Mexico’s most popular sport is association football.[1] It is commonly believed that Football was introduced in Mexico by Cornish miners at the end of the 19th century. By 1902 a five-team league still emerged with a strong English influence.[2][3] Football became a professional sport in 1943. Since the “Era Professional” started, Mexico’s top clubs have been Guadalajara with 11 championships, América and Toluca with 10.[4] In Mexican Football many players have been raised to the level of legend, but two of them have received international recognition above others. Antonio Carbajal was the first player to appear in five World Cups, and Hugo Sánchez was named best CONCACAF player of the 20th century by IFFHS. Mexican’s biggest stadiums are Estadio Azteca, Estadio Olímpico Universitario and Estadio Jalisco.
Football has been played professionally in Mexico since the early 1900s. The first Mexican club, C.F. Pachuca, is still well in existence. Since 1996, the country has played two split seasons instead of a traditional long season. There are two separate playoff and league divisions. This system is common throughout Latin America. After many years of calling the regular seasons as "Verano" (Summer) and "Invierno" (Winter); the Primera División de México (Mexican First League Division) have changed the names of the competition, and has opted for a traditional name of "Apertura" (opening) and "Clausura" (closing) events. The Apertura division begins in the middle of Mexico's summer and ends before the official start of winter. The Clausura division begins during the New Year, and concludes in the spring season.
Mexican football has four divisions, beginning with the Primera División de México, Liga de Ascenso, Segunda División de México, and Tercera División de México. The teams are promoted and relegated by the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación. Relegation is a common practice in Mexican football. This means one club from the top league division moving down, and one side from the bottom league division moving up.
The relegation system does not punish clubs for having a bad season. Mexican clubs are assessed on their previous five campaigns. Points are accumulated for five seasons and divided by the number of matches played. The club with the lowest percentage after the Clausura season is relegated to the lower division.
Mexico’s most successful clubs have been Guadalajara with 11 championships, América with 10, Toluca 10, and Cruz Azul 8.[5] Mexico has hosted two FIFA World Cups, in 1970 and 1986. Many of the stadiums in use around the league have a World Cup history. Sites such as Estadio Jalisco in Guadalajara, Estadio Tecnologico in Monterrey and Estadio Azteca in Mexico City are renowned for their national and international history. The legendary Estadio Azteca, for example, is the only stadium in the world to have hosted two World Cup finals and is one of the largest stadiums in the world.
The Mexican national football team finished twice as runner-ups at the Copa América, became world champions at the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Peru, the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup, and have reached the quarter finals twice at the World Cup. Recently, some players from Mexico have gone on to play in Europe, including Jared Borgetti, Rafael Márquez, Gerardo Torrado, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Nery Castillo, Carlos Salcido, Ricardo Osorio, Pável Pardo, Andrés Guardado, Guillermo Franco, Carlos Vela, Giovani dos Santos, Omar Bravo, Aaron Galindo, Hector Moreno, Francisco Javier Rodríguez, Francisco Fonseca, Javier Hernández (commonly referred to as "Chicharito"), Pablo Barrera, and Efraín Juárez.
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