Vasquez & Montes: Mexico’s unbreachable defensive pair facing England

3 min readJul 5, 2026 05:42 PM IST

Winning the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics cemented the bond between Cesar Montes (3) and Johan Vasquez (5) (AP Photo)

Along with European champions Spain, co-hosts Mexico is the only team yet to concede a goal in the World Cup, which explains the enormity of the task confronting Harry Kane and his England side in the Round of 16 match at the Azteca Stadium.

In modern football, teams generally attack and defend as a unit. But there are still individuals who are key to the effectiveness of the endeavour. In the case of the Mexican defence, they are Cesar Montes and Johan Vasquez, two friends who hail from the same region of the country, have grown in the game together and are now jointly responsible to keep El Tri’s back door shut, giving their attacking players the freedom and confidence to go in search of goals.

“I think I was about 10 or 11 years old when I first saw him. We met at Pachuca, and that’s where we realised we were from the same state, the same region, the same area,” Vasquez told FIFA about his defensive partner.

“We met again when we were at Cimarrones de Sonora, then at Monterrey, and now we’re both playing for the national team.”

What cemented their bond together was winning the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, and a lot of players from that group have been instrumental in Mexico’s impressive run in the World Cup.

“We’ve become a family in the national team. We’ve known each other and played together for years. That’s the key,” Vasquez said.

Having known each other for a long time definitely helps in the heat of the battle with Mexico keeping a clean sheet in their four game till date.

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“I think it’s a beautiful thing to be able to give the team a sense of security and for the team to trust you. We try to do our job, but just because you haven’t conceded a goal doesn’t mean everything is perfect defensively. The two don’t necessarily equate; there have been times when a teammate, the goalkeeper or someone else has saved us, and all the credit goes to the defence. It’s really a collective effort,” the 27-year-old who plays for Genoa in Italy said.

“We’ve known each other for a long time, and we know each other’s limits. I think that’s what makes us such a great defence.”

Their friendship transcends the football pitch and they are pretty close off the field as well.

“Being from the same place, you tend to look after each other. I would move to a new club and wouldn’t know any of the other guys. You end up gravitating towards the person closest to where you’re from. When I first arrived, he welcomed me and helped me with lots of things,” Vasquez added.