The 2023–24 Liga de Expansión MX season is the fourth 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 began on 21 July 2023. The Clausura tournament will begin in January 2024 as a 33-team league with the addition of 18 Liga MX under-23 teams.
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 2022–23 Serie A champions Tampico Madero and runners-up Tuzos UAZ were not certified for promotion to the Liga de Expansión MX.
- The Liga MX under-20 league was reformed as a under-23 league. The Liga MX under-23 league will play their Apertura 2023 season and join Liga de Expansión MX as of the Clausura 2024 season.
- The owner's assembly decided to adjust liguilla qualification, which was modified as of the Apertura 2021 season. The number of teams directly qualifying to the quarter-finals was increased from four to six, while reducing the number of teams entering the reclassification round from eight to four, aligning it with the NBA play-in tournament. The 9th place team hosts the 10th place team in an elimination game. The 7th hosts the 8th place team in the double-chance game, with the winner advancing as the 7-seed. The loser of this game then hosts the winner of the elimination game between the 9th and 10th place teams to determine the 8-seed.
- Atlante obtained certification for promotion to Liga MX. Venados and Zacatecas applied and were not certified for promotion. UdeG lost their status as a certified team due to financial issues. The league will not reactivate promotion until four teams are certified.
- On June 29, 2023 Durango was returned to Liga Premier de México, after one year as guest club in the Liga de Expansión MX, due to financial problems. The Liga de Expansión requested that the Liga Premier propose another affiliated team to play as a guest team in the second–tier.
Stadiums and locations
Personnel and kits
Managerial changes
Torneo Apertura
The defending champions are Tapatío. The regular tournament began on 21 July and will end on 31 October. The round 2 match between Celaya and Tepatitlán was postponed due to poor pitch condition and played on 19 August during round 5.
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
- First goal of the season:
Mauro Pérez for Venados against Tlaxcala (21 July 2023) - Last goal of the season:
José Flores for Atlético Morelia against Tepatitlán (2 November 2023)
Discipline
Team
- Most yellow cards: 48
- Oaxaca
- Most red cards: 6
- Zacatecas
- Fewest yellow cards: 21
- Zacatecas
- Fewest red cards: 0
- Tepatitlán
Source Liga de Expansión MX
Attendance
Per team
Highest and lowest
Source: Liga de Expansión MX
Final phase
Play-in bracket
Play-in matches
No. 8 seed match
Bracket
Quarter-finals
The first legs were played between 15–16 November, and the second legs were played between 18–19 November.
- First leg
- Second leg
4–4 on aggregate. Atlante advanced due to being the higher seeded team.
UdeG won 3–2 on aggregate.
2–2 on aggregate. Cancún advanced due to being the higher seeded team.
Zacatecas won 7–2 on aggregate.
Semi-finals
The first legs were played between 22–23 November, and the second legs were played between 25–26 November.
- First leg
- Second leg
Atlante won 4–1 on aggregate.
3–3 on aggregate. Cancún advanced due to being the higher seeded team.
Final
The first leg was played on 30 November, and the second leg was played on 3 December.
- First leg
- Second leg
Cancún won 3–0 on aggregate.
Torneo Clausura
The Clausura tournament began in January 2024.
Regular season
Standings
Results
Each team plays once all other teams in 15 rounds regardless of it being a home or away match.
Regular Season statistics
Attendance
Per team
Final phase
Play-in bracket
Play-in matches
No. 8 seed match
Bracket
Quarter-finals
Summary
The first legs were played between 24–25 April, and the second legs were played between 27–28 April.
Matches
Atlético La Paz won 6–3 on aggregate.
UdeG won 3–0 on aggregate.
Atlante won 3–1 on aggregate.
Tapatíon won 4–3 on aggregate.
Semi-finals
Summary
The first legs will be played on 5 May, and the second legs will be played between 8 May.
Matches
UdeG won 4–2 on aggregate.
Atlante won 8–1 on aggregate.
Finals
Summary
The first leg was played on 8 May, and the second leg was played between 12 May.
Matches
Atlante won 4–1 on aggregate.
Campeón de Campeones 2024
The Campeón de Campeones Final is a two-legged playoff between the winners of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments and the Liga de Expansión MX Super cup. The final would not be played if the same team wins both the Apertura and Clausura tournaments. The higher ranked team on the aggregate table for the 2023–24 season will play the second leg at home.
First leg
Second leg
1–1 on aggregate. Cancún won 3–1 on penalty kicks.
Coefficient table
As of the 2020–21 season, the promotion and relegation between Liga MX and Liga de Expansión MX (formerly known as Ascenso MX) was suspended, however, the coefficient table will be used to establish the payment of fines that will be used for the development of the clubs of the silver circuit. As of the 2023–24 season, the bottom three ranked Liga de Expansión MX teams will not pay a fine. The last ranked team can not qualify for the Clausura 2024 liguilla.
- As of matches played 12 April 2024
Tiebreakers: 1) Coefficient; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results between tied teams; 5) Number of goals scored away; 6) Fair Play points
Source: Liga de Expansión
Aggregate table
The Aggregate table is a sum of the Apertura 2023 and Clausura 2024 tournament standings. The aggregate table is used to determine seeding for the "Campeón de Campeones" Final.
References
External links
- Official website of Liga de Expansión MX
