The top eight teams who made the 2025-26 Apertura playoffs were the same as in the 2024-25 Clausura with one exception, as Cruz Azul (who finished in tenth last spring) replaced Atlas (who fell from seventh to 12th this fall).
2025 Apertura Liga MX Femenil
In the quarterfinals, the big surprise was number seven seed Cruz Azul of Mexico City defeating reigning league champions (from the 2024-25 Clausura playoffs) Pachuca 6-2 on aggregate, coming back from a 2-1 deficit in the first leg to win 5-0 away in Pachuca on November 8. Chivas of Guadalajara (a fifth seed) was another lower seed to defeat the higher seed Toluca (fourth seed) 4-2 on aggregate.
Two top seeds advanced as regular season winner and number 1 seed UANL Tigres defeated eighth seed Juarez 1-0 on aggregate while number 3 seed Club America of Mexico City blasted number six Monterrey 6-1 on aggregate, winning 5-0 in the second leg in Mexico City after a 1-1 tie in the first leg. In the second leg win, U.S.-born Mexican international Scarlett Camberos scored a first half brace for the Aguilas to swing the tie. She is in her second season in her second stint with CA after playing two seasons in NWSL with Angel City and Bay FC.
In the semifinals, Tigres edged Cruz Azul 3-2 on aggregate while Club America defeated Chivas 4-0 on aggregate after a pair of 2-0 victories. In the two leg final, America and UANL tied 3-3 in the first leg and Tigres won the second leg 1-0 at home to take their seventh league title in their 16th campaign (two championships every year).
In the 2025-26 Apertura, Mexican international Charlyn Corral of Pachuca won the Golden Boot with 22 goals. American Aerial Chavarin of Cruz Azul was second with 18, followed by Montserrat Saldivar of Club America and Mexico third with 15 goals.
Tied for fourth with 14 goals was Spain WWC 2023 winner and Tigres forward Jenni Hermoso (who won the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League again last year), her Tigres teammate American-born Mexican international Diana Ordonez and Portuguese international Stephanie Ribeiro of UNAM Pumas of Mexico City. French international Eugenie Le Sommer scored 13 goals for fourth place side Toluca, followed by Mexican international Kiana Palacios of CA with 12, El Salvador international Brenda Ceren of Atlas with 11 and Mexican international Alicia Cervantes of Guadalajara with 10 tallies.
Another French international Amadine Henry at Toluca had a hat-trick in a 6-0 win over Mazatlán at home in Round 12 in her second season with the side, scoring seven goals in 21 matches.
The league average attendance for the 2025 Apertura was 1,807, led by Tigres at 5,380, followed by Monterrey with 3,836, Club America at 3,265 and UNAM Pumas fourth with 3,100 fans a game. Three other sides also exceeded the league average with Guadalajara at 3,082, Toluca at 2,503 and Pachuca at 1,945.
At the other end of the table, Queretaro averaged only 218 fans a game, with other teams averaging under 600 fans a game including Cruz Azul (269), Santos Laguna (407), Mazatlán (461) and Puebla (570), all of whom missed the playoffs this season except Cruz Azul, who play in a beautiful setting but is set far south of the club’s central Mexico City home, and doesn’t have the atmosphere of the club’s iconic Estadio Centenario in nearby Cuernavaca, which seats 14,800. The league average of 1,807 in the 2025 Apertura is below the 2024 Apertura average of 1,875 as well as the 2,067 average during the 2025 Clausura.
In the 2025-26 Apertura, there were 195 imports in the league, with more than half being Americans (110) compared to 148 total imports (and 74 Americans) for the 202-25 Apertura.
Below we look at a few of the new imports to the league this season by club and where their imports are from. See our detailed club review of Liga MX Femenil for the 2024-25 season with details on many of the imports, with a good portion staying within the league for 2025-26 (2024-25 Apertura (Part 1): The Week in Women's Football: Liga MX season review - top 7 in focus - TribalFootball.com (Part 2) The Week in Women's Football: Liga MX Review P2; Campos joins Tottenham - TribalFootball.com and 2024-25 Clausura The Week in Women's Football: Reviewing Liga MX, CONCACAF Cup and AFC Champions League - TribalFootball.com).
