Liga de Expansión MX
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2020) |
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| Organising body | Federación Mexicana de Fútbol (FMF) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2020 |
| Country | Mexico |
| Confederation | CONCACAF |
| Number of clubs | 15 |
| Level on pyramid | 2 |
| Current champions | UdeG (1st title) |
| Most championships | Atlante (3 titles) |
| Broadcaster(s) | Claro[1] ESPN[2] Fox Sports[3] Hi Sports Televisa[4] TV Azteca[5] TVC Deportes[6] |
| Website | ligabbvaexpansion.mx |
| Current: 2025–26 Liga de Expansión MX season | |
Liga de Expansión MX, also known as 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 was 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.[7] The project also attempts for Liga MX and former Ascenso MX teams to consolidate stable projects with strong administration, finances, and infrastructure.
History
[edit]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.[8]
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.[9] Finally, on 17 July 2020, Tepatitlán and Tlaxcala were invited as Liga Premier expansion teams.[10]
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.[11] 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.[12]
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;[13] 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,[14] 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.[15]
Participating clubs
[edit]
| Team | City | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlante | Zacatepec, Morelos | Agustín "Coruco" Díaz | 24,313 |
| Atlético La Paz | La Paz, Baja California Sur | Guaycura | 5,209 |
| Atlético Morelia | Morelia, Michoacán | Morelos | 35,000 |
| Cancún | Cancún, Quintana Roo | Andrés Quintana Roo | 18,844 |
| Irapuato[16] | Irapuato, Guanajuato | Sergio León Chávez | 20,000 |
| Jaiba Brava | Tampico and Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas | Tamaulipas | 19,667 |
| Oaxaca | Oaxaca City, Oaxaca | Tecnológico de Oaxaca | 14,598 |
| Sinaloa | Culiacán, Sinaloa | Dorados | 20,108 |
| Tapatío | Zapopan, Jalisco | Akron | 46,232 |
| Tepatitlán | Tepatitlán de Morelos, Jalisco | Gregorio "Tepa" Gómez | 8,085 |
| Tlaxcala | Tlaxcala City, Tlaxcala | Tlahuicole | 11,135 |
| Venados | Mérida, Yucatán | Carlos Iturralde | 15,087 |
| UAT | Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas | Marte R. Gómez | 10,520 |
| UdeG | Guadalajara, Jalisco | Jalisco | 55,020 |
| Zacatecas | Zacatecas City, Zacatecas | Carlos Vega Villalba | 20,068 |
On hiatus
[edit]| Team | City | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Celaya[17] | Celaya, Guanajuato | Miguel Alemán Valdés | 23,182 |
| Sonora[18] | Hermosillo, Sonora | Héroe de Nacozari | 18,747 |
Performances
[edit]| Club | Titles | Runners-up | Winning editions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlante | 3 | 2 | Apertura 2021, Apertura 2022, Clausura 2024 |
| Tapatío | 2 | 0 | Clausura 2023, Apertura 2024 |
| Tampico Madero/Jaiba Brava | 1 | 2 | Guardianes 2020 |
| Morelia | 1 | 2 | Clausura 2022 |
| UdeG | 1 | 1 | Clausura 2025 |
| Tepatitlán | 1 | 0 | Guardianes 2021 |
| Cancún | 1 | 0 | Apertura 2023 |
| Celaya | 0 | 2 | – |
| Sonora | 0 | 1 | – |
Campeón de Campeones
[edit]| Club | Titles | Runners-up | Winning editions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tapatío | 2 | 0 | 2023, 2025 |
| Atlante | 1 | 2 | 2022 |
| Tepatitlán | 1 | 0 | 2021 |
| Cancún | 1 | 0 | 2024 |
| Morelia | 0 | 1 | – |
| Tampico Madero | 0 | 1 | – |
| UdeG | 0 | 1 | – |
Managers
[edit]The current managers in the Liga de Expansión MX are:
| Nat. | Name | Team | Appointed | Time as manager |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Alfonso Sosa | UdeG | 7 September 2021 | 3 years, 310 days |
|
|
Arturo Ortega | Tapatío | 15 June 2023 | 2 years, 29 days |
|
|
Rigoberto Esparza | Venados | 16 May 2024 | 1 year, 59 days |
|
|
Jair Real | Tepatitlán | 23 July 2024 | 356 days |
|
|
Arturo Alvarado | Oaxaca | 8 October 2024 | 279 days |
|
|
Mario García | Zacatecas | 24 November 2024 | 232 days |
|
Héctor Hugo Eugui | UAT | 25 November 2024 | 231 days |
|
|
Miguel Fuentes | Atlante | 3 December 2024 | 223 days |
|
|
