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// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Liga de Expansión MX say to the ball? You're kicked out of the league.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Primera Division A)

Liga de Expansión MX
Organising bodyFederación Mexicana de Fútbol (FMF)
Founded2020; 6 years ago (2020)
CountryMexico
ConfederationCONCACAF
Number of clubs16
Level on pyramid2
Promotion toLiga MX
(suspended)
Relegation toLiga Premier
(suspended)
Domestic cupCampeón de Campeones de la Liga de Expansión MX
Current championsTepatitlán
(2nd title)
Most championshipsAtlante
(3 titles)
Broadcaster(s)AYM Sports[1]
ESPN[2]
Websiteligabbvaexpansion.mx
Current: Apertura 2026 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. The league has 16 participating clubs. The season is divided into two short tournaments, according to FIFA world football calendar: Apertura (from July to December) and Clausura (from January to May). The champions of each tournament are decided by a final knockout phase, commonly known as liguilla.

The inaugural edition was the Guard1anes 2020 tournament, with Tampico Madero as the first champions in history. In all, twelve editions of the league have been held.

It was founded as part of the FMF's Stabilization Project, which has the primary objective of rescuing the financially troubled clubs from the Ascenso MX and prevent the disappearance of a second level division in Mexico.[3] The project also attempts for Liga MX and former Ascenso MX clubs to consolidate stable projects with strong administration, finances, and infrastructure.

Atlante is the most successful club with three titles, followed by Jaiba Brava, Tapatío and Tepatitlán with two titles each. In all, seven clubs have won the league at least once.

History

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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.[4]

On 26 June 2020, the league was officially presented, the inaugural tournament had sixteen founding clubs: Alebrijes de Oaxaca, Atlante, Atlético Morelia, Cancún, Celaya, Cimarrones de Sonora, Correcaminos UAT, Dorados de Sinaloa, Leones Negros UdeG, Mineros de Zacatecas, Pumas Morelos, Tampico Madero, Tapatío, Tepatitlán, Tlaxcala and Venados.[5][6]

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.[7] 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.[8]

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;[9] 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,[10] 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.[11]

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;[12] 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.[13]

In April 2026, Atlante became the first team from the league to secure a place in Liga MX, after purchasing the Mazatlán F.C. franchise.[14] In addition, there were changes in the participants of the Liga de Expansión for the 2026–27 season: Celaya sold its place to a new team called Piratas de Veracruz; Cimarrones de Sonora sold its place to Jaiba Brava, which became a full member of the league and Cruz Azul Hidalgo requested its entry as an affiliate team of a Liga MX club.[15]

Competition format

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Regular phase

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Liga de Expansión MX uses a single table of 15 clubs that play two short tournaments each season (Apertura and Clausura), resulting in two champions per year. The season begins with the Apertura (from July to December), and ends with the Clausura (from January to May), similar to the Liga MX calendar. This format corresponds with FIFA's world footballing calendar, which opens in July/August and closes in April/May. The top 8 clubs advances to the final phase for each tournament.

Final phase

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The final phase, commonly known as liguilla, consisting of 8 clubs that qualify for the tournament based on regular phase point total — the eight highest-placed advance to the quarter-finals. The clubs are paired according to seeding, with the highest-seeded club playing with the lowest-seeded. Each tie is played over two legs with the winners on aggregate score advancing to the next round. In case of a tie on aggregate, the highest-seeded club advances, extra time and penalties in case of a tie will only be played in the final. At the end of the season, the two champions of the year (Apertura and Clausura) compete in the Super cup of the division, which is named Campeón de Campeones de la Liga de Expansión MX, similar to the Super cup held for Liga MX.

Participating clubs

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2026–27 season

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The 2026–27 Liga de Expansión MX season has the following participating clubs.