Atlas of Guadalajara
Atlas’s imports this season are from: U.S. (5), Costa Rica (2), El Salvador (1), Ecuador (1) and Uganda (1).
American defender Iliana Jasso (23) joined Atlas in July of 2025 after four seasons at San Jose State University. She played in two matches for Atlas, totaling 94 minutes.
Forward Juliet Nalukenge (22) is a full international for Uganda and won the 2022-23 and 2023-24 league titles with Apollon Limassol of Cyprus. She scored once in seven games in the fall with Atlas.
Atletico San Luis
Atletico San Luis’s 11 imports for the 2025 Apertura hailed from five countries: U.S. (6), Colombia (2), Nigeria (1), Panama (1) and Venezuela (1).
Defender Wendy Natis (23) of Panama joined San Luis for the 2023-24 Clausura and has played in 26 games across two championships. She previously played at home in Panama, with America de Cali in Colombia and with Bahia in Brazil. She is a full international for Panama and played for their U-20 WNT.
Forward Amina Bello (20) of Nigeria joined Atlético de San Luis Femenil ahead of the 2025 Apertura season. She formerly played with Naija Ratels FC in Abuja, Nigeria and with Otero Community College Rattlers of Colorado in the United States. Bello was part of the Nigerian squad that finished in third place at the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in India; she then moved up to the U-20 side in 2023.
In the summer offseason, Chilean international winger Isidora Olave left the club to join Colo-Colo at home in July. She scored three goals in 29 games for San Luis during the 2024-25 campaigns.
Club America
Club America utilized 16 imports last fall: U.S. (12), Spain (3) and Brazil (1), along with two coaches from Spain (see below).
CA’s 19-year-old Mexican international Montserrat Saldivar is being touted as a top young player globally. Since making her debut for Club América at the age of 14, she has 100 appearances for the Liga MX Femenil side, with 29 goals. She helped Mexico’s U-20 WWC side make the round of 16 in Colombia in the 2024 WWC Finals. She was capped at the senior level by Mexico in October 2024—with two goals in seven matches—and still can play in the next U-20 WWC in Poland this coming fall.
Midfielder Bruna Vilamala (23) of Spain joined America in July of 2025 from Brighton and Hove Albion of England’s WSL1, scoring once in nine games in 2024-25 in England. She previously played at Barcelona in Spain with 20 goals and 5 assists in 51 league matches over four seasons. She scored six goals with three assists in 19 regular season and playoff matches during the 2025 Apertura in Mexico.
American defender Nicolette ‘Nicki’ Hernandez (26) has left America for the Boston Legacy for the 2026 season. She was originally a forward but was converted to a left back by Club America. She joined the Aguilas for the 2021-22 Clausura and scored 11 times from her defensive spot in 117 matches. At América, she helped the club reach league finals six times, including a championship in the Clausura 2023 season.
She signed with Club América after four years at the University of Michigan, where she scored 29 goals in 93 matches. She has been a full international for Mexico since 2022, scoring once in 27 appearances through July 2025. She won a Pan American Games Gold Medal in 2023 at the tournament in Chile.
CF Monterrey
Monterrey’s 12 imports came from eight countries: U.S. (5) and one each from Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Netherlands, South Africa and Spain.
Defender Day Silva (33) of Brazil played in 12 games in her first season with Monterrey—she had previously played in Sao Paulo FC after time with Santos, Flamengo, Ferroviaria and Pameiras—the latter two sides both of Sao Paulo. She was capped once by Brazil in 2022.
Australian international forward Emily Gielnik (33), a senior international for the Matildas, scored four goals in 10 league matches for Rayadas in the 2025-26 Apertura.
CF Pachuca
2024-25 Clausura champions Pachuca had 12 imports: U.S. (7), Nigeria (2), Australia (1), Colombia (1) and Spain (1).
