Liga de Expansión MX
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| File:Liga de expansión MX.logopng.png | |
| Organising body | Federación Mexicana de Fútbol (FMF) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2020 |
| Country | Mexico |
| Confederation | CONCACAF |
| Number of clubs | 15 |
| Level on pyramid | 2 |
| Promotion to | Liga MX (suspended) |
| Relegation to | Liga Premier (suspended) |
| Current champions | Jaiba Brava (2nd title) |
| Most championships | Atlante (3 titles) |
| Broadcaster(s) | AYM Sports ESPN[1] Hi Sports |
| Website | ligabbvaexpansion.mx |
| Current: 2025–26 Liga de Expansión MX season | |
Liga de Expansión MX, officially named Liga BBVA Expansión MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the second level of the Mexican football league system. It has 15 participating clubs, the season is divided into two short tournaments (Apertura and Clausura), the champions of each tournament are decided by a final phase (Liguilla).
Founded in 2020 as part of the FMF's Stabilization Project, which has the primary objective of rescuing the financially troubled teams from the Ascenso MX and prevent the disappearance of a second level league in Mexico.[2] The project also attempts for Liga MX and former Ascenso MX teams to consolidate stable projects with strong administration, finances, and infrastructure.
Atlante is the most successful club with 3 titles, followed by Tapatío and Jaiba Brava with 2 titles each. In all, seven clubs have won the Liga de Expansión MX at least once.
History
[edit | edit source]On 20 February 2020, the presidents of the Liga MX clubs, the Ascenso MX clubs and the FMF executives had a meeting, in which different topics were discussed with the intent of strengthening the two main leagues in the country.[3]
On 26 June 2020, the league was officially presented, with the participation of 16 teams: Alebrijes de Oaxaca, Atlante, Atlético Morelia, Cancún, Celaya, Cimarrones de Sonora, Correcaminos UAT, Dorados de Sinaloa, Leones Negros UdeG, Mineros de Zacatecas, Tampico Madero, and Venados F.C. as Ascenso MX teams. Pumas Tabasco and Tapatío entered to the league as Liga MX affiliates.[4] Finally, on 17 July 2020, Tepatitlán and Tlaxcala were invited as Liga Premier expansion teams.[5]
On 22 May 2023, the Liga MX owners assembly approved a reform for the league that should have been carried out in 2024. This reform planned that the 18 member teams of the Liga MX should have had a U-23 team in the Liga de Expansión, which would have represented a merger between the Expansión MX and the Liga MX U–23.[6] However, in May 2024 the proposal was scrapped due to opposition from the owners of the Liga de Expansión teams, as they considered that the project represented a degradation of the participating clubs.[7]
In May 2025, a group of ten league member clubs filed a lawsuit before the Court of Arbitration for Sport seeking the reinstatement of promotion and relegation between the Liga de Expansión and Liga MX;[8] four teams subsequently dropped the lawsuit, the six remaining teams formed an opposing bloc within the league, which was formed with the aim of combating some of the measures that had occurred previously,[9] their first triumph was the rejection of the relocation of Celaya F.C. to Veracruz and the sale of the affiliation certificate between Cimarrones de Sonora and Club Jaiba Brava.[10]
On 4 September 2025, the Court of Arbitration for Sport issued its verdict on the dispute filed by the six Liga de Expansión clubs seeking to reinstate promotion to Liga MX. The ruling established the return of promotion starting with the 2026–27 season;[11] however, the CAS allowed the Mexican Football Federation to retain the authority to establish the requirements for clubs to be promoted to the top flight of Mexican football, returning to a situation similar to that in place before the creation of the Liga de Expansión in 2020.[12]
Participating clubs
[edit | edit source]2025–26 season
[edit | edit source]The 2025–26 Liga de Expansión MX season has the following 15 participating clubs.
