Football in Mexico

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Football in Mexico
Estadio Azteca1706p2.jpg
The Estadio Azteca, the home of América, Cruz Azul and the Mexico national football team
Country Mexico
Governing body Federación Mexicana de Fútbol (FMF)
National team(s) Mexico
Nickname(s)El Tri
First played1923
Clubs18 in Liga MX
National competitions
Men's:
Liga MX (Top level)
Campeón de Campeones
Liga de Expansión MX (Second level)
Campeón de Campeones de la Liga de Expansión MX
Liga Premier (Third level)
Campeón de Campeones de la Liga Premier
Copa Conecta
Liga TDP (Fourth level)
Women's:
Liga MX Femenil (Top level)
Campeón de Campeones Femenil
Liga TDP Femenil (Second level)
International competitions

The most popular sport in Mexico is football (called fútbol in Mexico). [1] [2] The top professional divisions in Mexico are Liga MX for men and Liga MX Femenil for women.

Contents

In Mexico, football became a professional men's sport in 1943. Since then, Mexico's most successful men's club has been América, with sixteen titles in the top professional division. [3]

The first women's professional football league in Mexico was established in 2016, the first season was in 2017–2018. It set new world records for attendances at women's professional football matches. [4] [5]

Antonio Carbajal was the first player to appear in five World Cups, and Hugo Sánchez was named best CONCACAF player of the 20th century by IFFHS.

Mexico's largest capacity stadiums are Estadio Azteca, Estadio Olímpico Universitario and Estadio Jalisco. As of 2006, it was estimated that there were in the nation over 324,000 registered players and approximately 8,155,000 unregistered players. [6]

Professional clubs

Men's football has been played in Mexico since the early 1900s, and professionally since 1943. The first club founded was Pachuca in 1892. The first women's professional football league Liga MX Femenil was announced in December 2016 [7] and the inaugural season (2017–2018) started the following year. [8] The development of women's football has occurred in waves since the 1950s. [9]

Since 1996, the season is divided into two short tournaments (Apertura and Clausura) with a final phase in each tournament, called "liguilla". This system is common throughout Latin America. [10] From 1996 to 2002, the two short tournaments of the regular phase was called "Verano" and "Invierno".

Liga MX formerly called Liga Mayor and Primera División de México changed the names of the tournaments in 2002, and opted for the names Apertura and Clausura. The Apertura tournament is played from July to December, while the Clausura tournament is played from January to May.

Mexico's men's football has four divisions in the following order of competition level: Liga MX, Liga de Expansión MX, Liga Premier, and Liga TDP. The promotion and relegation are used by the FMF to advance (promote) a lesser level club into competition of like quality their aggregate percentage score warrants play in a higher competition level. They replace the club that is relegated to the next lower level based on their aggregate. Promotion and relegation take place after the Clausura tournament has ended.

Mexico's most successful men's clubs have been América with 16 Liga MX titles, Guadalajara with 12, Toluca with 10, Cruz Azul with 9, León and Tigres UANL with 8. [3] On the women's side Tigres UANL are the most successful club, winning six championships since the 2017-2018 season the inaugural season of Liga MX Femenil. Both championship matches in the first season set new world records for attendance at a women's football league match with 32,466 fans in attendance at the Apertura final [11] and 51,211 at the Clausura final match. [12]

The top three most popular football clubs on social media from North America, as of 25 March 2021, are all Mexican clubs. [13] Note that this was before the arrival of Lionel Messi at Inter Miami, which resulted in 12.5 million Instagram followers for Inter Miami in 2023. [14]

#Football clubCountryFollowers
1 América Mexico 36 million
2 Guadalajara Mexico 13 million
3 Cruz Azul Mexico 6.6 million

Association football clubs by city/metro area

Liga MX is the most important and top level division in Mexico. Liga de Expansión MX (formerly Ascenso MX) is the second level division in Mexican football. The following table shows the teams of these leagues and the cities/metro areas they're based in.

