Football in Mexico
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Football in Mexico | |
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Country | Mexico |
Governing body | Federación Mexicana de Fútbol (FMF) |
National team(s) | Mexico |
Nickname(s) | El Tri |
First played | 1923 |
Clubs | 18 in Liga MX |
National competitions | |
Men's: Liga MX (Top level) Copa MX (Cup tournament) Campeón de Campeones (Supercup match) Liga de Expansión MX (Second level) Liga Premier (Third level) Liga TDP (Fourth level) Women's: Liga MX Femenil (Top level) Campeón de Campeones Femenil (Supercup match) Liga TDP Femenil (Second level) | |
International competitions | |
Men's: FIFA Club World Cup (Worldwide) CONCACAF Champions Cup (Continental) Leagues Cup (Regional) FIFA World Cup (National Team) CONCACAF Gold Cup (National Team) CONCACAF Nations League (National Team) Women's: CONCACAF W Champions Cup (Continental) Summer Cup (Regional) FIFA Women's World Cup (National Team) CONCACAF W Gold Cup (National Team) CONCACAF W Championship (National Team) |
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Culture of Mexico |
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Symbols |
Mexico's most popular sport is football (called fútbol in Mexico).[1][2] The first level leagues in Mexico are Liga MX for men and Liga MX Femenil for women.
In Mexico, football became a professional men's sport in 1943. Since then, Mexico's most successful men's club has been Club América, with fifteen Liga MX titles.[3]
The first women's professional football league in Mexico was established in 2016, the first season was in 2017-2018. It set new world records for attendances at women's professional football matches.[4][5]
Antonio Carbajal was the first player to appear in five World Cups, and Hugo Sánchez was named best CONCACAF player of the 20th century by IFFHS.
Mexico's largest capacity stadiums are Estadio Azteca, Estadio Olímpico Universitario and Estadio Jalisco. As of 2006[update], it was estimated that there were in the nation over 324,000 registered players and approximately 8,155,000 unregistered players.[6]
Professional clubs
[edit]Men's football has been played in Mexico since the early 1900s, and professionally since 1943. The first club founded was C.F. Pachuca in 1892. The first women's professional football league Liga MX Femenil was announced in December 2016[7] and the inaugural season (2017-2018) started the following year.[8] The development of women's football has occurred in waves since the 1950s.[9]
Since 1996, the national league has played two shorts split seasons (Apertura and Clausura) instead of a traditional long season. This system is common throughout Latin America.[10] There are two separate playoff and league divisions. After many years of calling the regular seasons as "Verano" (Summer) and "Invierno" (Winter); Liga MX (historically Primera División de México) changed the names of the competition, and opted for a traditional name of Apertura and Clausura (opening and closing). The Apertura division begins in the middle of Mexico's summer and ends before the official start of winter. The Clausura division begins during the new year, and concludes in the spring season.
Mexico's men's football has four levels of clubs in the following order of competition: Liga MX, Liga de Expansión MX, Liga Premier, and Liga TDP. The Promotion and relegation are used by the FMF to advance (promote) a lesser tier club into competition of like quality their aggregate percentage score warrants play in a higher competition level. They replace the club that is demoted (relegated) to the next lower level based on their aggregate. Promotion and relegation take place after the Clausura season has ended.
Mexico's most successful men's clubs have been Club América with 15 Liga MX titles, C.D. Guadalajara with 12, Toluca with 10, Cruz Azul with 9, Club León and Tigres UANL with 8.[3] On the women's side Tigres UANL Femenil are the most successful club, winning six championships since the 2017-2018 season the inaugural season of Liga MX Femenil. Both championship matches in the first season set new world records for attendance at a women's football league match with 32,466 fans in attendance at the Apertura final[11] and 51,211 at the Clausura final match.[12]
The top three most popular football clubs on social media from North America, as of 25 March 2021, are all Mexican clubs.[13] Note that this was before the arrival of Lionel Messi at Inter Miami, which resulted in 12.5 million Instagram followers for Inter Miami in 2023.[14]
# | Football club | Country | Followers |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Club América | Mexico | 36 million |
2 | CD Guadalajara | Mexico | 13 million |
3 | Cruz Azul | Mexico | 6.6 million |
Association football clubs by city/metro area
[edit]Liga MX is the most important and highest level league in Association Football. Liga de Expansión MX (formerly Ascenso MX) is Mexico's second division in Football. The following table shows the teams of these leagues and the cites/metro areas they're based in.
