Liga de Expansión MX

Liga de Expansión MX, officially named 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 has 15 participating clubs. The season is divided into two short tournaments, according to FIFA world football calendar: 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.

The inaugural edition was the Guard1anes 2020 tournament, with Tampico Madero as the first champions in history. In all, eleven editions of the league have been held.

It was founded as part of the FMF's Stabilization Project, which has the primary objective of rescuing the financially troubled clubs from the Ascenso MX and prevent the disappearance of a second level division in Mexico.^[3] The project also attempts for Liga MX and former Ascenso MX clubs to consolidate stable projects with strong administration, finances, and infrastructure.

Atlante is the most successful club with three titles, followed by Tapatío and Jaiba Brava with two titles each. In all, seven clubs have won the league at least once.

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.^[4]

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.^[5][6]

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 U-23 team in the Liga de Expansión, which would have represented a merger between the Expansión MX and the Liga MX U–23.^[7] 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.^[8]

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;^[9] 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,^[10] 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.^[11]

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;^[12] however, the CAS allowed the Mexican Football Federation 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.^[13]

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 8 clubs advances to the final phase for each tournament.

The final phase, commonly known as liguilla, consisting of 8 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.

The 2025–26 Liga de Expansión MX season has the following 15 participating clubs.

Notes

1. Clubs currently in Liga Premier.

Campeón de Campeones de la Liga de Expansión MX is the domestic Super cup of the division between the champions of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments, the two champions of each season.

The inaugural edition was held in 2021, with Tepatitlán as the first champions in history. In all, five editions of the trophy have been held.

Tapatío is the most successful club with two titles, followed by Atlante, Tepatitlán and Cancún with one title each. In all, only those four clubs have won the trophy.

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.

Current managers of Liga de Expansión MX clubs:

• Sport in Mexico
• Football in Mexico
• Mexican football league system
• Mexican Football Federation
• Liga MX
• Liga Premier
• Liga TDP
• Ascenso MX

• Official website