Liga MX: Drama, Notícias e Controvérsias

Last Updated on Agosto 24, 2026 3:48 pm by Erwin Noguera

The biggest story in Mexican football this season is not a result. It is a sentence in a rulebook.

Liga MX rewrote article 35 of its regulations for 2026-27, and the wording leaves nothing to interpret: clubs in Liga MX will not be relegated to Expansión MX, and clubs in Expansión MX will not be promoted to Liga MX. The ladder has been removed, permanently.

Then the players protested, and the league threatened to fine them.

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Here is the drama, five rounds into the Apertura.

The End of the Ascenso

Promotion and relegation had been suspended for years. This is different: it is now written into the regulations as permanent.

The response from below was immediate. On the opening matchday of the Liga de Expansión, players in three of the seven fixtures refused to play the first minute. In Mineros de Zacatecas against Correcaminos, Coyotes de Tlaxcala against Leones Negros, and Atlético Morelia against Atlético La Paz, the starting elevens simply stood still while the clock ran.

It did not stop there. On 9 August, players from Atlético Morelia and Cancún FC staged a second demonstration: some posing with their backs to the cameras, others covering their mouths.

The federation’s answer was not a negotiation. The Disciplinary Commission opened an investigation, issued a formal warning to the clubs involved, and stated that any repetition could bring financial sanctions of more than US$11,500.

That is the part worth sitting with. Second-division footballers protested the removal of the only route out of the second division, and were told that doing it again would cost them money.

The case for the decision, which the league has made repeatedly, is financial. Relegation makes investment risky, deters owners from committing to infrastructure and academies, and has historically pushed Mexican clubs toward short-term signings over long-term building. Closed leagues in North America have demonstrably attracted capital.

The case against is the one being made silently on pitches across Expansión. Without promotion, a division becomes an exhibition. Sporting merit stops meaning anything, and the incentive for a club in Zacatecas or Tlaxcala to spend, develop, or compete hard in May largely disappears.

Both arguments are serious. Only one side has a vote.

Refereeing Has a Credibility Problem

Five rounds in, the officiating has generated more discussion than most of the football.

It started immediately. Two contentious penalties in the opening fixtures set the rhythm, and the most damaging criticism came from inside the profession: Fernando “Cantante” Guerrero, a World Cup referee, said publicly on social media that the 81st-minute penalty Yonatan Peinado awarded Necaxa against Atlante should never have been given.

When a referee of that standing publicly contradicts a colleague’s decision, the problem stops being one call.

It has continued. América’s Ramón Juárez was sent off against San Luis on matchday two and then did not serve the automatic one-match suspension, because the red card was rescinded as a refereeing error. Days later, América supporters were furious that a penalty was not given for a challenge on Brian Rodríguez against Pachuca.

VAR was introduced to remove exactly these arguments. The Arbitration Commission has instead spent the opening month of the tournament defending its criteria rather than its technology.

América Are Top — and Filing Complaints

The champions of the recent era lead the table, and they have also lodged a formal protest against the judges at the start of the Apertura.

That is an unusual position for the team currently top of the standings. América sit on 13 points after five rounds, having beaten Juárez 2-1 away, and they are doing it under a new manager after one of the most significant departures in recent Liga MX history.

Complaining while winning invites accusations of working the officials. It also, in fairness, follows a stretch in which two separate decisions involving América were publicly questioned: one of which the federation itself effectively conceded by overturning the red card.

Atlante Are Back

One of the genuinely good stories. Atlante have returned to Liga MX, restoring a name that mattered to Mexican football for decades.

The reintroduction has not been gentle. Their opening involved that disputed Necaxa penalty, and matchday five brought a 2-0 defeat to Tigres.

The uncomfortable subtext is that Atlante’s return happened in a season where the door behind them has been sealed shut. They are back in the top flight in the first campaign where nobody else can follow.

The Benches Have Turned Over

The most consequential change is at América. André Jardine departed after winning six titles in three years (a run that would keep almost any manager in a job indefinitely/ and Guillermo Almada has taken over.

Em outro lugar, Benjamín Mora took charge at Pachuca for the Apertura, and Pumas parted ways with Efraín Juárez before the season began.

Almada’s situation is the one to watch. Inheriting a six-title dynasty is not an opportunity so much as a trap, and América currently top the table without much credit flowing its way.

Where the Table Stands

After matchday five, América lead on 13 points, com Atlas second on 12 following a 2-0 win at Cruz Azul.

That result is the story of the round. Cruz Azul was beaten at home, and of the traditional heavyweights, only América e Chivas currently occupy playoff spots: Guadalajara having put five past Xolos in a 5-2 win.

The rest of matchday five: León 2-0 Monterrey, Tigres 2-0 Atlante, Juárez 1-2 América, Querétaro 1-2 Toluca, Puebla 3-2 Santos, San Luis 1-1 Pachuca, and Pumas 1-1 Necaxa.

Atlas sitting second while Cruz Azul, Monterrey, Tigres, and Pumas scrap below them is exactly the kind of early-season table that either reshapes a tournament or evaporates by October.

What to Watch

Whether the protests continue. The Disciplinary Commission has drawn a line and attached a number to it. If Expansión players demonstrate again, the league has committed itself to punishing them, and that becomes a considerably bigger story than a first-minute stoppage.

Whether the Arbitration Commission changes anything. Five rounds of disputed calls with VAR available is a pattern, not a run of bad luck. The Liguilla is where this becomes genuinely dangerous.

Almada at América. Top of the table is the minimum expectation. The judgement comes in December.

Cruz Azul. Beaten at home by Atlas and outside the playoff places while América and Chivas are inside them. Five rounds is early. It is nothing.

Seventeen rounds in the regular phase. The top six go straight to the Liguilla quarter-finals; seventh through tenth enter the Reclasificación play-in for the final two places.

Table and results as of the conclusion of matchday five, Apertura 2026.