Checking the posición de la tabla Liga MX every Sunday night is basically a ritual for millions of fans. It's that moment where you either breathe a sigh of relief because your team is safely in the top six or you start doing frantic math on a napkin to see if there's still a path to the Play-In. But if you’ve followed Mexican soccer for more than a week, you know the table is a bit of a liar. It’s a snapshot, sure, but in a league where the 10th-place team can technically get hot for three weeks and win the whole thing, the "position" is often just a suggestion.
The Liga MX uses a short tournament format—Apertura and Clausura—which makes the race for points feel like a sprint. There is no year-long marathon here. Every point dropped in August feels like a catastrophe by October. Honestly, the way the FMF (Federación Mexicana de Fútbol) structures the standings is designed for maximum drama, not necessarily to reward the most consistent team over 34 games.
The Play-In Trap and how it shifts the posición de la tabla Liga MX
When you look at the posición de la tabla Liga MX, your eyes probably jump straight to the top four. Traditionally, those were the "safe" spots. Now, things are messier. The introduction of the Play-In—a bit of a "borrowed" idea from the NBA—means that being in 7th or 8th place doesn't guarantee you a Liguilla spot anymore. You've gotta fight for it.
Currently, the top six teams qualify directly for the Quarterfinals. That’s the "VIP lounge" of Mexican soccer. If you're 7th through 10th, you’re in the Play-In. This creates a weird dynamic in the middle of the table. You’ll see teams like Pumas or Chivas hovering around 8th place, and while their fans might be annoyed, the "matemáticamente posible" phrase becomes their best friend.
The pressure on the 10th spot is insane. If you finish 11th, your season is over. Go home. No playoffs. No revenue. The gap between 10th and 11th in the posición de la tabla Liga MX is worth millions of pesos in broadcasting rights and ticket sales. Because of this, the final three weeks of the regular season usually turn into a chaotic scramble where teams that played boring soccer for two months suddenly look like 1970s Brazil because their jobs are on the line.
Why Goal Difference is the ultimate tiebreaker
It happens every season. Two teams tied on 25 points. Who gets home-field advantage? In the Liga MX, it’s not head-to-head results first; it’s goal difference. This is why you see coaches like André-Jardine or Martín Anselmi screaming at their players to keep attacking even when they are up 3-0. That fourth goal in week 5 might be the reason you host the second leg of a semi-final in week 19.
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If the goal difference is tied? Then it goes to goals scored. Still tied? Then it's the result between the two teams. It can go all the way down to the Fair Play table (yellow and red cards), though it rarely gets that desperate. But honestly, watching fans try to calculate goal average in real-time during a "Multi-fútbol" broadcast is part of the charm.
The "Grandes" vs. the "Nouveaux Riches" in the standings
Historically, the posición de la tabla Liga MX was dominated by the four "Grandes": América, Chivas, Cruz Azul, and Pumas. That's the old guard. But if you look at the standings over the last five to seven years, there’s a clear shift. The North has taken over.
Tigres and Monterrey (Rayados) have essentially bought their way to the top of the table. With payrolls that dwarf most of the league, these two are almost permanent fixtures in the top four. It’s become a bit of a "Big Two plus everyone else" situation lately. When you check the standings, seeing Tigres in 2nd or 3rd isn't news; it's the baseline.
- Club América: Always the villain, usually in the top three. Their depth means they can handle injuries better than anyone else.
- Cruz Azul: Under Anselmi, they’ve reinvented how they move up the table, focusing on high-press tactics that force errors.
- The "Underdogs": Teams like Toluca or Pachuca often act as the "spoiler." They might not have the brand name of Chivas, but their scouting—especially Pachuca’s academy—keeps them consistently higher in the posición de la tabla Liga MX than people expect.
Does finishing first actually matter?
