Mexico got their World Cup off to a solid start last week with a win over South Africa, and a 23-year-old from Chicago’s suburbs hopes to help them continue that run this week.
Brian Gutiérrez, who was born in suburban Berwyn and played for parts of six seasons with the Chicago Fire, made his World Cup debut for Mexico in Thursday’s 2-0 win over South Africa. Though he was assessed a yellow card and was subbed off in the second half of the game, he still made an impact offensively, racking up four shot attempts in the contest.
Now, just one day after turning 23, Gutiérrez will hope to help Mexico get out of the group stage of the tournament for the first time since the 2018 edition of the event.
Gutiérrez, born in Berwyn in 2003, attended Reavis High School in suburban Burbank and signed a homegrown player deal with the Chicago Fire in 2020. He made his pro debut in that same season, kicking off a six-year run with his hometown team.
In those six seasons, Gutiérrez scored 19 goals for the Fire, including a career-high nine goals in his final season with the club in 2025. Following the season, Gutiérrez signed a transfer deal with Guadalajara in Mexico’s Liga MX, where he scored two goals in 17 appearances last season.
On the international front, Gutiérrez had originally played in two friendlies for the United States, but changed his international allegiance to Mexico starting in the 2026 season. He scored a pair of goals during Mexico’s friendlies leading up to the World Cup, including on May 22 against Ghana, and he was named to the Mexican team for the 2026 World Cup after securing seven international caps for the squad.
Now, the attacking midfielder is hoping to push the team toward successes they haven’t found in recent decades. Mexico hasn’t gotten out of the group stage of the World Cup since 1986, losing in the round-of-16 in seven consecutive World Cups between 1994 and 2018. The team registered three points in the 2022 edition of the event in Qatar, but failed to reach the knockout stage.
Now, they’re in prime position to get to the knockout stage in the now-expanded 48-team tournament, and that journey continues on Thursday night when they’ll face South Korea in familiar environs for Gutiérrez, as they’ll play at Estadio Akron in Guadalajara.
Kick-off is set for 8 p.m., and the game will air on Fox and Telemundo, along with streaming on Peacock.
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