Key to colors and symbols
Metro areas with 3 teams in league
Metro areas with 2 teams in league
Metro areas larger than 500,000 population without a team in these leagues
RegionMetro areaPopulation Liga MX (Top level) Liga de Expansión MX (Second level)
Central South Greater Mexico City 21,804,515 América

Cruz Azul

UNAM 		Atlante
North East Monterrey, Nuevo León 5,341,177 Monterrey

UANL
West Guadalajara, Jalisco 5,268,642 Atlas

Guadalajara 		UdeG

Tapatío
East Puebla-Tlaxcala, Puebla/Tlaxcala 3,199,530 Puebla
Central South Toluca, State of Mexico 2,353,924 Toluca
North West Tijuana, Baja California 2,157,853 Tijuana
North East León, Guanajuato 1,924,771 León
Central North Querétaro, Querétaro 1,594,212 Querétaro
North West Juárez, Chihuahua 1,512,450 Juárez
North West La Laguna, Coahuila/Durango 1,434,283 Santos Laguna
South East Mérida, Yucatán 1,316,088 Venados
Central North San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí 1,271,366 Atlético San Luis
Central North Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes 1,140,916 Necaxa
North West Mexicali, Baja California 1,049,792
North East Saltillo, Coahuila 1,031,779
Central South Cuernavaca, Morelos 1,028,589
North West Culiacán, Sinaloa 1,003,530 Sinaloa
West Morelia, Michoacán 988,704 Morelia
North West Chihuahua, Chihuahua (state) 988,065
East Veracruz, Veracruz 939,046
South East Cancún, Quintana Roo 934,189 Cancún
North East Tampico, Tamaulipas/Veracruz 927,379 Jaiba Brava
South West Acapulco, Guerrero 852,622
South West Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas 848,274
North East Reynosa, Tamaulipas 837,251
South East Villahermosa, Tabasco 833,907
East Xalapa, Veracruz 789,157
Central North Celaya, Guanajuato 767,104 Celaya
South West Oaxaca, Oaxaca 713,925 Oaxaca
North West Durango, Durango 688,697
East Pachuca, Hidalgo 665,929 Pachuca
Central North Irapuato, Guanajuato 592,953 [15]
East Tlaxcala – Apizaco, Tlaxcala 570,308 Tlaxcala
North West Ensenada, Baja California 561,375 [16]
North East Matamoros, Tamaulipas 541,979
East Poza Rica, Veracruz 521,530
North West Mazatlán, Sinaloa 501,441 Mazatlán
Central North Zacatecas-Guadalupe, Zacatecas 405,285 Zacatecas
North East Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas 349,688 UAT
North West La Paz, Baja California Sur 292,241 La Paz [17]
West Tepatitlán, Morelos 150,190 Tepatitlán

National teams

The Mexico national football team has 17 participations in the FIFA World Cup, reaching the quarter-finals twice (both times as hosts) and finishing in the round of 16 at seven consecutive tournaments. They also finished as runners-up at the Copa América twice. Mexico won the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup as hosts, beating Brazil 4–3 in the final to win its first world-class senior tournament organized by FIFA. The olympic team were gold medalists at the 2012 Olympic Football Tournament in London, once again beating Brazil 2-1 in the final. The under-17 team were world champions twice, winning in Peru 2005 and at home in Mexico 2011.

Players from Mexico have joined teams in Europe, including Jared Borgetti, Rafael Márquez, Gerardo Torrado, Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Nery Castillo, Carlos Salcido, Ricardo Osorio, Pável Pardo, Andrés Guardado, Guillermo Franco, Carlos Vela, Giovani dos Santos, Omar Bravo, Aaron Galindo, Héctor Moreno, Francisco Javier Rodríguez, Francisco Fonseca, Javier Hernández (commonly referred to as "Chicharito"), Pablo Barrera, Efraín Juárez, Guillermo Ochoa, Jesús Corona, Héctor Herrera, Miguel Layún, Raúl Jiménez, Marco Fabián, Diego Reyes, Hirving Lozano, Edson Álvarez, Alexis Vega and Diego Lainez the most recents.

Mexico's men's national team has achieved other significant feats such as the most CONCACAF Championship/CONCACAF Gold Cup titles with 12. Mexico has hosted two times the FIFA World Cup (1970 and 1986). Estadio Azteca is the biggest stadium in the world to have hosted two World Cup finals and is one of the largest stadiums in the world. Mexico will co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup along with Canada and the United States. Several matches will take place in Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara.

