Mexican women’s soccer league final shows Mexico’s potential

In many ways, the Mexican women’s soccer program lags behind its two major North American rivals. Yet, the Mexican women’s soccer league final on Monday was the latest sign that Mexican women’s soccer can be an international power.

One day after Mexico beat the U.S. 2-1 to win the Concacaf U-20 women’s championship, a record crowd of 58,156 attended Mexico’s BBVA Liga Femenil final at Azteca Stadium.

Club America Femenil beat Pachuca to win the Mexican women’s league title before a rowdy, appreciative home crowd. That attendance easily surpassed the National Women’s Soccer League’s single-game attendance record set for a San Diego Wave home game last September with 32,000 fans.

The NWSL playoff attendance record was also set by Alex Morgan’s Wave with 26,215 last year. Combined, the NWSL regular season and playoff single-game records would barely eclipse the crowd that watched the Mexican women’s final Monday.

Even rain couldn’t keep crowd away

More impressively, the crowd showed up to the final despite rain. 

https://twitter.com/LigaBBVAFemenil/status/1665933671939948545?s=20

“We thank them for being there the whole season,” Venezuelan star Andrea Falcón said. “Thank them for not getting off the bandwagon, for supporting us and for painting Azteca in yellow,” 

The U.S. has won four FIFA Women’s World Cups, and Canada is sixth in the FIFA women’s rankings. The Conversely, Mexico has qualified for only three Women’s World Cup. Moreover, El Tri has never qualified for consecutive Women’s World Cups.

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The Mexican Soccer Federation has taken multiple steps to help improve the women’s national team lately. Earlier this year, the Mexican and U.S. Soccer federations announced their intentions to file a joint bid to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup.

Mexican women’s soccer makes strides

Soccer United Marketing and the Mexican Federation also held the first MexTourW this year in the U.S. for the Mexican women’s national team. The BBVA Liga Femenil is also crucial in the development and growth of women’s soccer in Mexico.

Playing a final at Azteca Stadium is impressive. Azteca is one of the greatest and most historic soccer stadiums in the world. Brazilian great Pele shone and won a World Cup at Azteca. Argentina legend Diego Armando Maradano made magic and won another World Cup at Azteca too.

Unlike their northern neighbors, Mexican women’s soccer still lags behind men’s soccer in popularity and support. Women’s soccer is tremendously more successful in the U.S. than men’s soccer on the world stage.

The opposite is the case in Mexico. Mexican women’s soccer needs to grow its domestic league to cut the gap with Alex Morgan and the powerful U.S. women’s national team. 

The Mexican women’s national team is actually in somewhat of a rebuild after failing to qualify for the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup and Olympics. But the Concacaf U-20 women’s title Sunday and the crowd at the Liga Femenil show there is talent and support to build for the future.