- Key to colors and symbols
Metro areas with 3 teams in league | |
Metro areas with 2 teams in league | |
Metro areas larger than 500,000 population without a team in these leagues |
National teams
[edit]The Mexico national football team has 17 participations in the FIFA World Cup, reaching the quarter-finals twice (both times as hosts) and finishing in the round of 16 at seven consecutive tournaments. They also finished as runners-up at the Copa América twice. Mexico won the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup as hosts, beating Brazil 4–3 in the final to win its first world-class senior tournament organized by FIFA. The olympic team were gold medalists at the 2012 Olympic Football Tournament in London, once again beating Brazil 2-1 in the final. The under-17 team were world champions twice, winning in Peru 2005 and at home in Mexico 2011.
Players from Mexico have joined teams in Europe, including Jared Borgetti, Rafael Márquez, Gerardo Torrado, Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Nery Castillo, Carlos Salcido, Ricardo Osorio, Pável Pardo, Andrés Guardado, Guillermo Franco, Carlos Vela, Giovani dos Santos, Omar Bravo, Aaron Galindo, Héctor Moreno, Francisco Javier Rodríguez, Francisco Fonseca, Javier Hernández (commonly referred to as "Chicharito"), Pablo Barrera, Efraín Juárez, Guillermo Ochoa, Jesús Corona, Héctor Herrera, Miguel Layún, Raúl Jiménez, Marco Fabián, Diego Reyes, Hirving Lozano, Edson Álvarez, Alexis Vega and Diego Lainez the most recents.
Mexico's men's national team has achieved other significant feats such as the most CONCACAF Championship/CONCACAF Gold Cup titles with 12. Mexico has hosted two times the FIFA World Cup (1970 and 1986). Estadio Azteca is the biggest stadium in the world to have hosted two World Cup finals and is one of the largest stadiums in the world. Mexico will co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup along with Canada and the United States. Several matches will take place in Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara.
The Mexico women's national football team was officially formed in 1991 to compete in the 1991 CONCACAF Women's Championship and its first participation in the World Cup was in USA 1999. However, in 1970 an unofficial team Mexico finished third in an unofficial Women's World Cup held in Italy.[9][18] In 1971, the team hosted an unofficial women's World Cup and reached the final, only to lose to Denmark 3–0. An estimated 110,000 people attended the final at Estadio Azteca.[19]
History
[edit]It is believed that football was introduced to Mexico by emigrant miners from Cornwall, England at the end of the 19th century.[20] In the early 1900s, football was used as a method to "indoctrinate modern labor practices" such as teamwork and competition within a set of rules upon the Mexican workers.[20] By 1902 a five-team league emerged with a strong English influence.[21][22]
Many of the early football teams were affiliated with corporations.[23]
Mexican football stadiums
[edit]Stadiums with a capacity of 40,000 or higher are included.
