Season Like a lot of Central and South American domestic leagues, the Mexican Football League has two separate seasons every 12 months. The first is the Apertura (opening), the Fall league that runs from late summer to late December. The second is the Clausura (closing), running from January until late May/early June.
Mexico no longer has a domestic cup competition due to its clubs' involvement in South American and North American international club competitions (InterLiga, Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, SuperLiga, CONCACAF Champions League). They played the last Cup final in 1996-97.
League
The Mexican league is made up of 20 clubs divided into four groups of five each. The groups are determined by previous record, with all teams ranked from one to twenty and then placed into the four groups. How the groups are arranged is a bit complicated, so we’ll use an image with the numbers representing the rank of the club.
| Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 |
| 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
As you can see, rather than moving from right to left, the rankings alternate. This produces stronger third and fourth groups, giving the teams ranked higher more of an advantage.
There are 19 regular season rounds to determine eight playoff teams. The Mexican playoff system is called La Liguilla (literally "little league"), and includes the four teams that win their group with the final four spaces determined by the second-place group finishers and overall record. In other words, if a team finishes in second place in a weak group and there is a third-place finisher in another group with a better overall record, the two teams will play a pre-playoff game to determine who gets the playoff spot.
For example, if Cruz Azul finished second in Group 2 with 25 points, but Chivas finished third in Group 4 with 26 points, the playoff spot would be determined by a pre-playoff game. Using this example, this credits Cruz Azul for finishing second in their group, but also allows Chivas, a team with a better record in a stronger group, the chance to make the playoffs.
The playoffs are conducted in the standard international format, with each round featuring home and away games with the winner determined by aggregate goals. That means the team that scores the most goals over the two game series advances.
The Mexican Football League has relegation, but it works differently than in other leagues around the world. At the end of three years (three Aperturaand three Clausura seasons) the team with the worst cumulative record is relegated and replaced by the top team from the second division.
Last season, Leon had the worst record over that time period, but they were allowed to play a play-off against the Second Division runners-up, Veracruz, which they lost anyways.
Much like American sports, owners can throw a wrench in relegation plans by moving teams all over the country and changing their names. Real San Luis gained promotion by winning the Second Division title. Then, at the end of 2002, First Division La Piedad relocated to Queretaro and became Gallos Blancos. Atlante moved out of Mexico City to play their home matches in the suburb of Nezahualcoyotl. Second Division runner-up Veracruz defeated Leon in a playoff which created two teams in the port city of Veracruz. The ''new'' Veracruz moved South to Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital of Chiapas, and was re-named Jaguares de Chiapas. The ''old'' Veracruz stayed, but changed their names to Tiburones Rojos (Red Sharks).
Winnng the Apertura or the Clausara gains teams entrance into the CONCACAF Champions Cup while other qualified Mexican teams enter the South American Copa Libertadores tournament. they qualify for that by competing in the Interliga, usually held in the United States.
Clubs
Northern Mexico
Santos Laguna (Guerreros): A relatively new power in Mexican club soccer, surprising Club America in the 2002 Apertura playoffs. They play their home games at the smallest stadium in the topflight, the 18,000-seat Corona in Torreon. Along with the two Monterrey teams, Santos is closest to the US/Mexico border.
Atletico Celaya (Toros): Representing the city of the same name, Celaya play their home games at the 25,000-seat Miguel Aleman Stadium.
Monterrey
Monterrey (Rayados): The 2003 Apertura champs play their home games at the 38,600-capacity Tecnologico Stadium.
Tigres: Monterrey's city rivals, playing their home games at the 45,000-capacity Universitario Stadium
Mexico City
Atlante (Potros): The smallest of the Mexico City clubs, they moved to Nezahualcoyotl outside of the city, before the 2002-03 Apertura season.
Cruz Azul (La Maquina): Playing their home games at the 40,000-seat Azul Stadium, the club is extremely popular across Mexico and the United States.
U.N.A.M. (Pumas): Affiliated with the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and playing their home games at the Olimpco Universitario.
Club America (Aguilas): The biggest team in Mexico, capable of drawing huge crowds to the Azteca and rivals of every other club in the country.