Club Position in Clausura 2026 First season Total seasons First season of current spell Consecutive seasons Titles Last title
Atlético La Paz4th2022–2382022–2380—
Atlético Morelia3rd2020–21122020–21121Clausura 2022
Cancún2nd2020–21122020–21121Apertura 2023
Cruz Azul HidalgoNew team2026–2702026–2710—
Correcaminos UAT14th2020–21122020–21120—
DurangoNew team2022–2312026–2710—
Jaiba Brava5th2020–2182024–2542Apertura 2025
Leones Negros UdeG15th2020–21122020–21121Clausura 2025
Oaxaca12th2020–21122020–21120—
PiratasNew team2026–2702026–2710—
Sinaloa13th2020–21122020–21120—
Tapatío7th2020–21122020–21122Apertura 2024
Tepatitlán1st2020–21122020–21122Clausura 2026
Tlaxcala10th2020–21122020–21120—
Venados11th2020–21122020–21120—
Zacatecas6th2020–21122020–21120—

Stadiums and locations

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Club City Stadium Capacity
Atlético La Paz La Paz Guaycura 5,209
Atlético Morelia Morelia Morelos 35,000
Cancún Cancún Andrés Quintana Roo 18,844
Correcaminos UAT Ciudad Victoria Marte R. Gómez 10,520
Cruz Azul Hidalgo Jasso 10 de Diciembre 7,761
Durango Durango Estadio Francisco Zarco 18,000
Jaiba Brava Tampico & Ciudad Madero Tamaulipas 19,667
Leones Negros UdeG Guadalajara Jalisco 56,713
Oaxaca Oaxaca Tecnológico de Oaxaca 14,598
Piratas Boca del Río Luis "Pirata" Fuente 28,703
Sinaloa Mazatlán El Encanto 20,195
Tapatío Zapopan Akron 49,850
Tepatitlán Tepatitlán Gregorio "Tepa" Gómez 8,085
Tlaxcala Tlaxcala Tlahuicole 11,135
Venados Mérida Carlos Iturralde 15,087
Zacatecas Zacatecas Carlos Vega Villalba 20,777

Performances

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Rank Club Titles Runners-up Winning years
1Atlante132Ape–2021, Ape–2022, Cla–2024
2Tampico Madero/Jaiba Brava23Guard–2020, Ape–2025
Tepatitlán20Guard–2021, Cla–2026
Tapatío20Cla–2023, Ape–2024
5Atlético Morelia12Cla–2022
Leones Negros UdeG11Cla–2025
Cancún10Ape–2023
8Celaya202—
Sonora201—
Irapuato201—
Notes
  1. Clubs currently in Liga MX.
  2. Clubs currently in Liga Premier.

Campeón de Campeones

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Campeón de Campeones de la 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.

The inaugural edition was held in 2021, with Tepatitlán as the first champions in history. In all, six editions of the trophy have been held.

Tepatitlán and Tapatío are the most successful clubs with two titles each, followed by Atlante, and Cancún with one title each. In all, only those four clubs have won the trophy.

Performances

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Rank Club Titles Runners-up Winning years
1Tepatitlán202021, 2026
Tapatío202023, 2025
3Atlante122022
Cancún102024
5Tampico Madero/Jaiba Brava02—
Atlético Morelia01—
Leones Negros UdeG01—

Sponsorship

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Since 2020, sponsor of the league.

BBVA México has been the official main sponsor of the league since its founding in 2020, hence it is officially known as Liga BBVA Expansión MX. The official ball of the league is manufactured by Voit.