# | Stadium | Capacity | City | State | Team(s) | Surface | Year Opened | Owner | League (tier) | Image |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Azteca | 81,070 | Tlalpan | Mexico City | América, Cruz Azul, Mexico | Grass | 1966 | Grupo Televisa | Liga MX | |
2 | Olímpico Universitario | 69,000[24] | Coyoacán | Mexico City | UNAM | Grass | 1952 | UNAM | Liga MX | |
3 | Jalisco | 55,020[25] | Guadalajara | Jalisco | Atlas, Leones Negros UdeG | Grass | 1960 | Clubes Unidos de Jalisco | Liga MX, Liga de Expansión MX | |
4 | BBVA | 51,348[26] | Guadalupe | Nuevo León | CF Monterrey | Grass | 2015 | FEMSA | Liga MX | |
5 | Cuauhtémoc | 47,417 | Puebla City | Puebla | Club Puebla | Grass | 1968 | State of Puebla | Liga MX | |
6 | Akron | 46,232[27] | Zapopan | Jalisco | CD Guadalajara | Grass | 2010 | Grupo Omnilife | Liga MX | |
7 | Universitario | 41,886 | San Nicolás de los Garza | Nuevo León | Tigres UANL | Grass | 1967 | UANL | Liga MX |
See also
[edit]- Mexican Football Federation
- Mexico national football team
- Mexico women's national football team
- Mexican football league system
- Women's football in Mexico
- Liga MX
- Liga MX Femenil
References
[edit]- ^ "Mexico Information - Page 2". World InfoZone. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ Schechter, Daniel C.; Quintero, Josephine (2008). Mexico City. Con Pianta - Daniel C. Schechter, Josephine Quintero - Google Books. Lonely Planet. ISBN 9781740591829. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
- ^ a b "Mexico - List of Champions". Rec.Sports.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ "News Roundup: Union lose, Steel in, LAFC fail to impress, and USOC kicks off". The Philly Soccer Page. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
- ^ "For Liga MX Femenil, an impressive start to an infant league • Copa90". Copa90. Archived from the original on 26 August 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
- ^ Dunmore, Tom (16 September 2011). Historical Dictionary of Soccer - Tom Dunmore - Google Books. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810871885. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
- ^ MX, LIGA MX / ASCENSO. "LIGA MX - Página Oficial de la Liga del Fútbol Profesional en México .: Bienvenido". www.ligamx.net (in Mexican Spanish). Retrieved 16 May 2018.
- ^ FIFA.com. "New horizons in the development of Mexican football". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on January 23, 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
- ^ a b L’Hoeste, H. Fernández; Irwin, R.; Poblete, J. (6 May 2015). Sports and Nationalism in Latin / o America. Springer. ISBN 9781137518002.
- ^ Fellerath, David. "A thought experiment: What would NASL's split-season plan look like this season?". Indy Week. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
- ^ "Chivas wins inaugural Liga MX Femenil title". ESPN.com. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
- ^ "Femenil final shows women's football is thriving in Mexico". ESPN.com. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
- ^ "Digital impact of Latin American football teams". 25 March 2021.
- ^ "Inter Miami surpasses Brazilian clubs and becomes the MLS team with the most followers on Instagram". 28 July 2023.
- ^ "Irapuato (Municipality, Mexico)". citypopulation.de.
- ^ "MEXICO: Metropolitan Areas". citypopulation.de.
- ^ "Club Atlético La Paz confirma su llegada a la Liga de Expansión MX". Soy Fútbol.
- ^ Kessel, Anna (4 June 2015). "Women's World Cup: from unofficial tournaments to record-breaking event". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
- ^ "Mundial (Women) 1971". RSSSF. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
- ^ a b Coerver, Don M.; Pasztor, Suzanne B.; Buffington, Robert (2004). Mexico: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Culture and History - Don M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, Robert Buffington - Google Books. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781576071328. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
- ^ "Introduction". Federacion Mexicana de Futbol. Archived from the original on 11 October 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ "Mexico - List of Final Tables". Rec.Sports.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ Standish, Peter; Bell, Steven M. (2004). Culture and Customs of Mexico - Peter Standish, Steven M. Bell - Google Books. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9780313304125. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
- ^ "Estadio Olímpico Universitario". Archived from the original on 2016-05-12. Retrieved 2016-05-21.
- ^ "Football stadiums of the world – Stadiums in Mexico | Football stadiums of the world".
- ^ "Estadio BBVA (Estadio de Futbol de Monterrey) –". Stadiumdb.com. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
- ^ http://www.fundacion-ica.org.mx/ESTADIO%20CHIVAS.pdf [permanent dead link]
- Liga Mx where to watch https://golasazo.com/futbol/liga-mx/donde-ver-los-partidos-en-vivo-jornada-13-de-la-liga-mx/