The 2024–25 Liga de Expansión MX season is the fifth professional season of the second-tier football division in Mexico. The season is divided into two championships—the Torneo Apertura and the Torneo Clausura—each in an identical format. The Apertura tournament will begin on 25 July 2024. The Clausura tournament will begin in January 2025.
Changes from the previous season The Liga de Expansión MX is a Mexican football league founded in 2020 as part of the Mexican Football Federation's "Stabilization Project", which has the primary objective of rescuing the financially troubled teams from the Ascenso MX and prevent the disappearance of a second-tier league in Mexico, for which there will be no promotion and relegation during the following six years. The project also attempts for Liga MX and former Ascenso MX teams to consolidate stable projects with solid basis, sports-wise and administrative-wise, financially wise and in infrastructure.
The owner's assembly decided to adjust liguilla qualification, which was modified as of the Apertura 2023 season. The number of teams directly qualifying to the quarter-finals was increased from six to eight, eliminating the play-in system that had been established in the Apertura 2023 tournament. The 2023–24 Serie A champions Tampico Madero was certified for promotion to the Liga de Expansión MX. However, the team will participate as a guest team and not as a full member of the league. After being promoted, the team was renamed Club Jaiba Brava. On June 18, 2024, Cimarrones de Sonora sold the franchise to businessmen from Chiapas, who formed a team called Jaguares F.C. However, the new team had to be approved by the owner's assembly. On July 12, the vote was held, the project was not approved by the partners, so the franchise was put on hiatus for the 2024–25 season.
Stadiums and locations
TeamCityStadiumCapacityAtlanteZacatepec, MorelosAgustín "Coruco" Díaz24,313Atlético La PazLa Paz, Baja California SurGuaycura5,209Atlético MoreliaMorelia, MichoacánMorelos35,000CancúnCancún, Quintana RooAndrés Quintana Roo18,844CelayaCelaya, GuanajuatoMiguel Alemán Valdés23,182Jaiba BravaTampico and Ciudad MaderoTamaulipas19,667OaxacaOaxaca City, OaxacaTecnológico de Oaxaca14,598SinaloaCuliacán, SinaloaDorados20,108SonoraHermosillo, SonoraHéroe de Nacozari18,747TapatíoZapopan, JaliscoAkron49,850TepatitlánTepatitlán de Morelos, JaliscoGregorio "Tepa" Gómez8,085TlaxcalaTlaxcala City, TlaxcalaTlahuicole9,462UATCiudad Victoria, TamaulipasMarte R. Gómez10,520U. de G.Guadalajara, JaliscoJalisco55,020VenadosMérida, YucatánCarlos Iturralde15,087ZacatecasZacatecas City, ZacatecasCarlos Vega Villalba20,068
Stadium Changes Sinaloa (Since October 2024)Estadio Caliente Capacity: 27,333 Atlante (Apertura 2024)Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes Capacity: 33,000
Personnel and kits Team Chairman Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor(s) frontAtlante Jorge Santillana Miguel Fuentes Humberto Hernández Joma CalienteAtlético La Paz Samuel Hernández Antonio López (Interim) Kristian Álvarez In–house Baja FerriesAtlético Morelia Rubens Sambueza Nacho Castro Raúl Torres Keuka Akron, ArcelorMittal, Harinera Monarca, Calidra, Cemex Tolteca, Michoacán, Morelia Brilla, Biocup, Electrolit, AutovíasCancún Jeff Luhnow Luis Arce Benjamín Galindo Jr. Adidas CancúnCelaya Carlos Benavides Escardó Sergio Blanco Leobardo López Keuka ICEMéxico, TV4, Mariscos ChavaJaiba Brava Álvaro de la Torre Marco Antonio Ruiz Benjamín Muñoz Pirma Nexum, GDL Transportes, Grupo Velas, Holding Industrial, Mega, Bricer Logistics, Grúas AriasOaxaca Juan Carlos Jones Arturo Alvarado Octavio Paz Svedda Baby Sky, Optixala, Solux, G+, Oaxaca Rosa, PlayCell, Fiestamas App, San Francisco LaboratoriosSinaloa José Antonio Núñez Sebastián Abreu Oswaldo León Charly Coppel, Caliente, SuKarneTapatío Amaury Vergara Arturo Ortega Juan Aguayo PumaTepatitlán Bruno Marioni Héctor Jair Real Carlos Villanueva López Joma PacíficaTlaxcala Rafael Torre Mendoza Luis Orozco Gerardo Ruíz UIN Tlaxcala, Pronto, ProvidenciaUATJavier Garibaldi Héctor Hugo Eugui Iván Pineda JAG Sportswear U. de G. Alfonso Sosa Arturo Ledesma Sporelli ElectrolitVenados Rodolfo Rosas Cantillo Rigoberto Esparza Alfonso Luna Joma Yucatán, Nus-káhZacatecas Eduardo López Muñoz Mario García José Plascencia Spiro Fresnillo plc, Mifel, Vazlo, Mobil
Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table Ref.Pre-Apertura changesAtlético Morelia Norberto ScoponiSacked16 April 2024 Mario García17 April 2024Pre–seasonVenados Rafael FernándezMutual agreement4 May 2024 Rigoberto Esparza16 May 2024UAT Raúl GutiérrezSacked19 May 2024 Francisco Cortéz22 May 2024Sinaloa Rafael García26 May 2024 Sebastián Abreu30 May 2024Celaya Cristian Paulucci27 May 2024 Sergio Blanco30 May 2024Tepatitlán Fernando Pérez (Interim)End of tenure as caretaker23 July 2024 Héctor Jair Real23 July 2024Apertura changesUAT Francisco CortézSacked21 September 2024 Francisco Cortéz23 September 202415thOaxaca Carlos GutiérrezSacked7 October 2024 Arturo Alvarado (Interim)8 October 202412thTapatío Arturo OrtegaAppointed as Guadalajara interim manager10 October 2024 José Luis Meléndez (Interim)10 October 20242ndPre–Clausura changesUAT Francisco CortézSacked31 October 2024 Héctor Hugo Eugui25 November 2024Pre–seasonTlaxcala Paco Ramírez7 November 2024 Luis Orozco27 November 2024Zacatecas Nacho CastroMutual agreement12 November 2024 Mario García24 November 2024Atlético Morelia Mario GarcíaSacked12 November 2024 Nacho Castro18 November 2024Atlante Daniel Alcántar19 November 2024 Miguel Fuentes3 December 2024Jaiba Brava Gastón Obledo22 November 2024 Marco Antonio Ruiz3 December 2024Tapatío José Luis Meléndez (Interim)End of tenure as caretaker12 December 2024 Arturo Ortega12 December 2024Clausura changesAtlético La Paz Raúl RicoMutual agreement14 February 2025 Antonio López (Interim)15 February 202514th
Torneo Apertura The defending champions are Atlante. The regular tournament began on 25 July and will end on 3 November.
Regular season
Standings
Positions by round
Results Each team plays once all other teams in 15 rounds regardless of it being a home or away match.
Regular season statistics
Top goalscorers Players sorted first by goals scored, then by last name. Rank Player Club Goals1 Vladimir MoragregaAtlante112 Jose RodríguezCancún83 Martín BarragánCelaya7 Jesús OcejoUdeG Alfonso TamayTepatitlán Teun WilkeTapatío7 Adolfo DomínguezCelaya6 Fernando GonzálezSinaloa Daniel LópezSinaloa10 Luis CalzadillaVenados5 Gael GarcíaTapatío Sleyther LoraVenados Benjamín SánchezTapatío Christopher TrejoAtlético Morelia Source: Liga de Expansión MX
Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Round Vladimir MoragregaAtlanteOaxaca6 – 0 (H)30 August 20246 Alfonso Tamay4TepatitlánUAT6 – 0 (H)20 September 20249 Joaquín FernándezSinaloaLa Paz4 – 0 (H)26 October 202414 4 Player scored four goals(H) – Home; (A) – Away
First goal of the season: Brandon Rodríguez for Tepatitlán against Venados (26 July 2024) Last goal of the season: Ángel Sayago for Atlante against Jaiba Brava (4 November 2024)
Discipline
Team Most yellow cards: 52 Jaiba Brava Most red cards: 5 Tepatitlán Fewest yellow cards: 27 Atlético La Paz UAT Fewest red cards: 0 Atlético Morelia
Source Liga de Expansión MX
Attendance
Per team
Highest and lowest Highest attended Lowest attendedWeek Home Score Away Attendance Home Score Away Attendance 1 Jaiba Brava 1–1 Atlético Morelia 11,780 Tlaxcala 0–2 La Paz 1,7262 Jaiba Brava 0–0 Venados 7,128 Tlaxcala 3–2 UAT 1,2603 Atlante 3–1 Atlético Morelia 2,992 Tapatío 2–0 Jaiba Brava 6904 Jaiba Brava 0–0 UAT 15,039 Tapatío 6–0 Oaxaca 7655 La Paz 1–1 Venados 4,318 Oaxaca 1–1 Atlético Morelia 1,5466 Jaiba Brava 1–0 Zacatecas 7,352 Tapatío 2–0 Tepatitlán 8247 La Paz 2–1 Jaiba Brava 3,384 Oaxaca 1–0 Venados 1,0348 Jaiba Brava 0–1 Tlaxcala 7,130 Tapatío 1–0 La Paz 7649 UdeG 3–3 Atlante 5,105 Sinaloa 4–1 Cancún 20310 La Paz 0–1 Atlético Morelia 3,278 Tapatío 2–2 Venados 53311 Jaiba Brava 4–3 Sinaloa 6,382 Tlaxcala 2–1 Oaxaca 1,11112 Cancún 1–1 Atlante 5,900 Sinaloa 1–0 Tlaxcala 43313 Jaiba Brava 3–2 UdeG 6,227 Tapatío 2–0 Cancún 96014 UdeG 1–1 Celaya 3,625 Sinaloa 4–0 La Paz 23315 Atlético Morelia 2–1 Tlaxcala 7,368 Sinaloa 2–0 Oaxaca 233
Source: Liga de Expansión MX
Final phase Bracket
Quarter-finals The first legs will be played between 6–7 November, and the second legs will be played between 9–10 November.