Necaxa (Rayos): Enjoying recent success including participating in the 2000 FIFA World Club Championship, the club is actually leaving Mexico City for a new stadium.
Guadalajara
Guadalajara (Chivas): Mexico's second biggest club and America's greatest rival, Chivas play their home games at the 66,000-capacity Estadio Jalisco. Chivas only hire Mexican players which is how they derive most of their popularity.
U.A.G. (Tecos): Another university team, this time affiliated with the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara and playing their home games at the 30,000-seat 3 de Marzo Stadium.
Atlas (Zorros): Guadalajara's second biggest club, sharing the Estadio Jalisco with city rivals Chivas.
Central Mexico
Morelia (Monarcas): The Chicago Fire's sister club, play their home games at the 42,500-capacity Morelos Stadium.
Pachuca (Tuzos): North of Mexico City; The 2003 Clausura champs play their home games at the 30,000-seat Hidalgo Stadium.
Puebla (La Franja): South of Mexico City; home games at the 46,500-seat Cuahutehmoc Stadium.
Toluca (Diablos Rojos): West of Mexico City; play their home games at the 26,000-capacity La Bombenera Stadium.
Real San Luis (Tuneros): South of Mexico City; Play their home games at Estadio Alfonso Lastras Ramírez
Queretaro (Gallos Blancos): West of Mexico City; Queretaro literally means "place of the ball game"; Play their home games at 40,000 seat Estadio Corregidora de Queretaro
Veracruz (Tiburones Rojos): East of Mexico City, on the Caribbean; Stadium: Estadio Luis Fuente
Southern Mexico
Chiapas (Jaguares): Play their home games at Estadio El Zoque
Q&A
What's the closest team to the United States?
The two Monterrey clubs, Monterrey and Tigres, are the closest to the US, linked with San Antonio, Texas by Interstate 35. Torreon, home of Santos Laguna, is further west. Celeya is just south of Torreon, with the bulk of the Mexican Football League clubs located in central Mexico between Guadalajara and Mexico City.
Are those gridiron lines I see while watching Mexican soccer?
Yes, though it isn't widely covered in the United States, American football is played by Mexican universities. Like Major League Soccer, several soccer teams share stadiums with football teams, so you see the gridiron lines during the football season. The most obvious examples are university teams like U.N.A.M. Pumas in Mexico City and U.A.G. in Guadalaraja.
Why have two seasons and two champions?
Aside from rumors that the MFL will either create a unified championship game or adopt a different league structure entirely, it's simply the way the league is setup. Though probably not ideal from a casual viewer standpoint, it's certainly preferable to the South American countries where you can have local and state competitions running concurrently with the "league" as well as regional tournaments.
Is it hard to get tickets for a Mexican League game?
Not really, and like anywhere it depends on what stadium you plan to visit. Though they usually draw more than the average MLS games, the big clubs play in massive stadiums and tickets are almost always available. It's similar to Italy, where the big clubs can't, and shouldn't be expected to, sellout their massive stadiums for every game. Atlante, Club America, and for now Necaxa share Mexico City's 106,000-capacity Azteca Stadium. On the other end of the scale, Santos plays in an 18,000-seat stadium. Some Mexican stadiums are terraced on the ends, with individual seats along the sidelines. You would certainly want to play it safe and buy in advance for the big games, like America - Guadalajara.
So how good is Mexican club soccer?
The standard is high, with the big clubs fielding the type of squads you would associate with the better clubs around the world. The league is somewhat disrespected in Europe because they don't sell a lot of players, but that's a bias not based in quality of play. Every league in the world has unattractive teams, and the Mexican League is no exception, but by and large it's a fun way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday or Sunday.
Why do Mexican announcers say "goooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaal!"?
First off, Univision and Telemundo are both based in the US, and more often than not the announcers you're hearing are actually watching the feed in a US studio. As for the goal cry, its origins are as much Argentine as Mexican, and it's simply grown common to associate it with the announcers the two major US Spanish-language networks use for their coverage. Mexican soccer did give the rest of the world the stadium wave.