Marco Antonio Ruiz | Jaiba Brava | 3 December 2024 | 223 days |
|
|
Cirilo Saucedo | Sinaloa | 1 May 2025 | 74 days |
|
|
Marco Fabián Vázquez | Tlaxcala | 16 May 2025 | 59 days |
|
Miguel Bravo | Cancún | 22 May 2025 | 53 days |
|
Hugo Norberto Castillo | Atlético La Paz | 31 May 2025 | 44 days |
|
|
Gilberto Adame | Atlético Morelia | 9 June 2025 | 35 days |
|
|
Daniel Alcántar | Irapuato | 14 July 2025 | 0 days |
Top goalscorers
[edit]| Year | Name | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guardianes 2020 | Alberto Alvarado Morín Lizandro Echeverría Guillermo Martínez Gustavo Ramírez
|
UAT Atlante Celaya Morelia |
7 |
| Guardianes 2021 | Julio Cruz
|
Oaxaca | 10 |
| Apertura 2021 |  Raúl Zúñiga
|
Sinaloa | 12 |
| Clausura 2022 | David Angulo Juan Machado Óscar Villa
|
Tepatitlán Raya2 Sonora |
8 |
| Apertura 2022 | Diego Jiménez
|
Sonora | 12 |
| Clausura 2023 | Ricardo Marín
|
Celaya | 10 |
| Apertura 2023 | Luis Razo
|
Zacatecas | 10 |
| Clausura 2024 | José Rodriguez
|
Cancún | 9 |
| Apertura 2024 | Vladimir Moragrega
|
Atlante | 11 |
Media coverage
[edit]Broadcast rights
[edit]| Team | Television | Streaming | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlante | Hi! Sports TV | |||
| Atlético La Paz | TBA | TBA | ||
| Atlético Morelia | TBA | TBA | ||
| Cancún | TBA | TBA | ||
| Irapuato | TBA | TBA | ||
| Jaiba Brava | TBA | TBA | ||
| Oaxaca | TBA | TBA | ||
| Sinaloa | TBA | TBA | ||
| Tapatío | TBA | TBA | ||
| Tepatitlán | TBA | TBA | ||
| Tlaxcala | TBA | TBA | ||
| Venados | TBA | TBA | ||
| UAT | TBA | TBA | ||
| UdeG | TBA | TBA | ||
| Zacatecas | TBA | TBA | ||
See also
[edit]- Football in Mexico
- Mexican football league system
- Mexican Football Federation
- Liga MX
- Ascenso MX
- Liga Premier
- Liga TDP
References
[edit]- ^ includes Claro Sports
- ^ includes ESPN 2 and ESPN 3
- ^ includes Fox Sports 2
- ^ includes TUDN
- ^ Includes Azteca Digital
- ^ includes TVC Deportes 2
- ^ Enrique Martínez Villar (24 April 2020). "¡Se confirma! No habrá ascenso ni descenso en 6 años; aprueban Liga de Desarrollo". Mediotiempo. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
- ^ "Comunicado de la LIGA MX / ASCENSO MX y la FMF". LIGA MX. 20 April 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
- ^ "Asamblea Ordinaria de Clubes del 26 de Junio del 2020". Liga BBVA MX (in Spanish). 26 June 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
- ^ "Comunicado de la LIGA MX sobre la LIGA de Expansión". Liga BBVA MX (in Spanish). 17 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
- ^ "Por unanimidad, la Asamblea de Clubes designa a Juan Carlos Rodríguez". ligamx.net (in Spanish). 22 May 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
- ^ "Descartan fusión de la Liga de Expansión con la Sub-23". Mediotiempo.com (in Spanish). 22 May 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
- ^ "TAS confirma recurso de clubes de Expansión contra FMF por ascenso/descenso". RÉCORD (in Spanish). 21 May 2025. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
- ^ "¡No hay unión! Un cuarto club de la Liga de Expansión se baja del barco tras demandar a la FMF ante el TAS para exigir el regreso del ascenso". LatinUS (in Spanish). 10 June 2025. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
- ^ "Liga de Expansión MX niega mudanzas de Celaya y Cimarrones a Veracruz y Tampico". TUDN (in Spanish). 9 July 2025. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
- ^ "Irapuato, nuevo integrante de la Liga BBVA Expansión MX". Liga BBVA Expansión MX (in Spanish). 10 July 2025. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
- ^ "Congela Club Celaya oficialmente la franquicia para el torneo de Apertura 2025". El Sol de Bajío (in Spanish). 9 July 2025. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
- ^ "Jaiba Brava podría heredar franquicia de Cimarrones para entrar a la Liga de Expansión". El Sol de Tampico (in Spanish). 10 July 2025. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
External links
[edit]| National teams |
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| League system |
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| Domestic cups |
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| Awards | |||||
| Rivalries | |||||
