So begins an irregular, but thrilling as always, Liga MX campaign.
Highlighted by a compact season with an altered playoff run due to the upcoming World Cup, an influx of American investment that has been growing in recent months, and Toluca chasing a shake-up of the hierarchy through a possible three-peat, Liga MX kicked off over the weekend and offered a glimpse into how things could play out in the 2026 Clausura.
Liga MX is back, but on and off the field, what’s next for the continent’s most prestigious top-flight? Whether it be through 90 minutes or the decision-making behind closed doors, the league is at an inflection point ahead of the World Cup that will be co-hosted by Mexico, the United States, and Canada.
With the Clausura season now back in full swing, let’s check in on five talking points to follow.
– Toluca’s 12th Liga MX title reshapes Mexico’s club landscape
– World’s weirdest soccer leagues: 8 champions? Points for losing?
– How travel will impact 2026 World Cup group stage, and why it matters
Can Toluca three-peat?
Short answer: Maybe!
The back-to-back champions kicked off Week 1 with a gutsy 1-0 away victory over big-spenders Monterrey, have held onto their core group of players, and are waiting on blockbuster signing Sebastián Córdova to be available.
Liga MX has a long history of consecutive winners struggling to recreate magic in a short-season format that produces surprise results, but Los Diablos Rojos have pulled all the right strings under manager Antonio “Turco” Mohamed.
Boosted by one of the league’s most intimidating and vocal atmospheres at the Estadio Nemesio Diez, and the invaluable attacking influence of goalscorer Paulinho and Mexico international Alexis Vega, Toluca are the team to beat in Liga MX.
Also, for American soccer fans keeping track, we should note the impact of California’s Fernando Arce Jr. and Texas’ Mauricio Isais, who were both in the starting XI of the champions who surpassed Monterrey on Saturday.
So, three-peat ahead? Once again: Maybe!
To help the country’s national team prepare for the World Cup, the league and the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) announced this winter that they’re allowing Mexico internationals to leave their Liga MX clubs and train with the national team during the playoffs. For Toluca, that likely means losing key figures such as Jesús Gallardo, Marcel Ruiz, and Vega.
Mohamed and company will more than likely qualify for the playoffs, and even though he didn’t need the aforementioned names in Week 1, it’ll be a challenge nonetheless to lift a third consecutive title at the end of the Clausura. If Toluca were to do that, a 13th championship would mean that three of the “big four” would be behind them on the all-time list.
Traditional giants seeking a comeback
Long gone are the days in which all members of the Big Four dominate the league. While Club América remain as a powerhouse with the most titles — and in fact a three-peat of their own from 2023 to 2024 — the same can’t be said of Chivas de Guadalajara, Cruz Azul, and Pumas.
Of those three, only Cruz Azul have won a league championship in the 2020s, and when looking further back at the last 25 seasons, that Liga MX championship tally slightly increases to two with Chivas gaining a trophy in the last decade.
Will 2026 be any different?
If you’re looking for a revival, Chivas appear poised to do so after a strong end to 2025 and a promising start to the Clausura. Led by the Mexican-American quartet of Efrain Álvarez, Brian Gutiérrez, Richard Ledezma, and Daniel Aguirre, Chivas shone during Week 1 with a standout 2-0 win over Pachuca.
Since last September, Los Rojiblancos are second only to Toluca when it comes to goals scored and xG (expected goals).
Let’s not forget Club America either, who, despite appearing to be in preseason mode with their 0-0 away draw vs Club Tijuana last Friday, have the loftiest expectations of the big four through their highly talented and deep roster. U.S. international Alex Zendejas, currently recovering from an injury, will be a key part of those efforts for a fourth Liga MX trophy since 2023.
But what about Cruz Azul or Pumas?
Cruz Azul have flexed its muscles over the last few years with eye-catching signings that have made them a title-contender, but things will undoubtedly be complicated with stadium issues leading to a temporary home venue this season that’s a two-hour drive to Puebla. A 2-1 loss to León last Saturday could also foreshadow more hiccups.
As for Pumas, they still have superstar Keylor Navas in net, but the weekend’s 1-1 home draw against Querétaro won’t do much to instill confidence for a team that finished 10th last season.
A growing American influence
Why invest in football when you can instead take part in fútbol?
The league, described by one stakeholder to ESPN as “the least explored, biggest opportunity in global sports,” has lately garnered the attention and financial pull from Hollywood moguls to wealthy equity firms.