Midfielder Nina Nicosia (22) is an Argentinian youth international who was capped at the senior level once in 2024. Her father played professional football in Argentina and she qualified to play for the U.S., Argentina and Mexico. She grew up in Illinois and played at the University of Louisville for one season. She joined the Gophers for the 2023-24 Apertura and has played in 77 regular season and playoff matches—with 15 goals and 12 assists—in five campaigns over two and a half seasons.
U.S. youth international defender Ayooluka (Ayo) Oke (22) transferred after the 2025 Apertura to the NWSL expansion side Denver Summit for the highest incoming transfer fee for an American player into the NWSL, reportedly at $450,000.
The record for any incoming NWSL transfer was set in August when the Orlando Pride paid $1.5 million to UANL Tigres for Mexican international forward Jacqui Ovalle (see our column in September of 2025: The Week in Women's Football: Ovalle explains joining Orlando Pride; WPSL, W-League and UWS review - TribalFootball.com). Oke played collegiately at the University of California-Berkely and UCLA before signing with the Gophers in January of 2025. In two campaigns in Liga MX Femenil; she scored two goals in 38 regular season and playoff matches.
Club Leon
Club Leon’s 12 imports came from six nations: U.S. (6), Argentina (2) and one each from Chile, Germany, Ghana and Jamaica.
Defender Bridget Adu (26) is a Ghanian international center back with the Black Queens. She joined Leon after a season in England with Luton Town. She previously played in the Egyptian league with TUT FC, where she helped the side to a domestic double. She also played in Turkey with Atasehir Beldeyispor in Turkey and Thonon Evian Grand in France, before moving to Egypt.
Jamaican international forward Trudi Carter (31) joined Leon for the 2025 Apertura and has played with Atletico San Luis in 2023-24 and for clubs in Spain and Italy; she also attended college in the U.S. at Navarro Community College in Texas and the University of South Florida. She scored three goals in eight regular season matches in her first campaign with Leon, after moving from Espanol of Barcelona in Spain.
Forward Julieta Lema (25) of Argentina played in nine games in the 2025 Apertura for Leon; she previously played in Argentina with Estudantes and Newell’s Old Boys and in France with ASJ Soyaux and Clermont.
Veteran American midfielder Taylor Smith (32) started playing in the NWSL in 2016 with the North Carolina Courage and spent time with the D.C. Spirit, Seattle Reign and Gotham FC, as well as at Brighton and Hove Albion in England and the Newcastle Jets in Australia. She had three goals and one assist in 11 matches for Leon in the 2024-25 Clausura on a six month contract.
Club Necaxa of Aguascalientes
Necaxa had seven imports for the 2025 Apertura from four nations: U.S. (4), Dominican Republic (1), Spain (1) and Venezuela (1).
Goalkeeper Ithaisa Vinoly (24) of Spain played at Franklin Pierce and Florida International University, having been discovered at a college recruiting trial in Tenerife in Spain. She went to play in Mexico as a step to return back to Spain to be closer to her family, telling La Voz: “I still have that desire to continue abroad but not so much anymore because my father is a very important figure in my life and he hasn’t been able to see me play for six years, so I need my family a little more, that the people I love can enjoy with me something that I dedicate so much time to each year.”
She started seven consecutive games during the 2024-25 Apertura (with one deadlock and six losses) but has not played in a match since that time; she first came to the club during the 2022-23 Apertura campaign.
Forward Renata Gallardo (18) of the U.S. played in one senior game for Necaxa in the fall as well as 13 games for the U-19 side. She went to Mexico after finishing at Los Alamitos High School in Southern California.
Forward Winibian Peralta (28) of Dominican Republic had one goal in 13 matches in the 2025 Apertura with Necaxa. She has played at home in DR, in Puerto Rico, with Queensboro FC in New York City in the WPSL league and in Costa Rica with Puerto Viejo, where she was the top scorer of the 2024 Costa Rican Women’s Premier Division with eighteen goals.
Samaria Gomez (23), an El Salvadorian international, left Necaxa prior to the 2025 Apertura and is now with Amed in Turkey. She has also played in France, Greece and Israel.
