or few. backline and keeper, less so.
If you’re concerned with Dest, Jedi, Arfsten, and Freeman’s defensive abilities Ledezma is not your guy.
Mexico taking our c team players these days. Good luck to both.
This seemed kind of a forgone conclusion when they signed with Chivas. The path to minutes for both seem higher with Mexico’s roster.
They’re not bad players and would have definitely made pre-2020 rosters. They were a good ways down on our current one.
I still wonder what might have been had Richie not torn his ACL. Happened just as he was breaking into PSV’s rotation. (For all their nationalistic pride Chivas starting four American born and trained players + Leo Sepulveda if he ever gets healthy).
Told you JR, they are no longer yanks abroad. 😱😢😭
Yep, as I told you it wasn’t done, but it was looking that way. I’m sure El Tri wanted it finalized before camp after the Zendajas debacle.
I am annoyed Gutierrez switched, could have seen him lighting it up in Europe in the future. Ledezma should have switched sooner when he was at PSV. Oh well, good luck to them both.
Striker, Guitierrez would have Luna, Reyna, both Aaronson’s, Tillman, all around his age. Plus Wes, Puli, Weah with years left. Albert and Caven Sullivan coming on fast. The path just looks very crowded for the USA at that position. Mexico has some guys that will likely age out after this cycle. I don’t see either making WC 2026.
Further drama Striker, it seems Gutierrez wouldn’t need to file a switch because he never played in tournament for the USA. So he remains eligible for either. Again, I don’t see him “switching” back to US.