Glory, Not Money, Should Be Mexican Football’s Ultimate Goal
With the 2026 World Cup looming, Mexican football owners need to put talent development and sporting success over short-term profits.
A too-exclusive club.
Photographer: Mario Vazquez/AFP/Getty Images
When Mexico crowned a new football king on Sunday, the images of the deciding match couldn’t have been more emotional: Toluca FC dethroned reigning champions Club América to win the league for the first time in 15 years, as fans erupted in celebration and kids wept in the stands amid fireworks and colorful smoke bombs.
Off the pitch, however, Mexico’s football league, one of the world’s largest by attendance, faces an ironic juxtaposition of great commercial success with mediocre sporting results. While the league is growing in revenue, sponsorships and audiences, the quality of the game and the performance of the national team have been disappointing, in particular the elimination of Mexico in the first round of the 2022 World Cup.