The 2026–27 Liga de Expansión MX season is the seventh professional season of the second-tier football division in Mexico. The season is divided into two championships—the Torneo Apertura and the Torneo Clausura—each in an identical format. The Apertura tournament will begin on 24 July 2026. The Clausura tournament will begin in January 2027.
Prior to the start of the 2026–27 season, the Mexican Football Federation 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. In response, players across the entire league—starting with Mineros de Zacatecas on Matchday 1—are organizing coordinated protests by refusing to play and remaining stationary for the first minute of the match. The Mexican Football Federation is threatening the players with severe sanctions and heavy financial fines.
Changes from the previous season The Liga de Expansión MX is a Mexican football league founded in 2020 as part of the Mexican Football Federation's "Stabilization Project", which has the primary objective of rescuing the financially troubled teams from the Ascenso MX and prevent the disappearance of a second-tier league in Mexico, for which there will be no promotion and relegation during the following six years. The project also attempts for Liga MX and former Ascenso MX teams to consolidate stable projects with solid basis, sports-wise and administrative-wise, financially wise and in infrastructure.
The 2025–26 Serie A runner–ups Alacranes de Durango was certified for promotion to the Liga de Expansión MX. However, the team will participate as a guest team and not as a full member of the league. On 16 April 2026 Atlante left the league after buying the Mazatlán F.C. franchise in Liga MX, making it the first team in this division to "promote" to the top tier of Mexican football. On 22 April 2026, the league owners' assembly approved the sale of the Celaya F.C. franchise, consequently the team was relocated to Veracruz and renamed Piratas F.C. At the same meeting, the sale of the Cimarrones de Sonora franchise to Club Jaiba Brava was approved, so the Tampico Madero team become a full member of the league, ceasing to be a Liga Premier guest team. On 22 April 2026 Cruz Azul Hidalgo requested entry into the league as a training team for Cruz Azul of Liga MX. On 10 June 2026 Irapuato lost its place in the league due to conflicts between the team owners and the organization that owns the club's trademark rights. On 2 July 2026, Dorados de Sinaloa returned to Sinaloa after two years playing in Tijuana, Baja California; however, the team was relocated to Mazatlán instead of Culiacán, its former city. On 3 July 2026, Tapatío returned to Zapopan after playing in Tepatitlán during the previous tournament due to the need to protect the grass at Estadio Akron for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Stadiums and locations
+ClubCityStadiumCapacityAlacranes de DurangoDurangoEstadio Francisco Zarco18,000Alebrijes de OaxacaOaxacaTecnológico de Oaxaca14,598Atlético La PazLa PazGuaycura5,209Atlético MoreliaMoreliaMorelos35,000CancúnCancúnAndrés Quintana Roo18,844Correcaminos UATCiudad VictoriaMarte R. Gómez10,520Cruz Azul HidalgoJassoRefundación7,761Dorados de SinaloaMazatlánEl Encanto20,195Jaiba BravaTampico & Tamaulipas19,667Leones Negros UdeGGuadalajaraJalisco56,713Mineros de ZacatecasZacatecasCarlos Vega Villalba20,777PiratasVeracruzLuis "Pirata" Fuente28,703TapatíoZapopanAkron49,850TepatitlánTepatitlánGregorio "Tepa" Gómez8,085TlaxcalaTlaxcalaTlahuicole11,135VenadosMéridaCarlos Iturralde15,087
Personnel and kits Team Chairman Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor(s) frontAlacranes de Durango Ciro Castillo Ibarra Héctor Jair Real Jesús González DZR #WeAreOne, Patrulla 81Alebrijes de Oaxaca Juan Carlos Jones Gonzalo Bolaños Octavio Paz Romed Ballove Ballon Bar, Fiestamas App, MRCI, ORAtlético La Paz Samuel Hernández Hugo Castillo Martín Barragán Sporelli Baja FerriesAtlético Morelia Rubens Sambueza Hugo Colace Daniel Parra Keuka Akron, Valladolid Caja Financiera, Aguacates La Bonanza, Biocup, Cemex, Morelia Brilla, Michoacán es mejor, Electrolit, AutovíasCancún Giovanni Solazzi Miguel Bravo Benjamín Galindo Jr. Adidas Cancún, SportyBetCorrecaminos UAT Armando Arce Gabriel Pereyra Daniel Cisneros JAG Sportswear Doña TotaCruz Azul Hidalgo Víctor Velázquez Esteban Landazábal Vacant Pirma Cemento Cruz AzulDorados de Sinaloa José Antonio Núñez Luis Orozco Alfonso Sánchez Charly Coppel, Caliente, SuKarneJaiba Brava Gerardo Nader Miguel