Mexican soccer is weird. Honestly, if you try to explain the liga mexicana de futbol to a Premier League fan, they’ll probably look at you like you’ve got two heads. We don't do the "most points at the end of May wins" thing. Instead, we have two champions a year, a playoff system that rewards chaos, and a history of "gentlemen's agreements" that would make a lawyer faint.
But right now? Things are different. We are sitting in early 2026, and the league is vibrating.
Toluca just pulled off a historic back-to-back title win (the bicampeonato) by taking down Tigres in the Apertura 2025 final. It was clinical. It was loud. And it puts them at 12 titles, tied with Chivas for second-most in history. Only América has more with 16. If you aren't paying attention to the Red Devils right now, you’re missing the best football in the country.
The Clausura 2026 Shake-up
The current Clausura 2026 season isn't business as usual. Because the World Cup is literally months away—and Mexico is hosting games in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey—the league had to gut its own schedule.
Usually, we have this "Play-In" tournament. It’s basically a copy of the NBA’s format where teams 7 through 10 fight for the last two Liguilla spots. Not this time. To give Javier Aguirre and the National Team more time to prep, the league scrapped the Play-In for this tournament only.
Top eight go straight to the quarter-finals. Period.
It’s a return to the classic format we had before 2020. This makes the regular season actually matter more. You can't just coast in 10th place and hope for a miracle. If you’re not in that top eight by April, your season is over.
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Why Toluca is the Team to Beat
Most people keep waiting for Club América to re-assert dominance, but Toluca is the real deal under their current sporting project. They have João Pedro Paulinho, who was a monster in 2025, bagging 12 goals to share the golden boot.
The squad is balanced. They play at altitude in the Nemesio Díez—a stadium that feels like it’s closing in on you—and they’ve become experts at suffocating teams. While Monterrey and Tigres spent millions on "names" like Sergio Ramos (who, let's be real, was a massive disappointment before leaving in December), Toluca spent on fit.
The Great Relegation Lie
You’ve probably heard people say there’s no relegation in the liga mexicana de futbol. For the last few years, that was true. Since 2020, the league has been a closed shop.
But here’s the scoop: it’s coming back.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) recently shot down an attempt by Expansion League clubs to force it back earlier, but the official word is that promotion and relegation will return for the 2026-27 cycle. This means the stakes for teams like Querétaro and Mazatlán just got terrifyingly real.
For years, the bottom teams just paid a fine. It was basically a "bad at soccer" tax. Starting next year, they lose their seat at the table. You can already see the panic in the front offices of the smaller clubs. They’re finally starting to scout players instead of just signing their agent’s cousins.
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The MLS Invasion
There’s this weird trend happening where Liga MX is raiding MLS for talent. It used to be the other way around. Now, teams like Pumas are grabbing guys like Adalberto Carrasquilla and Pedro Vite.
Chivas just brought in Brian Gutiérrez from Chicago Fire. It’s a smart move. They only play with Mexican players, so they’ve realized the "Mexican-American" market in MLS is their best chance to compete with the big spenders in Monterrey.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Liguilla
If you’re new to the liga mexicana de futbol, the Liguilla (the playoffs) is where the real sport starts. The regular season is just a long, expensive seeding process.
In the Liguilla, away goals don't count as a tiebreaker anymore in the early rounds. If the aggregate score is tied after two legs, the team that finished higher in the standings moves on. It’s a massive advantage. It means the #1 seed can draw both games 0-0 and still make the final.
However, in the Final itself, that rule dies. If it’s tied after 180 minutes, we go to extra time and penalties. It’s pure drama.
The World Cup Shadow
We can't talk about the league right now without mentioning the "abandonment" of the clubs. The league owners actually voted to let any player called up for the World Cup leave their club teams as early as April.
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Imagine your best striker leaving before the quarter-finals because the National Team needs him for a training camp. It’s controversial. Club León’s president has been vocal about how much this hurts the product, but in Mexico, the Selección is king. Always has been.
Practical Steps for Following the League
If you actually want to get into this league without losing your mind, don't try to track every single game. It’s too much.
- Watch the "Grandes": Follow América, Chivas, Cruz Azul, and Pumas. They carry the most history and the most "noise" in the media.
- Check the "Quotient Table": Don't just look at the current season standings. Look at the tabla de cociente. That’s the three-year average that determines who has to pay those massive fines (and soon, who gets relegated).
- Ignore the "friendly" tournaments: The Leagues Cup is fun, but for the average Mexican fan, the only thing that matters is the domestic trophy.
The league is currently top-heavy. The "Northern Power" of Tigres and Monterrey has the most money, but the "Traditional Powers" in Mexico City have the pressure.
Honestly, the best way to experience the liga mexicana de futbol is to pick a mid-table team like Pachuca. They have the best academy in the country—look at Elías Montiel or Gilberto Mora—and they’re constantly selling players to Europe. You get to see the stars of tomorrow before they become too expensive for the league to keep.
The Clausura 2026 is moving fast. With the Play-In gone and the World Cup looming, every matchday feels like a final. Keep an eye on Toluca. If they pull off a three-peat, we are officially living in a new era of Mexican soccer.
Your next move is to track the "Cociente" standings for the 2025-2026 cycle to see which teams are officially at risk of being the first ones relegated when the system resets this summer.