| Club | City | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlante | Zacatepec | Estadio Agustín "Coruco" Díaz | 24,313 |
| Atlético La Paz | La Paz | Estadio Guaycura | 5,209 |
| Atlético Morelia | Morelia | Estadio Morelos | 35,000 |
| Cancún | Cancún | Estadio Andrés Quintana Roo | 18,844 |
| Irapuato[13] | Irapuato, Guanajuato | Estadio Sergio León Chávez | 25,000 |
| Jaiba Brava | Tampico and Ciudad Madero | Estadio Tamaulipas | 19,667 |
| Oaxaca | Oaxaca | Estadio Tecnológico de Oaxaca | 16,000 |
| Sinaloa | Culiacán | Estadio Dorados | 20,108 |
| Tapatío | Zapopan | Estadio Akron | 45,364 |
| Tepatitlán | Tepatitlán | Estadio Gregorio "Tepa" Gómez | 8,085 |
| Tlaxcala | Tlaxcala | Estadio Tlahuicole | 11,135 |
| Venados | Mérida | Estadio Carlos Iturralde | 15,087 |
| UAT | Ciudad Victoria | Estadio Marte R. Gómez | 10,520 |
| UdeG | Guadalajara | Estadio Jalisco | 56,713 |
| Zacatecas | Zacatecas | Estadio Carlos Vega Villalba | 20,777 |
Performances
[edit | edit source]| Rank | Club | Titles | Runners-up | Winning years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Atlante | 3 | 2 | Apertura 2021, Apertura 2022, Clausura 2024 |
| 2 | Tampico Madero/Jaiba Brava | 2 | 2 | Guardianes 2020, Apertura 2025 |
| Tapatío | 2 | 0 | Clausura 2023, Apertura 2024 | |
| 4 | Atlético Morelia | 1 | 2 | Clausura 2022 |
| UdeG | 1 | 1 | Clausura 2025 | |
| Tepatitlán | 1 | 0 | Guardianes 2021 | |
| Cancún | 1 | 0 | Apertura 2023 | |
| 8 | Celaya | 0 | 2 | — |
| Sonora | 0 | 1 | — | |
| Irapuato | 0 | 1 | — |
Campeón de Campeones de Liga de Expansión MX
[edit | edit source]Campeón de Campeones de Liga de Expansión MX is the domestic Super cup of the division between the champions of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments, the two champions of each season.
| Rank | Club | Titles | Runners-up | Winning years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tapatío | 2 | 0 | 2023, 2025 |
| 2 | Atlante | 1 | 2 | 2022 |
| Tepatitlán | 1 | 0 | 2021 | |
| Cancún | 1 | 0 | 2024 | |
| 5 | Atlético Morelia | 0 | 1 | — |
| Tampico Madero | 0 | 1 | — | |
| UdeG | 0 | 1 | — |
Managers
[edit | edit source]Current managers of Liga de Expansión MX clubs:
| Manager | Club | Appointed | Time as manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico Alfonso Sosa | UdeG | 7 September 2021 | 4 years, 276 days |
| Mexico Arturo Ortega | Tapatío | 15 June 2023 | 2 years, 360 days |
| Mexico Marco Antonio Ruiz | Jaiba Brava | 3 December 2024 | 1 year, 189 days |
| Mexico Marco Fabián Vázquez | Tlaxcala | 16 May 2025 | 1 year, 25 days |
| Ecuador Miguel Bravo | Cancún | 22 May 2025 | 1 year, 19 days |
| Argentina Hugo Norberto Castillo | Atlético La Paz | 31 May 2025 | 1 year, 10 days |
| Mexico Daniel Alcántar | Irapuato | 14 July 2025 | 331 days |
| Spain Nacho Castro | Venados | 21 August 2025 | 293 days |
| Mexico Luis Ángel Muñoz | Zacatecas | 23 September 2025 | 260 days |
| Mexico Paco Ramírez | Sinaloa | 3 October 2025 | 250 days |
| Mexico Mario Ortiz | Atlético Morelia | 7 October 2025 | 246 days |
| Mexico Ricardo Carbajal | Atlante | 26 November 2025 | 196 days |
| Mexico Efrén Hernández | Oaxaca | 9 December 2025 | 184 days |
| Uruguay Gustavo Díaz | UAT | 9 December 2025 | 183 days |
| Argentina Gabriel Pereyra | Tepatitlán | 9 December 2025 | 183 days |
Top goalscorers
[edit | edit source]| Season | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guardianes 2020 | Mexico Alberto Alvarado Morín Mexico Lizandro Echeverría Mexico Guillermo Martínez Paraguay Gustavo Ramírez |
UAT Atlante Celaya Morelia |
7 |
| Guardianes 2021 | Mexico Julio Cruz | Oaxaca | 10 |
| Apertura 2021 | Colombia Raúl Zúñiga | Sinaloa | 12 |
| Clausura 2022 | Colombia David Angulo Mexico Juan Machado Mexico Óscar Villa |
Tepatitlán Raya2 Sonora |
8 |
| Apertura 2022 | Mexico Diego Jiménez | Sonora | 12 |
| Clausura 2023 | Mexico Ricardo Marín | Celaya | 10 |
| Apertura 2023 | Mexico Luis Razo | Zacatecas | 10 |
| Clausura 2024 | Colombia José Rodriguez | Cancún | 9 |
| Apertura 2024 | Mexico Vladimir Moragrega | Atlante | 11 |
| Clausura 2025 | Mexico Jesús Ocejo | UdeG | 13 |
| Apertura 2025 | Colombia Juan José Calero | Venados | 15 |
See also
[edit | edit source]- Football in Mexico
- Mexican football league system
- Mexican Football Federation
- Liga MX
- Ascenso MX
- Liga Premier
- Liga TDP
References
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