Ángel Martínez Sergio Flores Keuka Woodside Energy, Unitam, Nexum, Logmar, Bricer Logistics, Grúas AriesLeones Negros UdeG Alfonso Sosa Arturo Ledesma Keuka ElectrolitMineros de Zacatecas Eduardo López Muñoz Luis Ángel Muñoz Andrés Ávila Givova Fresnillo plc, Cesantoni, MobilPiratas René Vives Gómez Mario García Humberto Hernández Keuka Caliente, Waterloo Coyame, Casa Almaraz OrtopediasTapatío Amaury Vergara José Luis Meléndez Diego Delgadillo Nike CalienteTepatitlán Hugo Vázquez Colorado Gustavo Olvera Jesús Venegas Deportes Alve PacíficaTlaxcala Aldo Robles Caussor Arturo Ortega José Plascencia Creaciones Edeseg TlaxcalaVenados Rodolfo Rosas Cantillo Nacho Castro William Guzmán Joma Yucatán
Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table Ref.Pre-Apertura changes PiratasNew team Mario García 19 May 2026Pre–season Cruz Azul HidalgoNew team Esteban Landazábal 16 July 2026 Correcaminos UAT Gustavo DíazMutual agreement 17 April 2026 Gabriel Pereyra 6 June 2026 Tepatitlán Gabriel Pereyra 5 June 2026 Daniel Bartolotta 1 July 2026 Jaiba Brava Marco Antonio RuizEnd of contract 12 June 2026 Daniel Alcántar 13 June 2026 Dorados de Sinaloa Paco Ramírez30 June 2026 Luis Orozco 24 July 2026 Alebrijes de Oaxaca Efrén Hernández Named as assistant coach Gonzalo Bolaños 1 July 2026 Tlaxcala Gustavo Leal Signed by Atlético Ottawa 15 July 2026 Rafael Fernández 15 July 2026 Apertura changesAtlético Morelia Mario OrtizSacked6 August 2026 Hugo Colace 6 August 2026 9th Tlaxcala Rafael Fernández Arturo Ortega 11 August 202616th Tepatitlán Daniel BartolottaReassigned to another position30 August 2026 Gustavo Olvera31 August 2026Jaiba Brava Daniel AlcántarMutual agreement5 October 2026 Miguel Ángel Martínez6 October 202613th
Torneo Apertura The defending champions are Tepatitlán. The regular tournament began on 24 July and will end on 31 October.
Regular season
Standings
Positions by round
Results Each team plays once all other teams in 15 rounds regardless of it being a home or away match.
Regular season statistics
Top goalscorers Players sorted first by goals scored, then by last name. Rank Player Club Goals1 Sleyther LoraVenados152 Christopher TrejoCancún83 Martín BarragánAtlético La Paz7 José RodríguezCancún5 Óscar CoronelDorados de Sinaloa6 Rubén del CampoAtlético Morelia Jesús OcejoJaiba Brava8 Daniel ÁlvarezTlaxcala5 Alonso FloresAtlético Morelia Luis RazoLeones Negros UdeG Ángel RoblesAtlético La Paz Source: Liga de Expansión MX
Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Round Sleyther LoraVenadosDorados de Sinaloa4 – 2 (H)20 August 20265 José RodríguezCancúnCruz Azul Hidalgo6 – 0 (H)5 September 20267 Sleyther LoraVenadosTepatitlán5 – 0 (H)13 September 20268 4 Player scored four goals(H) – Home; (A) – Away
First goal of the season: Duvan Mina for Correcaminos UAT against Mineros de Zacatecas (24 July 2026) Last goal of the season:
Discipline
Team Most yellow cards: 37 Cruz Azul Hidalgo Most red cards: 9 Mineros de Zacatecas Fewest yellow cards: 23 Tapatío Fewest red cards: 0 Alacranes de Durango
Source Liga de Expansión MX
Attendance
Coefficient table As of the 2020–21 season, the promotion and relegation between Liga MX and Liga de Expansión MX (formerly known as Ascenso MX) was suspended, however, the coefficient table will be used to establish the payment of fines that will be used for the development of the clubs of the silver circuit. As of the 2026–27 season, the bottom three ranked Liga de Expansión MX teams will pay a fine, except for affiliated teams and those with Liga Premier guest status. The last ranked team can not qualify for the Clausura 2027 liguilla.
TeamFine1Leones Negros UdeG2829211123011267 +242PiratasNew team1801811 +63Cancún1819302517010967 +3242026212117010567 +195Jaiba Brava1824302111010467 +26Liga Premier de México1701711 0Exempt from fine7Atlético Morelia1620192322010067 +28Tapatío291915201409766 +26 Exempt from fine9Venados222218161909767 +2010Tepatitlán18191826608766 +611Atlético La Paz1210172220081670 –2012Tlaxcala141314201207367 –33Exempt from fine13Correcaminos UAT91810121606567 –5314Dorados de Sinaloa18125131306167 –38 $MXN500 thousand15Alebrijes de Oaxaca9513163753670 –73 $MXN1 million16Cruz Azul HidalgoNew team80811 –7 Exempt from fine Tiebreakers: 1) Coefficient; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results between tied teams; 5) Number of goals scored away; 6) Fair Play points Source: Liga de Expansión
References
External links Official website of Liga de Expansión MX