The Mexico women's national football team was officially formed in 1991 to compete in the 1991 CONCACAF Women's Championship and its first participation in the World Cup was in USA 1999. However, in 1970 an unofficial team Mexico finished third in an unofficial Women's World Cup held in Italy. [9] [18] In 1971, the team hosted an unofficial women's World Cup and reached the final, only to lose to Denmark 3–0. An estimated 110,000 people attended the final at Estadio Azteca. [19]

History

Football was introduced to Mexico by emigrant miners from Cornwall, England at the end of the 19th century. [20] In the early 1900s, football was used as a method to "indoctrinate modern labor practices" such as teamwork and competition within a set of rules upon the Mexican workers. [20] By 1902 a five-team league emerged with a strong English influence. [21] [22] Many of the early football teams were affiliated with corporations. [23]

The first amateur league created in Mexico was the Liga Mexicana de Football Amateur Association in 1902, organized by the Asociación de Aficionados de México en la Liga de Football (English: The Mexico Amateur Association in the Football League).

The first football federation in Mexico was founded in 1922, known as Federación Mexicana de Football Asociación. The following year changed its name to Federación Central de Fútbol. The current Federación Mexicana de Fútbol (FMF) was established in 1927 and later affiliated with FIFA in 1929.

Mexican football stadiums

Stadiums with a capacity of 40,000 or higher are included.

#StadiumCapacityCityStateTeam(s)SurfaceYear OpenedOwnerLeague divisionImage
1 Azteca 81,070 Tlalpan Mexico City América, Cruz Azul, Mexico national team Grass1966 Grupo Televisa Liga MX Panoramica esquina noreste.jpg
2 Olímpico Universitario 69,000 [24] Coyoacán Mexico City UNAM Grass1952 UNAM Liga MX Estadio Pumas.jpg
3 Jalisco 55,020 [25] Guadalajara Jalisco Atlas, UdeG Grass1960 Clubes Unidos de Jalisco Liga MX, Liga de Expansión MX Estadio Jalisco 06022022.jpg
4 BBVA 51,348 [26] Guadalupe Nuevo León Monterrey Grass2015 FEMSA Liga MX Estadio BBVA.jpg
5 Cuauhtémoc 47,417 Puebla City Puebla Puebla Grass1968 State of Puebla Liga MX Rampa norte.jpg
6 Akron 46,232 Zapopan Jalisco Guadalajara Grass2010 Grupo Omnilife Liga MX Estadio Akron 02-07-2022 cabecera sur lado izquierdo.jpg
7 Universitario 41,886 San Nicolás de los Garza Nuevo León UANL Grass1967 UANL Liga MX Estadio Universitario UANL.jpg

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mexican Football Federation</span> Governing body of football in Mexico

The Mexican Football Federation, abbreviated as FMF is the official governing body of association football in Mexico. It administers the men's and women's national teams with all its youth teams, the national teams of futsal and beach soccer, the Liga MX with all its professional divisions, all affiliated amateur sectors, and controls promoting, organizing, directing, expanding, and supervising competitive football in Mexico. The FMF was established on August 23, 1927 to replace the Federación Central de Fútbol and its first president was Humberto Garza Ramos. It is an affiliate member of FIFA since 1929 and one of the founding members of CONCACAF since 1961. Subject to policies, statutes, objectives and ideals of those international governing bodies. Its headquarters are located in Toluca, State of Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santos Laguna</span> Football club

Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V., simply known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club based in the Comarca Lagunera, it competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Founded in 1983 as Club Santos IMSS Laguna by the Mexican Social Security Institute of the state of Durango, and the following year it changed to its current name.

The Mexican football league system is organized by the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol (FMF), except for the Liga MX and the Liga de Expansión MX, which are organized independently; The league system consist of six professional divisions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Club Tijuana</span> Mexican association football club

Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente, commonly known as Tijuana, or simply as Xolos, is a Mexican professional football club based in Tijuana, Baja California, that competes in Liga MX. The team plays its home games at Estadio Caliente. The club was founded on 14 January 2007; its badge is the founder's hairless Xoloitzcuintle, Hermoso.