Over the last few years, that’s brought investment in Necaxa (spearheaded by Eva Longoria alongside Wrexham’s Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds), Club América (through General Atlantic’s 49% control last month), and Querétaro (with Innovatio Capital’s Marc Spiegel becoming a majority owner last summer).
Why Liga MX? When speaking to those involved in these deals, investors see the league as an undervalued asset with an established and die-hard fanbase across Mexico and the United States. With the aim to soon centralize media and commercial rights, and ongoing plans to possibly bring in an investment of more than $1 billion from Apollo Global Management, there’s growing excitement about the league and its clubs that have room for growth.
Keeping that in mind, it wouldn’t be a shock if we were to hear news of more American investors (or investors outside of Mexico) buying another stake in Liga MX this season, especially with the World Cup bringing more attention to the region.
Including FC Juárez, who are co-owned by MountainStar Sports Group, nearly a quarter of Liga MX clubs now have an American influence behind the scenes. And for what it’s worth, at the start of a new year, none of those teams lost during Week 1…
Who is the next wonderkid after Mora?
In case you haven’t heard of 17-year-old phenom and Mexico international Gilberto Mora, here are a few things to know about him:
The Club Tijuana attacking midfielder is the youngest-ever goalscorer in Liga MX, the youngest to debut in an official match for the Mexican national team, and surpassed Pelé and Lamine Yamal as the youngest to win an international trophy after lifting Concacaf’s Gold Cup last summer.
In a country that has no shortage of prospects, Mora is seen as a generational talent that’s destined for Europe after thriving in Liga MX last year. As for 2026, who is the next undiscovered gem?
Although he has yet to make his professional debut, 17-year-old Atlas forward Luis Gamboa is a name to keep an eye on after providing two goals and an assist for Mexico in November’s U17 World Cup. The Veracruz native is playing well above his age range with Atlas’ U21 roster and started in a preseason game for the senior team earlier this month.
Chivas’ 18-year-old attacking duo of Santiago Sandoval and Hugo Camberos are more known quantities since their 2025 debuts, but could also vault from fringe players to high-profile stars during a playoff stage that will likely see the exits of a handful of Chivas de Guadalajara’s national team players who will be preparing for the World Cup.
At Chivas or elsewhere, those absences left by Mexico’s internationals in the playoffs will be huge for the next generation.
Gamboa could enter the fold for Atlas, and over at Cruz Azul, we may finally see the first minutes gained by U17 World Cup call-up Alex Gutierrez for the Mexico City side after joining the club last summer. Before signing with Cruz Azul, the Oklahoma native made headlines in 2025 after debuting in Liga MX at the age of 16 with Necaxa.
Fellow U17 international teammate José Mancilla is also one to keep tabs on with Pumas as he awaits his debut, as is Pachuca’s 18-year-old fullback Cristóbal Hernández, who gained his first pro minutes last weekend.
Additional off-the-field matters: Extra transfers, Apollo deal, pro/rel
The transfer window has yet to close, which means that modern big spenders like Monterrey (who have Sergio Canales and Anthony Martial, and once recently Sergio Ramos) and Tigres (led by Ángel Correa) could still make a splash with high-profile signings.
And speaking of the transfer window, due to the atypical nature of the playoffs that won’t have Mexico’s World Cup call-ups, teams that have players missing in the liguilla will be able to sign two additional players outside of the winter transfer window. The playoffs themselves will also be shortened, with only the top eight qualifying, as opposed to including a play-in round for places No. 9-12.
As mentioned earlier, the league could also finalize a deal with Apollo in the coming months, which would significantly alter the evolution of Liga MX through a more centralized approach that would be easier to market and sell to international audiences. In 2023, Liga MX president Mikel Arriola told ESPN that the plan was to centralize TV rights by 2028.
Whether that possible investment of more than a $1 billion includes the full return of promotion and relegation is to be determined. In September of last year, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) paved the way for its return for the 2026-27 season.
But as to what that looks like, remains unclear. Could Liga MX appease second division clubs by simply bringing back promotion and eventually reaching more than 20 teams, without relegation? Will owners, some of whom spent hundreds of millions of dollars in recent months to buy stakes in Mexican soccer, give in to any form of relegation returning? Do they do away with it altogether and have the case likely go back to CAS?
Tough decisions, on and off the field, await.
