Last Updated on setembro 14, 2026 5:04 pm by Erwin Noguera
There is no Liga MX Play-In this season. After 17 rounds, the top eight go straight to the quarter-finals, and everyone from ninth down is finished.
There is also no relegation and no promotion: not as a suspended arrangement, but written explicitly into Article 35 of the competition regulation published on the eve of the Apertura.
Both changes are being under-discussed, and together they alter what the second half of this tournament is actually for.
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A Correction First
We have published the old format twice, on 26 August and again on 10 September. In both articles, we wrote that the top six advance directly to the quarter-finals and that seventh through tenth contest a Reclasificación play-in for the final two places.
That was the previous system, and it no longer applies. Eight teams qualify directly. There is no play-in and no tenth-place lifeline.
We also built an argument on it: that a mid-table side banking points early could “buy itself a bye.” There are no byes in this format. That reasoning was wrong, and we are retracting it here.
What Changed, Precisely
The Play-In is gone. It existed to extend qualification chances to clubs finishing seventh through tenth. The Liga has dropped it for the Apertura 2026, restoring the traditional eight-team Liguilla that characterized Mexican football for decades.
The brackets are set strictly by position:1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6, 4 v 5.
The reasoning was calendar pressure. With international commitments and a congested schedule around the 2026 World Cup, the extra phase became difficult to accommodate. The consequence is fewer matches before the final stage and, as the regulation’s own coverage puts it, less room for teams with lower point totals to keep championship options alive.
And Article 35 ends promotion and relegation. Liga MX clubs can no longer go down to the Liga de Expansión, and Expansión clubs can no longer come up on sporting merit. This has been the practical reality since 2020, but it is now written into the rules, after years of legal fights from Expansión clubs that reached the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The league now runs a franchise model: permanence depends on corporate structure, not results.
What It Means: Ninth Place Is Now Nothing
Under the old system, finishing eighth or ninth still left a route. A club could limp into the Reclasificación and win two matches into the bracket.
That route is closed. The line is drawn hard between eighth and ninth, and there is nothing on the other side of it.
So the number that matters has moved. For two months we have been writing that the decisive gap in Liga MX sits between sixth and seventh. It now sits between eighth and ninth, and it is an absolute cut rather than a downgrade.
That change cuts both ways. Qualification is easier, because eight places are available directly instead of six. But there is no second chance for the clubs that miss.
What It Means: Half the League Has Nothing to Play For
This is the consequence almost nobody is naming, and it is the biggest one.
With no relegation and no play-in, a club outside the top eight in October is playing for nothing at all. Not survival; there is no relegation. Not a playoff lifeline; it no longer exists. Not promotion for anyone below; that is gone too.
In most leagues, the bottom half of the table has stakes. In this one, from roughly Jornada 12 onwards, a club that is nine points adrift of eighth is competing for pride, squad evaluation, and next season’s planning.
Juárez have zero points from seven matches. Under the old regulation, that would have been a relegation crisis with financial consequences. Under this one, it is a bad season with no sporting penalty whatsoever.
That is a structural argument the Liga will keep having, and it starts mattering competitively in about a month.
What It Means: Seeding Is the Whole Game
If qualification is easier and there is no safety net, the remaining variable is where you finish inside the eight.
First plays eighth. Fourth plays fifth. The difference between those pairings is enormous, and it is decided over nine remaining rounds.
Finishing first is worth more than it looks. It buys the weakest available opponent and home advantage in the second leg, which, in a two-legged Mexican quarter-final, has decided more ties than any tactical adjustment.
Finishing fourth or fifth is close to a coin flip. Those two clubs meet each other, and the seeding advantage is marginal. A team drifting between fourth and fifth in November is effectively playing a neutral tie.
The Table After Jornada 8
Chivas lead on 17 points, having beaten Pumas 3-0 with a Santiago Sandoval brace and a goal from Bryan González. They have climbed from second.
Toluca are second on 16 from seven matches, after dismantling Atlas 5-2. The Leagues Cup champions now have a continental trophy and a game in hand.
América are third on 16 from seven, e lost their unbeaten record 4-3 at Cruz Azul in the Clásico Joven, in the biggest result of the round.
Cruz Azul are fourth on 15 from eight. A fortnight ago we described their position as the most serious problem in the division after three straight defeats. They have now beaten the league leaders.
León vs Atlético San Luis is outstanding from the round.
Nine rounds remain.
Who the Format Helps and Hurts
It helps Toluca. A club carrying continental fixtures benefits from a shorter path to the final phase; one fewer round of knockout football before the quarter-finals is real recovery time for a squad that has played more than anyone.
It helps the clubs currently seventh and eighth. Under the old rules, they would be facing a play-in. Now they are simply in.
It hurts the chasing pack. Querétaro, León and Puebla were around ten points at the last check. Previously, ninth or tenth kept a route open. Now those clubs need to climb into eighth, or the tournament ends for them in November.
It hurts the bottom of the table most of all, though not in the way that phrase usually means. Nothing happens to them. That is the problem.
O que assistir
The eighth-place line. Not sixth. That is where the Liguilla is decided now, and the clubs hovering around it are in the most consequential position in the league.
Toluca’s game in hand. Second on 16 with a match to play, and the best knockout pedigree in Mexico right now.
Whether América responds. They led the league unbeaten, lost twice in Houston at the Leagues Cup, and have now lost their first domestic match of the season. Three defeats in ten days is a run, not a blip.
Cruz Azul’s trajectory. Three straight defeats in August, and they have just beaten the team that was top of the table.
Eight qualify, nine rounds remain, and four teams are separated by two points at the summit. The format that used to reward surviving now rewards only finishing high; and for everyone outside the eight, it rewards nothing at all.
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