Atlante won 4–3 on aggregate.
2–2 on aggregate. Tapatío advanced due to being the higher seeded team.
UdeG won 5–3 on aggregate.
Celaya won 8–4 on aggregate.
Semi-finals The first legs will be played between 14 November, and the second legs will be played between 17 November.
Celaya won 4–1 on aggregate.
4–4 on aggregate. Tapatío advanced due to being the higher seeded team.
Finals The first leg was played on 20 November, and the second leg was played on 23 November.
Tapatío won 5–3 on aggregate.
Torneo Clausura The Clausura tournament will begin on 10 January 2025.
Changes from the previous season On December 6, 2024 Atlante was relocated from Mexico City to Zacatepec, Morelos because the team broke the contract it had with the owners of the Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes, following the closure of the stadium due to non-compliance with civil protection rules, which affected Atlante in the previous tournament. On December 17, 2024 Dorados de Sinaloa was established in Tijuana, the city where it had been playing since the middle of the previous tournament due to security problems that occurred in Culiacán since September 2024. The team could return to Culiacán if the security situation in the city improves.
Regular season
Standings
Positions by round
Results Each team plays once all other teams in 15 rounds regardless of it being a home or away match.
Regular season statistics
Top goalscorers Players sorted first by goals scored, then by last name. Rank Player Club Goals1 Jesús OcejoUdeG132 Amaury EscotoTepatitlán9 Misael PedrozaTlaxcala4 Martín BarragánCelaya8 Vladimir MoragregaAtlante6 Carlos BaltazarCelaya6 Joel MartínezUAT Leonardo VargasSinaloa9 Orlando BallesterosOaxaca5 Luis Salvador RazoZacatecas Source: Liga de Expansión MX
Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Round Jesús OcejoUdeGSinaloa4 – 0 (H)19 January 20252 Jesús OcejoUdeGTlaxcala5 – 1 (H)2 February 20254 Vladimir MoragregaAtlanteCancún4 – 1 (H)29 March 202512 4 Player scored four goals(H) – Home; (A) – Away
First goal of the season: Juan José Machado for Tepatitlán against Venados (10 January 2025) Last goal of the season: Luis Ruiz for Sinaloa against Oaxaca (19 April 2025)
Discipline
Team Most yellow cards: 50 La Paz Most red cards: 5 Tlaxcala Zacatecas Fewest yellow cards: 25 Celaya Fewest red cards: 1 La Paz UAT
Source Liga de Expansión MX
Attendance
Per team
Highest and lowest Highest attended Lowest attendedWeek Home Score Away Attendance Home Score Away Attendance 1 Atlético Morelia 1–0 Jaiba Brava 6,315 Sinaloa 0–2 Zacatecas 233 2 UAT 1–1 Tlaxcala 9,297 Oaxaca 0–1 Zacatecas 1,023 3 Atlético Morelia 0–2 Atlante 8,510 Tlaxcala 2–2 Tepatitlán 1,6384 UAT 2–1 Jaiba Brava 10,100 Sinaloa 1–1 Celaya 2335 Atlético Morelia 2–1 Oaxaca 6,374 Tapatío 1–0 Sinaloa 4906 Cancún 1–2 Venados 5,239 Sinaloa 5–1 Atlético Morelia 2337 Jaiba Brava 2–0 Atlético La Paz 5,804 Tapatío 0–1 Zacatecas 5368 Atlético Morelia 1–0 Venados 5,205 Sinaloa 1–4 Atlante 3339 Jaiba Brava 3–0 Oaxaca 6,205 Tapatío 1–0 Tlaxcala 58110 Jaiba Brava 0–0 Celaya 6,535 Sinaloa 1–0 Tepatitlán 13311 UAT 1–1 Venados 6,182 Sinaloa 0–1 Jaiba Brava 18312 Jaiba Brava 2–1 Tepatitlán 5,816 Tlaxcala 3–2 Sinaloa 1,41813 Zacatecas 1–1 Atlético Morelia 11,718 Sinaloa 3–1 Venados 13314 Atlético Morelia 2–1 Cancún 9,313 Tapatío 4–0 UAT 42315 Jaiba Brava 1–1 Atlante 10,698 Tlaxcala 1–1 Atlético Morelia 1,293
Source: Liga de Expansión MX