Midfielder Jemery Myvett (21) of Guatemala also left the club ahead of the 2025-26 season, after appearing in 51 games over the past two seasons; she is now playing with KFF Vllaznia in Albania and played in two UEFA WCL matches and four UEFA Europa Cup matches in the fall of 2025.
Club Tijuana
Club Tijuana, from the border city near San Diego, California, has 16 imports, with ten from the U.S., two from South Africa and one each from Haiti, Paraguay, Turkey and Venezuela.
American midfielder Briana Chagolla (17) played in seven matches in the 2025 Apertura. She joined Xolos’ sub-19 Liga MX Femenil team at the age of 13, relocating south to Tijuana. She was registered as a semi-professional and took her high school courses online. Last year, she had two goals and seven assists for the U-19 team and appeared in seven games (with two starts) for the senior team. She has been called into the Mexico U-17 national team.
Midfielder Amogelang Motu (28) of South Africa is a full international who was on the team that won the 2022 WAFCON for the first time in Morocco. She played in college in South Africa at the University of Western Cape and the team made the 2024 CAF Women’s Champions League Finals, having won their regional COSAFA title on penalties (9-8) over Gaborone United of Botswana. She also played at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She joined Xolos in January of 2025.
Midfielder Paola Villamizar (30) of Venezuela has played for clubs at home and in Brazil and Chile. Villamizar is in her fourth season in Tijuana—joining for the 2021-22 Apertura—and has 14 goals in 96 regular season and playoff matches.
Forward Roselord Borgella (32) is a Haitian international and an iconic player for her country who has travelled the world in her career. I first interviewed her when she played as a youth with FC Indiana in the WPSL Elite in 2012; she stayed in the league through 2014, when head coach Shek Borkowski would bring his young Haitian Women’s National Team players to rural Indiana to play league matches and internationals in the summer. She then played in Korea Republic, Israel, Chile, France and in 2023-24 with Fenebache in Turkey, where she scored 17 goals in 16 games. She joined Tijuana for the 2025 Apertura and scored three times in six games.
Forward Kader Hancar (26) is a full international with Turkey, who has scored 11 times in 31 international games to date, and also played at the U-15, U-17 and U-19 levels. This is only her second stint playing outside of Turkey, after playing with Osasuna in Spain’s second division in 2020. In 2024-25 she was with Beylerbeyi in greater Istanbul. She scored six goals in 11 matches in her first campaign in Mexico during the 2025 Apertura.
Cruz Azul
Cruz Azul of Mexico City had ten imports, with half from the U.S. (5), and one each from England, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, and Uruguay.
Defender Leighanne Robe (32) from England played five seasons for Liverpool in the WSL1/Championship (now WSL2), where she won a second division title in 2021-22, and then moved to Saudi Arabia to play with Al-Ittihad. She joined Cruz Azul in July of 2025 and scored once in 18 games last fall.
Midfielder Solange Lemos (23) of Uruguay joined Cruz Azul for the 2024-25 Clausura from Gallos Blancos of Queretaro. This campaign, in the 2025-26 Apertura, she played 14 league and playoff matches. At home, she played with Nacional in 2023.
Deportivo Guadalajara (Chivas)
Guadalajara (Chivas) had only four imports from two countries: U.S. (3) and Guatemala (1).
Goalkeeper Zoe Aguirre (25) of the U.S. is from California but played for Mexico at the U-20 WWC in France in 2018. She played at Eastern Kentucky and San Jose State Universities. She first started in Liga MX Femenil in 2021 with Club America and played at Boyacá Chicó F.C. in Colombia in 2023. She joined Chivas for the 2025-26 Apertura and only played 20 minutes in their 4-0 Round 17 defeat of Necaxa. She has also been with Juarez and Leon in Liga MX Femenil.
Deportivo Toluca
The two time reigning Liga MX champions on the men’s side in the football-mad city in the mountains, about an hour outside of Mexico City, had imports from four countries: U.S. (8), France (3), New Zealand (1) and Netherlands (1).
