Overview of sports traditions and activities in Mexico
The most popular sport in Mexico currently is association football followed by boxing.
[1][2]👄 However, there are regional variations: for example, baseball is the most popular sport in the northwest and the southeast of👄 the country.
Basketball, American football and bull riding (called "Jaripeo") are also popular.
The tradition of bullfighting remains strong in Mexico.
History of👄 sport in Mexico [ edit ]
Mesoamerican ball game [ edit ]
A stone ring located 9 m (30 ft) above the👄 floor of the Great Ballcourt, Chichen Itza
The Pre-Columbian people of Mesoamerica have played the Mesoamerican ball game for over 3,000👄 years.
Archaeologists found the oldest ballcourt yet discovered – dated to approximately 1400 BC – at Paso de la Amada in👄 Mexico.
[3] The exact rules of the traditional ballgame remain unknown.
Researchers believe that the sport probably resembled racquetball or volleyball, where👄 the object is to keep the ball in play.
[4] The winner was sacrificed.
In their Post-Classical Era (1000–1697 CE), the Maya👄 began placing vertical stone rings on each side of the court, with the object of passing the ball through one.
Several👄 of these were placed quite high, as at Chichen Itza, where they stand 6 meters from the ground.
Players would strike👄 the ball with their hips or forearms, or employed rackets, bats, or hand-stones.[5]
The ball was made of rubber and weighed👄 up to 4 kg or more, with sizes that differed greatly over time or according to the version played.
Games took👄 place between two individuals and between two teams of players.
The ballgame played out within a large masonry structure which contained👄 a long narrow playing alley flanked by walls with both horizontal and sloping (or, more rarely, vertical) surfaces.
The walls were👄 often plastered and brightly painted.
[5] A version of the game called Ulama is still played in the Mexican state of👄 Sinaloa.
Pelota purépecha has the Purépecha language, and is an Indigenous Mexican sport.
A common variant, distinguished as pasárutakua in Purépecha, uses👄 a ball which has been set on fire and can be played at night.
[6][7] It has a league,[8] several practicing👄 communities[6] and about 800 players across Mexico as of 2010.
[9] It is one of 150 pre-Hispanic Mexican games at risk👄 of dying out along with Ulama.[9]
Bullfighting [ edit ]
Typically, a bullfight in Mexico includes a variety of rodeo events known👄 as charreadas, and traditional folkloric dances.
Thousands of bullfighting events occur in Mexico.
In certain areas of the country, bullfighting generates a👄 large amount of revenue from the local population, as well as visiting tourists.
As evidence of the popularity of the sport,👄 the largest bullring in the world is the Plaza Mexico, located in Mexico City.
The Plaza México has been host to👄 many of the world's best and most famous bullfighters.
The anniversary of the 1946 opening of Plaza Mexico is celebrated annually👄 with a special bullfight called the "Corrida de Aniversario".
[10][11][12][13]Charrería [ edit ]
Charreada in progress with a charro attempting to catch👄 a horse running.
Charrería is the national sport of Mexico, it dates back to the 16th century and consists of a👄 series of Mexico-developed equestrian events.
The most notable event is the charreada, a style of rodeo developed in Mexico in the👄 interest of maintaining the traditions of the charro.
A charro is a term referring to a traditional horseman or a cowboy👄 of Mexico, originating in the state of Jalisco.
The national horse of Mexico, used in Charreria, is the Azteca.
The Federación Mexicana👄 de Charrería (Mexican Federation of Charreria) organizes charrería events.
Cockfight [ edit ]
Cockfighting is not banned in Mexico, and practiced in👄 the Mexican states of Michoacán, Aguascalientes, Jalisco, Sinaloa, and Veracruz, mostly during regional fairs and other celebrations.
Cockfights are performed in👄 palenques (pits).
[14] Cockfighting remains legal in the municipality of Ixmiquilpan and throughout Mexico.[15]
International Games Competitions [ edit ]
Olympic Games [👄 edit ]
Opening of the 1968 Summer Olympics at the Estadio Olímpico Universitario in Mexico City
Mexico City hosted the 1968 Summer👄 Olympics, the first time that the event was held in Latin America.
Since then, the only edition of the Olympic Games👄 held in the region was in 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Mexico first participated at the Olympic Games in 1900👄 and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since 1924.
Mexico has also participated in several Winter Olympic👄 Games since 1928.
Mexico has performed best in athletics, boxing, equestrian, diving, and Swimming events, and more recently taekwondo and football.
Enriqueta👄 Basilio made history by being the first woman to light the Olympic Cauldron at 19th Summer Olympics in Mexico City👄 on 12 October 1968.
In diving, Mexico is the best Latin American representative with a long tradition of diving founded by👄 Joaquín Capilla, a Mexican diver who won the largest number of Olympic medals among Mexican athletes.