The "Superlíder" curse is a real thing people talk about in Mexico. Finishing first in the posición de la tabla Liga MX sounds great. You get the trophy for the regular season (which doesn't really count for much besides bragging rights) and you get to play the lowest-seeded team. But the history of the Liguilla is littered with the corpses of first-place teams that got knocked out by a 10th-place team that just happened to have a good Wednesday night.
There’s a psychological weight to being #1. You’re the hunted. Plus, in the Liga MX, the "away goals" rule has been tweaked and removed over the years, but currently, the higher seed has the "tiebreaker" advantage in the Quarterfinals and Semifinals. If the aggregate score is 2-2 after 180 minutes, the team with the better posición de la tabla Liga MX moves on. That is a massive advantage. It means you don't necessarily have to win; you just have to not lose.
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The Coefficient Table: The ghost in the room
While everyone looks at the current points, there is another table lurking in the background: the "Tabla de Cociente." Mexico doesn't have traditional promotion and relegation right now (it's "suspended," which is a whole other controversy), but teams that finish in the bottom three of the percentage table have to pay massive fines.
We’re talking about 80 million pesos for the last-place spot. So, even if a team like Mazatlán or Juárez is 16th in the current posición de la tabla Liga MX and has no chance of making the playoffs, they are still playing for their lives. Every point they earn helps their percentage for the next season. It’s a "relegation of the wallet."
How to read the table for betting and bracket predictions
If you're looking at the posición de la tabla Liga MX to try and predict the champion, don't just look at total points. Look at "Form." The last five games tell you way more than the first ten.
A team like Chivas might be in 6th place, but if they’ve lost three of their last five, they are "dead man walking" going into the Liguilla. Conversely, a team in 9th place that just won four straight is the team nobody wants to face. Momentum is the only currency that actually matters in Mexican soccer.
- Home vs. Away Performance: Some teams, like Puebla or Querétaro, are notoriously "home-heavy." Their position in the table might look decent, but if they have to play the second leg of a playoff series away from home, they usually crumble.
- Altitude Factor: Don't ignore where the teams are based. Teams coming from sea level (like Mazatlán) often struggle when they have to play at the altitude of Toluca or Mexico City late in the season. This often causes a "dip" in their posición de la tabla Liga MX during away-game stretches.
The real impact of the FIFA dates
One thing that messes with the posición de la tabla Liga MX is the international break. Since Liga MX has so many South American stars, a team like River Plate-heavy Monterrey might lose six starters to World Cup Qualifiers. They come back tired, lose a mid-week game, and suddenly drop from 2nd to 5th.
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When you see a sudden shift in the standings in October or March, check the international call-ups. It’s rarely about a drop in quality and usually about jet lag.
Actionable insights for following the race
Stop looking at the points alone and start looking at the "Magic Number" for qualification. Usually, 25 or 26 points is the "safe zone" to ensure a spot in the top ten. If your team is at 18 points with three games left, the math is simple: they need to win out.
Keep an eye on the "Minutes Rule" (Regla de Menores) as well. Teams are required to give a certain number of minutes to young players. If a team hasn't met this requirement by the end of the season, they can actually be docked points. Imagine a team finishing in a playoff posición de la tabla Liga MX only to be kicked out because they didn't play their 19-year-old left-back enough. It has happened. It’s the most "Liga MX" thing ever.
The best way to track this isn't just a static table. You need to look at the "Live Standings" during the Sunday night games. Because the league is so tight, a single goal in the 90th minute of the final game can shift four different teams into different playoff pairings. It’s pure, unadulterated chaos. And that’s exactly why we watch.
Check the goal differential of the teams in 6th through 9th place; that’s where the real drama lives. If you see a team with a negative goal difference sitting in 7th, they are a "fraud" waiting to be exposed in the first round. Target the teams with a high "Goals Against" count regardless of their points—they almost never survive the knockout pressure. Look for the "dark horse" in the 5th spot; historically, that’s a position that balances momentum with a lack of "Superlíder" pressure.