Managers

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Current managers of Liga de Expansión MX clubs:

Manager Club Appointed Time as manager
Mexico Alfonso SosaLeones Negros UdeG7 September 20214 years, 330 days
Ecuador Miguel BravoCancún22 May 20251 year, 73 days
Argentina Hugo Norberto CastilloAtlético La Paz31 May 20251 year, 64 days
Spain Nacho CastroVenados21 August 2025347 days
Mexico Luis Ángel MuñozZacatecas23 September 2025314 days
Mexico Mario OrtizAtlético Morelia7 October 2025300 days
Mexico José Luis MeléndezTapatío4 December 2025242 days
Mexico Efrén HernándezOaxaca9 December 2025238 days
Mexico Héctor Jair RealDurango10 December 2025236 days
Mexico Mario GarcíaPiratas19 May 202676 days
Argentina Gabriel PereyraCorrecaminos UAT6 June 202658 days
Mexico Daniel AlcántarJaiba Brava13 June 202651 days
Uruguay Daniel BartolottaTepatitlán1 July 202633 days
Mexico Rafael FernándezTlaxcala15 July 202619 days
Colombia Esteban LandazábalCruz Azul Hidalgo16 July 202618 days
Mexico Luis OrozcoSinaloa24 July 202610 days

Top goalscorers

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Season Player Club Goals
Guard1anes 2020Mexico Alberto Alvarado Morín
Mexico Lizandro Echeverría
Mexico Guillermo Martínez
Paraguay Gustavo Ramírez		Correcaminos UAT
Atlante
Celaya
Morelia		7
Guard1anes 2021Mexico Julio CruzOaxaca10
Apertura 2021Colombia Raúl ZúñigaSinaloa12
Clausura 2022Colombia David Angulo
Mexico Juan Machado
Mexico Óscar Villa		Tepatitlán
Raya2
Sonora		8
Apertura 2022Mexico Diego JiménezSonora12
Clausura 2023Mexico Ricardo MarínCelaya10
Apertura 2023Mexico Luis RazoZacatecas10
Clausura 2024Colombia José RodriguezCancún9
Apertura 2024Mexico Vladimir MoragregaAtlante11
Clausura 2025Mexico Jesús OcejoLeones Negros UdeG13
Apertura 2025Colombia Juan José CaleroVenados15
Clausura 2026Mexico Vladimir Moragrega
Colombia José Rodriguez		Tapatío
Cancún		10

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ includes AYM Sports 2, AYM Sports 3 and AYM Sports YouTube channel.
  2. ↑ includes ESPN 2, ESPN 3, ESPN 4 and Disney+.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ "Comunicado de la LIGA MX / ASCENSO MX y la FMF". LIGA MX. 20 April 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  5. ↑ "Asamblea Ordinaria de Clubes del 26 de Junio del 2020". Liga BBVA MX (in Spanish). 26 June 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  6. ↑ "Comunicado de la LIGA MX sobre la LIGA de Expansión". Liga BBVA MX (in Spanish). 17 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  7. ↑ "Por unanimidad, la Asamblea de Clubes designa a Juan Carlos Rodríguez". ligamx.net (in Spanish). 22 May 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  8. ↑ "Descartan fusión de la Liga de Expansión con la Sub-23". Mediotiempo.com (in Spanish). 22 May 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  9. ↑ "TAS confirma recurso de clubes de Expansión contra FMF por ascenso/descenso". RÉCORD (in Spanish). 21 May 2025. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  10. ↑ "¡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.
  11. ↑ "Liga de Expansión MX niega mudanzas de Celaya y Cimarrones a Veracruz y Tampico". TUDN (in Spanish). 9 July 2025. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  12. ↑ "TAS confirma regreso del ascenso y descenso en la Liga MX a partir de 2026–27". TUDN (in Spanish). 4 September 2025. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
  13. ↑ "TAS rechaza apelación de clubes de la Liga de Expansión, pero ascenso y descenso en Liga MX ya tiene fecha de REGRESO". Mediotiempo.com (in Spanish). 4 September 2025. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
  14. ↑ Aldana, Omar Flores (9 December 2025). "Liga MX da visto bueno al proceso para el regreso del Atlante". ESPN.com.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 April 2026.
  15. ↑ "Cruz Azul Hidalgo, Veracruz y Tampico regresan a Liga Expansión". ESPN México (in Spanish). 22 April 2026. Retrieved 24 April 2026.
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