United States U15 and U17 Zendejas was a member the
United States under-17 squad that competed at the
2015 CONCACAF U-17 Championship playing alongside future USMNT stars
Christian Pulisic and
Tyler Adams. Overall, he gained 27 caps and scored four goals for the U-17 national team. After joining Mexican club
C.D. Guadalajara, Zendejas agreed to reject future U.S. national team call-ups and accept Mexico national team call-ups if they occur.
Mexico In August 2017, Zendejas was called up to the
Mexico under-21 squad for games in
China and
Qatar, the start of preparation for the
Olympics in
Tokyo in
2020. Zendejas received his first call-up to the
national team by
Gerardo Martino, and made his debut on 27 October 2021 in a friendly match against
Ecuador, coming in as a substitute in the 65th minute for
Uriel Antuna.
National team controversy In late August 2022,
FIFA issued an investigation probe on the
Mexican Football Federation regarding Zendejas' call-ups to friendly matches in October 2021 and April 2022, against
Ecuador and
Guatemala respectively, the matches themselves were non-FIFA regulated matches but nevertheless, Zendejas' national team allegiance was still under the 'legal' jurisdiction of the
United States Soccer Federation, meaning that Zendejas had taken part in friendly matches for Mexico without consulting or filing a
one-time switch to FIFA in order to
switch national team allegiances, a violation of FIFA regulations. On November 9, 2022, Zendejas’ attorneys revealed to media that the player was considering representing the
United States. On January 19, 2023, FIFA ordered
Mexico to forfeit two friendlies—a 3–2 loss against
Ecuador on October 28, 2021, and a 0–0 draw with
Guatemala on April 22, 2022— and pay a 10,000
Swiss Franc fine for using Zendejas in violation of regulations. The
Mexico under-23 team was also ordered to forfeit three games in which Zendejas played.
United States On January 17, 2023, Zendejas was included in the list of United States national team call ups for two friendlies against
Serbia and
Colombia, as he had never applied to FIFA for a one-time switch in affiliation to be allowed to appear for the Mexico national team. In January 2023, Zendejas became the fifth player to earn caps for both national teams in the history of the
Mexico–U.S. football rivalry and only the second Mexican-born to do so since
Martín Vásquez. On March 14, 2023,
U.S. Soccer announced that Zendejas had officially committed to play internationally for the United States on a permanent basis. ==Career statistics==