Defender Abby Erceg (36) of New Zealand joined the club for the 2024-25 Clausura and scored two goals with one assist in 24 league and playoff matches. She scored six goals in 146 caps for the Football Ferns from 2006-2023 and played in four WWC Finals.
Midfielder Amandine Henry (36) of France scored four goals with one assist in 17 regular season games during the last campaign in Mexico. She scored 14 goals in 109 caps for France from 2009-2024 and won 13 French league titles and seven UEFA Champions League crowns with Lyon, along with a NWSL title with Portland Thorns in 2017.
Midfielder Faustine Robert (31) is also from France. In her first campaign in Liga MX Femenil in the Fall of 2025, she scored four goals in 16 regular season matches and two goals in a 2-2 quarterfinal second leg tie against Chivas away, losing the second leg 2-0 on December 10 (three days later) to end their playoff run. In France Ligue 1 she had 60 goals and 20 assists in 236 matches. Internationally she played at the U-20 WWC in Canada in 2014.
Midfielder Ellieana Vazquez (20) of the U.S.; in the 2024-25 Clausura she played in 16 U-19 team games and three U-19 team playoffs, where Toluca made the final but lost 2-1 to Club America for the U-19 league title. She did not appear in any senior games during the 2025-26 Apertura. She went to high school in Napa, California.
Forward Valerie Cortez (25) of the U.S. played in ten games in her first season in Liga MX Femenil in the 2025 Apertura. She is of Mexican descent and previously played at Concordia University in Irvine, California.
Forward Eugénie Le Sommer 36 of France played in 17 games, with 13 goals and three assists, during the 2025 Apertura regular season and playoffs. She was a surprise omission from France’s EURO 2025 Finals squad in Switzerland. Le Sommer has scored 94 international goals in 200 appearances for France.
Toluca’s head coach is also French—Patrice Lair (64)—who was a professional player in France; he coached Olympique Lyonnaise Women in France. During his reign at Lyon, Lair led the club to four Division 1 Féminine, three Coupe de France Féminine and two UEFA Women's Champions League titles. He has coached many men’s teams in France as well as a stint with Rwanda’s U-17 men’s national team. He joined Toluca on May 24, 2025.
FC Juarez
The other U.S. border city team (across the Rio Grande River from El Paso, Texas) in Liga MX Femenil has always utilized lots of Americans; this year twelve of their 18 imports are from the U.S., followed by two from Tanzania and one each from Colombia, France, Ghana and Senegal.
Midfielder Aurélie Kaci (36) of France joined Club America for the 2022-23 Apertura and moved to Juarez for the 2024-25 Apertura. She scored nine goals in 112 Liga MX Femenil regular season and playoff matches. She has seven full caps with France.
Forward Hapsatou Diallo (20) is a senior international for Senegal and previously played at Eibar in Spain, where she became the first Senegalese women to play in the Spanish league. In 2024-25 she scored 9 goals in 23 matches in Galatasaray . She joined Juarez for the 2025-26 Apertura and scored once in two appearances, both as a substitute.
Gallos Blancos of Queretaro
Queretaro had eight imports for the 2025 Apertura, with two each from Colombia, Costa Rica and the U.S., along with one each from Ecuador and Spain.
Midfielder Danna Pesantez (22) is a senior international with Ecuador and has played at home with UPS Carneras and El Nacional (on loan) and then abroad in Argentina with UAI Urquiza and in Brazil with Red Bull Bragantino. She joined Queretaro for the 2024-25 Clausura, scoring once in 11 games and then played in five matches in the 2025-26 Apertura this past fall.
Forward Lady Andrade (33) is a Colombian international forward and joined Queretaro for the 2025 Apertura, her first time playing in Mexico after stints in Colombia, Spain, Finland, Turkey, Italy, the U.S. (NWSL), Panama, Brazil and Greece. She scored two goals in six games (four starts) for Queretaro in the 2025 Apertura this past fall. She has played in three Women’s World Cup Finals with Colombia as well as one U-20 WWC Finals and two Olympic Games Finals.