The Liga Mexicana de Fútbol Femenil is a women's football league in Mexico organized by LIMEFFE. Formally known as the Superliga Femenil, this league was established in 2007 as an attempt to help and grow women's football in Mexico. It was considered until 2017 as the highest division of women's football in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C.F. Pachuca</span> Football club

Club de Fútbol Pachuca is a Mexican professional football club based in Pachuca, Hidalgo, that plays in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Founded in 1892 as Pachuca Football Club, then changed its name to Pachuca Athletic Club in 1895, and was refounded in 1960 under its current name. The club was founded by workers of the Mexican mining company called "Compañia Real del Monte y Pachuca", which had mostly British miners immigrants from Camborne and Redruth, who were the first to introduce football to Mexico. Nicknamed "Tuzos", it pays tribute and refers to the history and mining heritage of the club and the city of Pachuca. It was the first football club founded in Mexico, and was one of the founding members of the Liga Mexicana de Football Amateur Association, which was the first amateur football league created in Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liga MX</span> Association football league in Mexico

Liga MX, officially known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional division of Mexican football. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and then as Primera División de México (1949–2012). It has 18 participating clubs, the season is divided into two short tournaments, Apertura from July to December and Clausura from January to May. The champions are decided by a final phase called "liguilla". Since 2020, promotion and relegation has been suspended, which is to last until 2026.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leones Negros UdeG</span> Football club

Club Deportivo Leones Negros de la Universidad de Guadalajara, abbreviated as Leones Negros UdeG, and simply known as Leones Negros or UdeG, is a football club based in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. The club currently plays in the Liga de Expansión MX, the second level division of Mexican football. The club was founded in 1970 as Venados UdeG, two years later it changed to its current name.

Liga MX Femenil, officially known as Liga BBVA MX Femenil for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Mexico. Supervised by the Mexican Football Federation, this professional league has 18 teams, each coinciding with a Liga MX club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Club América (women)</span> Mexican professional womens football club

Club América Femenil, commonly known as América Femenil or simply América, is a Mexican professional women's football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. The club competes in the Liga MX Femenil and has been the women's section of Club América since 2016. The team plays its home games at the renowned Estadio Azteca, with Cancha Centenario, situated within their training grounds, serving as alternative venue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C.F. Pachuca (women)</span> Mexican professional womens football club

Club de Fútbol Pachuca Femenil, commonly known as Pachuca Femenil or simply Pachuca, is a Mexican professional women's football club based in Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico. The team competes in the Liga MX Femenil and has been the women's section of C.F. Pachuca since 2016. Estadio Hidalgo serves as the venue for the team home matches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deportivo Toluca F.C. (women)</span> Mexican professional womens football club

Deportivo Toluca F.C. Femenil is a Mexican professional women's Association football club based in Toluca, State of Mexico. The club has been the female section of Deportivo Toluca F.C. since 2017 and currently playing in Liga MX Femenil. Its headquarters are located in the city of Toluca, State of Mexico, playing its home games at the Estadio Nemesio Díez.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tigres UANL (women)</span> Football club

Tigres UANL Femenil, also known simply as Tigres Femenil or Tigres, is a Mexican professional women's football club based in the city of San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, Mexico that competes in the Liga MX Femenil. The club has been the women's section of Tigres UANL since 2016. The team plays its home matches at the Estadio Universitario.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C.F. Monterrey (women)</span> Mexican professional womens football club

C.F. Monterrey Femenil is a Mexican professional women's football club based in Guadalupe, Nuevo León, Mexico that competes in the Liga MX Femenil. The club has been the women's section of C.F. Monterrey since 2016. The team plays its home matches at Estadio BBVA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C.D. Guadalajara (women)</span> Football club

C.D. Guadalajara Femenil is a Mexican professional women's football club based in Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico that competes in the Liga MX Femenil. The club has been the women's section of C.D. Guadalajara since 2017. Nicknames for the team are Chivas and the Rebaño Sagrado, the same as the men's team. The team play its home matches at Estadio Akron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women's football in Mexico</span>

Women's association football has long been a largely amateur sport in Mexico, given the greater emphasis of the male competitions. However, with the establishment of Liga MX Femenil and rapid growth since 2021, women’s football in Mexico has raised its profile enough to compete for sponsors and professional international talent not only within Mexico, but also from Europe, Africa, South America, and the United States.

