Alejandro Zendejas leaves door open for Mexico call-up

There is a tug-of-war between the United States and Mexico for Club Amrica ace Alejandro Zendejas. Both national teams want the 24-year-old to make a commitment sooner rather than later with the CONCACAF Nations League and Gold Cup approaching in mid-year.

Zendejas already played two friendlies with Mexico in 2021, but FIFA sanctioned the federation because he remains under the jurisdiction of the USMNT. The Mexican federation was fined $10,900 and ordered to forfeit both fixtures against Guatemala and Ecuador for using the Club Amrica winger.

On top of that, Mexico was also ordered to forfeit the three under-23 games that Alejandro Zendejas played in 2017. The 24-year-old started his international career with the United States under-17 squad that participated at the 2015 CONCACAF Championship, playing alongside Christian Pulisic and Tyler Adams.

So even though Zendejas had rejected future US national team call ups when he joined Liga MX side Chivas, a team that only selects Mexicans, he was still under the jurisdiction of US Soccer. Now that the FIFA investigation is over, the USMNT decided to call him up for Januarys camp and Zendejas accepted the invitation.