Mazatlán FC
Mazatlán rostered 10 imports for the 2025 Apertura: five were from the U.S., with one each from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
Defender Vasthy Delgado (31) of the U.S. grew up in the Washington D.C. area and played at Towson State University and for the Virginia Marauders FC of the USL-W. She left Santa Fe FC of Panama to join Mazatlán for the 2025 Clausura and scored once in 17 matches from the defense. At Santa Fe, she won the 2024 Clausura title of the Panamanian women’s league and the 2024 FIFA Forward UNCAF (Central American regional championship) Women’s Interclub Cup. She also played in the CONCACAF Women’s Champions Cup at the end of 2024. She is a full international for El Salvador.
Midfielder Brenda Aleman (25) was born in Saudi Arabia and went to Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland. She played in the Washington Spirit academy as a youth and in the WPSL with the Washington Dutch Lions. She played in 14 games in the 2025 Apertura with Mazatlán.
Forward Taiwo Busirat Lawal (21) is a Nigerian international pool member who joined Mazatlán from Turkish side Ünye Gücü FK. Taiwo previously played in Turkey’s Women’s Super League with Ataşehir Belediyespor, where she led the league in scoring during the 2023-24 season with 10 goals in 22 matches. She started her club career at home with Robo Queens before moving abroad. She has represented Nigeria at youth international levels. She scored once in 11 games during the 2025 Liga MX Femenil Apertura, with five starts.
Puebla FC
Puebla had only three imports from the U.S. on the roster for the 2025 Apertura.
Midfielder Abigail Lopez (22) was raised in California and played at Sacramento State University, scoring 15 goals with seven assists in 72 games (with 63 starts) in four seasons). She started one game in the 2025 Apertura for Puebla.
UNAM Pumas
UNAM Pumas had ten imports who came exclusively from CONCACAF or CONMEBOL nations: U.S. (4), Colombia (2), Canada (1), Ecuador (1), Paraguay (1) and Puerto Rico (1).
Midfielder Liced Serna (23) is a Colombian youth and senior international who joined Pumas for the 2025 Apertura and played in seven matches, with two starts. She started her career with Independiente Medellin in Colombia and spent the past two seasons with Valencia in Spain.
Santos Laguna
Santos Laguna had seven imports from five countries: three from the U.S. and one each from Ecuador, Nigeria, Uganda and Venezuela
Defender Sasha Pickard (25) of the U.S. played at the University of Alabama and in 2024-25 with Brooklyn FC of the USL Super League, appearing in 23 games. She played in seven games (with five starts) with Santos Laguna in her first season in Mexico during the 2025-26 Apertura.
UANL Tigres
2025-26 Apertura champions UANL Tigres of Monterrey had 16 imports, with ten from the U.S. and one each from Brazil, Canada, France, Portugal, South Africa and Spain.
Defender Eve Perisset (31) of France joined Tigres for the 2025-26 Apertura and has played in 12 regular season and playoff games during the 2025-26 Apertura. She has four goals in 61 full internationals for France.
Foreign coaches
Seven of the 18 clubs in Mexico have head coaches from other nations, including managers from Spain (4), Brazil (1), Costa Rica (1) and France (1), along with assistant coaches from Costa Rica (1), France (1) and Spain (1). It is interesting that there are no American coaches—particularly female—though we only have a few of each in the NWSL. It will be interesting to see if the coaching profile for imports changes over the next few years, with coaches from the U.K. or U.S. taking a Liga MX Femenil job.
Club America
Manager Ángel Villacampa (49) Spain
Assistant Coach Javi Ortega (26) Spain
CF Monterrey
Manager Amelia Valverde (48) Costa Rica
Asst Coach Kenneth Barrantes (58) Costa Rica
Guadalajara Chivas
Manager Antonio Contreras (48) Spain
Toluca
Manager Patrice Lair (64) France (see more above)
Juarez
Manager Óscar Fernández (38) Spain
UNAM Pumas
Manager Marcello Frigério (53) Brazil
UANL Tigres
Manager Pedro Martínez (49) Spain
Assistant Coach Damien Marie (37) France
Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women’s football. Get your copy today. Follow Tim on X: @TimGrainey