Liga MX Apertura: Contenders Entering the Final Stretch

Last Updated on octubre 2, 2026 3:53 pm by Erwin Noguera

Toluca and América are level on 20 points with an identical +11 goal difference.

América have played one Liga MX match fewer.

That is the Apertura with seven rounds left: a leader who is not really leading, a defending champion who just recorded their first draw of the season, and a Chivas side that was top a fortnight ago and has just been beaten at home by Querétaro.

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The Table After Jornada 10

América Are the Real Leaders

Twenty points from nine matches, +11, and the best scoring rate in the division.

They beat Necaxa 4-2 on the road in Jornada 10 to draw level with Toluca at the summit, and they did it having played a game fewer than everybody above and around them. Win the match by hand, and they are three clear.

Twenty-one scored, and ten conceded across nine matches is the most balanced record in Mexico. The three-defeat fortnight in September (two at the Leagues Cup, one in the Clásico Joven) has been answered with a run that has taken them from third to first in all but name.

Los argumentos en contra de: they have not yet beaten a direct rival. The 2-2 Clásico Nacional against Chivas was a comeback from 0-2 down rather than a statement, and the 4-3 defeat to Cruz Azul is still the only meeting with a top four side this season.

Toluca Are Top and Have Stopped Winning

Twenty points out of ten, and only one victory in the last three rounds.

The 3-3 draw at Cruz Azul was entertaining, and it cost them the outright lead. Before that, they lost 3-2 at home to Santos (the second-worst team in the division) after going two goals up.

Twenty-three scored is still the best attack in Mexico, and the +11 difference is joint-best. Antonio Mohamed’s side has not become bad; they have become beatable, and the gap they built in the first eight rounds has evaporated.

The case against:twelve conceded, up from six after eight matches. Six goals shipped in two games against Santos and Cruz Azul is not a run, but it is a direction, and the Leagues Cup winners have played more football this calendar year than anyone in the league.

Chivas Have Fallen Out of It, For Now

Eighteen points out of ten, and they have just lost 2-0 at home to Querétaro.

Guadalajara led the Apertura after Jornada 8. Since then, they have drawn the Clásico Nacional from a winning position and been beaten at home by a club nobody expected to be in the conversation.

Seventeen goals scored is the lowest total of any side in the top six. The defense remains good (ten conceded is second only to América), but a team that cannot score at home against Querétaro is not winning a title.

Los argumentos en contra de: two points from the last two rounds, and the fixtures do not get easier.

Querétaro Are Fourth, and Nobody Can Explain It

Seventeen points from nine matches, +5, and a 2-0 win at Guadalajara.

We flagged Gallos a fortnight ago as the surprise of the tournament and ranked them above their table position based on a game in hand and a run of away results. They have now added the best win of anyone’s season.

The profile has not changed: thirteen scored and eight conceded is modest at both ends, and they win close matches rather than good ones. Mateo Coronel and Iker Benito lead the attack; goalkeeper Guillermo Allison organizes the defense.

They also still hold a match in hand on León, Atlas and Cruz Azul, which means fourth understates them.

Los argumentos en contra de: thirteen goals in nine matches is a Liguilla profile, not a title one. One injury to the spine of this team ends the story.

Cruz Azul Finally Drew a Match

The 3-3 with Toluca was the defending champions’ first draw of the season.

Nine matches, five wins, four defeats and nothing in between: we wrote that it was a temperament rather than a record. The tenth produced a six-goal draw against the league leaders, which is somehow the most Cruz Azul outcome available.

Sixteen points, +1, seventh. Nineteen scored and eighteen conceded by the reigning champions, who also lost the Campeones Cup at Inter Miami last month.

Los argumentos en contra de: eighteen conceded in ten matches is the worst defensive record in the top seven by a distance, and a club in the quarter-final places on a +1-goal difference is not a contender. They will beat anybody. They will also lose to anybody.

The Cluster on 17, and the Problem with Atlas

León and Atlas are level with Querétaro on 17 points. Their goal differences are +3 and -1.

Atlas sixth with a negative goal difference is the clearest overperformance in the division. They scored 16 and conceded 17 across ten matches and sit in a quarter-final place, having just won 3-2 at Tijuana.

León at +3 is the more solid of the two and beat Juárez 2-1.

Neither is the title contender. Both are fighting for seeding, and the difference between fourth and sixth is the difference between playing the fifth-placed side and playing a team that finished third.

Pachuca Are Still the Best Team Outside the Eight

Eleventh on 12 points, with a goal difference of +4.

That figure is better than León (+3), Atlas (-1), Cruz Azul (+1), Tijuana (+1), Puebla (-1) and Monterrey (+2). Only the top three have a better underlying record than a club sitting eleventh.

Fifteen scored and eleven conceded is a top six profile. Three draws in ten matches is why they are not there, and the 1-0 defeat at Santos in Jornada 10 is the sort of result that is quietly ending their tournament.

They are four points off eighth with seven to play. It is recoverable, and it has been recoverable for a month.

The Cut Line

Tijuana holds eighth on 14 points with a game in hand. Puebla are ninth on 14. Monterrey are tenth on 13 with a game in hand.

Ninth is elimination. There is no Play-In, and there is nothing beyond eighth place, which makes the gap between Puebla and Tijuana the most consequential point in the division.

Monterrey are the club most likely to climb into it: 13 points from nine, +2, and the squad that should not be outside. They were beaten 4-2 by Atlante, the club that returned to the first division this year by taking Mazatlán’s place rather than by winning promotion.

And at the bottom, Juárez have three points from ten matches and a -18-goal difference. Under Article 35, that carries no sporting consequence whatsoever.

What the Last Seven Rounds Decide

The title is between Toluca and América, and América hold the advantage because of the fixture in hand and because they are playing better right now.

Chivas needs a response immediately. Two points from two rounds and a home defeat to Querétaro is how a title challenge becomes a seeding fight.

Querétaro are the team to watch. Fourth, with a game in hand, and the only side in the top four whose presence nobody predicted. If they finish there, the 4 v 5 quarterfinal is close to a coin flip, and they will fancy it.

Monterrey and Pachuca will decide on the eighth-place line, two clubs with better underlying numbers than several teams above them and seven matches to prove it.

Toluca led this tournament for a month and stopped winning. América have not been top all season and are about to be. Seven rounds left, and the only certainty is that ninth place ends it.