Dania Nicole Pérez Jiménez is a Mexican professional football midfielder who currently plays for Monterrey of the Liga MX Femenil.

Alison Hecnary González Esquivel is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga MX Femenil side UANL.

Ximena Elizabeth Rios Zarate is a Mexican professional football left-back who currently plays for Cruz Azul of the Liga MX Femenil.

Betzy Casandra Cuevas Araujo, known as Casandra "Cas" Cuevas or Betzy Cuevas, is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga MX Femenil side Toluca and the Mexico women's national football team. Cuevas is one of the players with the most match appearances in Liga MX Femenil, and the player with the most match appearances for Club América.

References

  1. ↑ "Mexico Information - Page 2". World InfoZone. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  2. ↑ Schechter, Daniel C.; Quintero, Josephine (2008). Mexico City. Con Pianta - Daniel C. Schechter, Josephine Quintero - Google Books. Lonely Planet. ISBN   9781740591829 . Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Mexico - List of Champions". Rec.Sports.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  4. ↑ "News Roundup: Union lose, Steel in, LAFC fail to impress, and USOC kicks off". The Philly Soccer Page. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  5. ↑ "For Liga MX Femenil, an impressive start to an infant league • Copa90". Copa90. Archived from the original on 26 August 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  6. ↑ Dunmore, Tom (16 September 2011). Historical Dictionary of Soccer - Tom Dunmore - Google Books. Scarecrow Press. ISBN   9780810871885 . Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  7. ↑ MX, LIGA MX / ASCENSO. "LIGA MX - Página Oficial de la Liga del Fútbol Profesional en México .: Bienvenido". www.ligamx.net (in Mexican Spanish). Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  8. ↑ FIFA.com. "New horizons in the development of Mexican football". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on January 23, 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  9. 1 2 L’Hoeste, H. Fernández; Irwin, R.; Poblete, J. (6 May 2015). Sports and Nationalism in Latin / o America. Springer. ISBN   9781137518002.
  10. ↑ Fellerath, David. "A thought experiment: What would NASL's split-season plan look like this season?". Indy Week. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  11. ↑ "Chivas wins inaugural Liga MX Femenil title". ESPN.com. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  12. ↑ "Femenil final shows women's football is thriving in Mexico". ESPN.com. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  13. ↑ "Digital impact of Latin American football teams". 25 March 2021.
  14. ↑ "Inter Miami surpasses Brazilian clubs and becomes the MLS team with the most followers on Instagram". 28 July 2023.
  15. ↑ "Irapuato (Municipality, Mexico)". citypopulation.de.
  16. ↑ "MEXICO: Metropolitan Areas". citypopulation.de.
  17. ↑ "Club Atlético La Paz confirma su llegada a la Liga de Expansión MX". Soy Fútbol.
  18. ↑ Kessel, Anna (4 June 2015). "Women's World Cup: from unofficial tournaments to record-breaking event". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  19. ↑ "Mundial (Women) 1971". RSSSF . Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  20. 1 2 Coerver, Don M.; Pasztor, Suzanne B.; Buffington, Robert (2004). Mexico: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Culture and History - Don M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, Robert Buffington - Google Books. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN   9781576071328 . Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  21. ↑ "Introduction". Federacion Mexicana de Futbol. Archived from the original on 11 October 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  22. ↑ "Mexico - List of Final Tables". Rec.Sports.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  23. ↑ Standish, Peter; Bell, Steven M. (2004). Culture and Customs of Mexico - Peter Standish, Steven M. Bell - Google Books. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN   9780313304125 . Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  24. ↑ "Estadio Olímpico Universitario". Archived from the original on 2016-05-12. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
  25. ↑ "Football stadiums of the world – Stadiums in Mexico | Football stadiums of the world".
  26. ↑ "Estadio BBVA (Estadio de Futbol de Monterrey) –". Stadiumdb.com. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
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