Liga de Expansión MX, officially as 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 is contested by 16 participating clubs, the season is divided into two tournaments: 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. Promotion to Liga MX is suspended.
The league has held 12 editions. The inaugural edition was the Guard1anes 2020 tournament, with Tampico Madero crowned as the first champions.
Founded as part of the FMF's Stabilization Project, with the primary objective of rescuing the financially troubled clubs from the Ascenso MX and prevent the disappearance of a second level.
Seven clubs have won the title at least once. Atlante is the most successful club with three titles, Jaiba Brava, Tapatío and Tepatitlán with two titles each.
History 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.
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.
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 Under-23 team in the Liga de Expansión, which would have represented a merger between the Expansión MX and the Liga MX Under-23. 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.
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; 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, 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.
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; however, the CAS allowed the FMF 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.
In April 2026, Atlante became the first club from the league to secure a place in Liga MX, after purchasing the Mazatlán F.C. franchise. 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 club named as Piratas; 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.
Prior to the start of the 2026–27 season, the FMF finalized new competition regulations, indefinitely suspending the promotion and relegation system between Liga MX and Liga de Expansión MX and formalizing a closed-league model. This move sparked a fierce backlash from second-tier clubs, as it bypassed a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) directive to reinstate promotion.
On 20 August 2026, the FMF unveiled the new competition model to be implemented starting in 2027; under this plan, the Liga de Expansión will become the top tier of the league system organized by the Federation. However, this model also marks the definitive end of sporting promotion to Liga MX, as the aim is to transform the latter into a closed-league, separate from the Federation's system, accessible only through the purchase of franchises. Meanwhile, a promotion and relegation system would remain in place between Liga de Expansión and Liga Premier. Additionally, the new model seeks to strengthen the presence of reserve teams from Liga MX clubs within the leagues operated by the Federation.
Despite the FMF and Liga MX plans, the promotion matter remained in the public interest and took on political overtones, since a series of public hearings with players, executives, journalists, and other industry experts, on 23 September 2026, the Movimiento Ciudadano party introduced a bill in the Mexican Senate. This legislation project sought to mandate promotion and relegation across all Mexican professional sports leagues featuring two or more divisions, a move that would legally require promotion and relegation between Liga MX and Liga de Expansión MX. The initiative had the support of representatives from all parties, so its approval is expected in a few months.
Competition format Regular phase 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 eight clubs advances to the final phase for each tournament.
Final phase The final phase, commonly known as Liguilla, consisting of eight 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
2026–27 season The 2026–27 Liga de Expansión MX season has the following 16 participating clubs. ClubPosition Clausura 2026First season Current spellConsecutive seasonsTotal seasonsTitlesLast titleAlacranes de Durango—2022–232026–271—0—Alebrijes de Oaxaca12th2020–21120—Atlético La Paz4th2022–2380—Atlético Morelia3rd2020–21121Cla–2022Cancún2nd2020–21121Cruz Azul Hidalgo—2026–2700—Correcaminos UAT14th2020–21120—Dorados de Sinaloa13th2020–21120—Jaiba Brava5th2020–212024–25842Ape–2025Leones Negros UdeG15th2020–21121Cla–20256th2020–21120—Piratas—2026–2700—Tapatío7th2020–21122Ape–2024Tepatitlán1st2020–21122Cla–2026Tlaxcala10th2020–21120—Venados11th2020–21120—
Stadiums and locations
+ClubCityStadiumCapacityAlacranes de DurangoDurangoFrancisco Zarco18,000Alebrijes de OaxacaOaxacaTecnológico de Oaxaca14,598Atlético La PazLa PazGuaycura5,209Atlético MoreliaMoreliaMorelos35,000CancúnCancúnAndrés Quintana Roo18,844Correcaminos UATCiudad VictoriaMarte R. Gómez10,520Cruz Azul HidalgoCiudad CooperativaRefundación7,761Dorados de SinaloaMazatlánEl Encanto20,195Jaiba BravaTampico & Tamaulipas19,667Leones Negros UdeGGuadalajaraJalisco56,713ZacatecasCarlos Vega Villalba20,777PiratasBoca del RíoLuis "Pirata" Fuente28,703TapatíoZapopanAkron49,850TepatitlánTepatitlánGregorio "Tepa" Gómez8,085TlaxcalaTlaxcalaTlahuicole11,135VenadosMéridaCarlos Iturralde15,087
Performances
RankClubTitlesWinning years1Atlante32Ape–2021, Ape–2022, Cla–20242Tampico Madero/Jaiba Brava23, Ape–2025Tepatitlán20, Cla–2026Tapatío20Cla–2023, Ape–20245Atlético Morelia12Cla–2022Leones Negros UdeG11Cla–2025Cancún10Ape–20238Celaya02—01—Irapuato01— Notes Currently in Liga MX. Currently in Liga Premier. Currently on hiatus. Defunct.
Campeón de Campeones Campeón de Campeones de la Liga de Expansión MX is a domestic super cup contested by two clubs: the Liga de Expansión MX champions of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments.
The trophy has held six editions. The inaugural edition was contested in 2021, with Tepatitlán crowned as the first champions.
Four clubs have won the title at least once. Tepatitlán and Tapatío are the most successful clubs with two titles each, Atlante and Cancún with one title each.
Performances RankClubTitlesWinning years1Tepatitlán202021, 2026Tapatío202023, 20253Atlante122022Cancún1020245Tampico Madero/Jaiba Brava02—Atlético Morelia01—01—
Sponsorship
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 Current managers of Liga de Expansión MX clubs: ManagerClubAppointedTime as manager Leones Negros UdeG Cancún Atlético La Paz Venados Tapatío Alacranes de Durango Piratas Correcaminos UAT Alebrijes de Oaxaca Cruz Azul Hidalgo Dorados de Sinaloa Atlético Morelia Tlaxcala Tepatitlán Jaiba Brava
Player records Top goalscorers SeasonPlayer ClubGoalsAlberto AlvaradoLizandro EcheverríaGuillermo MartínezGustavo RamírezCorrecaminos UATAtlanteCelayaMorelia7Guard–2021Julio CruzAlebrijes de Oaxaca10Ape–2021Raúl ZúñigaDorados de Sinaloa12Cla–2022David AnguloJuan MachadoÓscar VillaTepatitlánRaya28Ape–2022Diego JiménezCimarrones de Sonora12Cla–2023Ricardo MarínCelaya10Ape–2023Luis RazoMineros de Zacatecas10Cla–2024José RodriguezCancún9Ape–2024Vladimir MoragregaAtlante11Cla–2025Jesús OcejoLeones Negros UdeG13Ape–2025Juan José CaleroVenados15Cla–2026Vladimir MoragregaJosé RodriguezTapatíoCancún10
See also Sport in Mexico Football in Mexico Mexican football league system Mexican Football Federation Liga MX Liga Premier Liga TDP Ascenso MX
Notes
References
External links Official website