Guillermo Ochoa was the goalkeeper opposition forwards least wanted to see at a World Cup, and he kept turning up at them for 20 years. He retired on 22 July 2026, three days after the World Cup finished, with 153 caps, six World Cup squads and the record for the most appearances by a Mexico goalkeeper.
Only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have also been named in six World Cup squads. Ochoa is the only goalkeeper to have done it.
The World Cup nights that made his name
In a 2014 group match against hosts Brazil, Ochoa was unbeatable, making six crucial saves — including close-range headers from Neymar and Thiago Silva — to salvage a 0-0 draw against a star-studded Selecao attack.
Four years later in Russia, he did it to the reigning world champions. Mexico opened their 2018 campaign against Germany and Ochoa made nine saves to protect a 1-0 lead, a result that played its part in Germany going out at the group stage.
Then Qatar, and the save people still lead with: a penalty from Robert Lewandowski in a goalless draw with Poland in 2022, one of several stops that earned Mexico a point they would otherwise not have had.
A sixth World Cup, on home soil
Ochoa was named in Mexico’s 26-man squad on 31 May 2026, equalling the record for World Cup squad selections. He had been an unused substitute in 2006 and 2010, so this was his fourth tournament as a player rather than his sixth, and it produced one appearance.
On 24 June he came on as a substitute in a 3-0 win over the Czech Republic in Mexico City. At 40 years and 346 days, he became the oldest Mexican to play at a World Cup, passing Rafael Marquez. It was also his last cap. Mexico went out in the round of 16, beaten 3-2 by England, and Ochoa retired from international football straight afterwards, then from the game altogether on 22 July.
For where that leaves him among the tournament’s great survivors, see our list of the most World Cup appearances of all time, and the full 2026 story on our FIFA World Cup 2026 page.
Guillermo Ochoa’s club career
For a man who became a folk hero in goalkeeping gloves, Ochoa never wanted to be a goalkeeper. He preferred playing as a striker early on; his coaches thought he would be better between the sticks, and that call shaped the rest of his career.
Club America gave him the platform. He spent seven years there from 2004, playing 291 matches across all competitions, before moving to Europe in 2011 — Ajaccio in France, then Malaga, a loan at Granada and three seasons at Standard Liege in Belgium.
He returned to America in 2019 and set a club record for clean sheets, then went back to Europe for the closing stretch: Salernitana in Italy from 2022, AVS in Portugal in 2024, and finally AEL Limassol in Cyprus, where he finished in 2026. Across the whole of it he made more than 750 senior club appearances.
Who was Guillermo Ochoa’s idol?
Ochoa, who went on to captain Mexico, idolised the former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel. He has said his own goalkeeping was largely shaped by Schmeichel, one of the great shot-stoppers and famously unconventional with it.
Guillermo Ochoa’s achievements and titles
With Mexico, Ochoa won six CONCACAF Gold Cups — 2009, 2011, 2015, 2019, 2023 and 2025 — more than any player in the competition’s history. He added the CONCACAF Nations League in 2024-25, a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and a third-place finish at the 2007 Copa America.
Individually, he took two Liga MX Golden Gloves in his first spell at America (Apertura 2006 and Clausura 2007), the Gold Cup Golden Glove in 2019 and 2023, and the CONCACAF Champions League Golden Glove in 2021.
He finished as the most-capped goalkeeper Mexico have had, and as the only one to be picked for six World Cups. For a player whose reputation rests on a handful of nights against Brazil, Germany and Poland, the longevity is the part that is hardest to repeat.
Featured image: Alamy