Many others who have excelled👄 in World Championships and Olympics are Carlos Girón, Fernando Platas and Paola Espinosa who is the first Latina woman to👄 become world champion.
Soraya Jiménez became the first ever female athlete from Mexico to win an Olympic gold medal in 2000.[16]
At👄 the 2012 Summer Olympics, Mexico finished in thirty-ninth place; the Mexico team brought home seven medals, including their first gold👄 medal won in football, and the rest of the medals in archery, diving, and taekwondo.
Donovan Carrillo is the first Mexican👄 figure skater to compete at the Olympics in 30 years in 2022, and after scoring a personal best in the👄 short program became the first ever Mexican skater to advance to the free skate.
Pan American Games [ edit ]
The Pan👄 American Games torch being lit in Teotihuacan
The Pan American Games competition is held among athletes from nations of the Americas,👄 every four years in the year before the Summer Olympic Games.
Mexico ranks sixth in the top ten nations all time👄 at the Pan American Games (minus medals won at the Winter Pan American Games).
Mexico and Canada have hosted three Pan👄 American Games each, more than any other nation.
Among cities, only Winnipeg and Mexico City have played host to the Pan👄 American Games more than once, each holding that honor twice.
Similar to the Olympic flame, the Pan American Games flame is👄 lit well before the Games are to commence.
The flame was lit for the first games in Olympia, Greece.
For subsequent games,👄 the torch has been lit by Aztec people in ancient temples, first in the Cerro de la Estrella and later👄 at the Pyramid of the Sun at the Teotihuacan Pyramids.
The only exception was for the São Paulo games in 1963,👄 when the torch was lit in Brasília by the indigenous Guaraní people.
An Aztec then lights the torch of the first👄 relay bearer, thus initiating the Pan American Games torch relay that will carry the flame to the host city's main👄 stadium, where it plays an important role in the opening ceremony.
The 2011 Pan American Games were the third Pan American👄 Games hosted by Mexico (the first country to do so) and the first held in the state of Jalisco in👄 the city of Guadalajara.
Central American and Caribbean Games [ edit ]
The Central American and Caribbean Games is a multi-sport regional👄 championship event, held quadrennially (once every four years), typically in the middle (even) year between Summer Olympics.
The Games are for👄 countries in Central America, the Caribbean, Mexico, and the South American Caribbean countries of Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.
They are👄 designed to provide a step between sub-CACG-region Games held the first year following a Summer Olympics (e.g.
Central American Games) and👄 the Continental Championships, the Pan American Games, held the year before the Summer Olympics.
The CACGs are the oldest continuing regional👄 games in the world.
[17] As of 2014, Mexico has hosted the CACG games four times, three in Mexico City and👄 one in Veracruz.
Mexico is also one of the three countries present at the first games and the first organizer of👄 the Games.
Mexico is the only country that has attended all editions, without a single absence and has the most medals👄 and second most gold medals as of 2019.
Team sports [ edit ]
Azteca Stadium, the sixth largest stadium in the world
Mexico's👄 most popular team sport is association football.
Football is widely followed and practiced all over the country and it is considered👄 the most popular sport in most states.
It is believed that football was introduced in Mexico by English Cornish miners at👄 the end of the 19th century.
By 1902 a five-team league emerged with a strong English influence.
Football became a professional sport👄 in 1943.
The main football clubs are América, Guadalajara, Cruz Azul and UNAM, known collectively as the Big Four.
Mexico has hosted👄 two World Cup tournaments (1970 and 1986).
Many of the stadiums in use in the league have a World Cup history.
Sites👄 such as Estadio Jalisco in Guadalajara, and Estadio Azteca in Mexico City are renowned for their national and international history.
The👄 legendary Estadio Azteca, for example, is one of the only two stadiums in the world to have hosted two men's👄 World Cup finals (the other being the Maracana) and is one of the highest capacity stadiums in the world.
Mexican's biggest👄 stadiums are Estadio Azteca, Estadio Jalisco, Estadio BBVA Bancomer, Estadio Olímpico Universitario and Estadio Cuauhtémoc.
The 1986 FIFA World Cup in👄 Mexico was broadcast to a global audience, and the wave or the Mexican wave was popularized worldwide after featuring during👄 the tournament.[18][19][20]
Men's national team [ edit ]
Mexico and South Korea match at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
The Mexico national football👄 team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de México) represents Mexico in association football and is governed by the Mexican Football Federation👄 (FMF, from the native name of Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación), the governing body for football in Mexico.
Mexico's home stadium👄 is the Estadio Azteca and their head coach is Jaime Lozano.
The team is currently ranked 20th in the World Football👄 Elo Ratings.
Javier Hernández is the highest goalscorer of all time for the Mexico national team.
Mexico has qualified for seventeen FIFA👄 World Cup tournaments and is among six countries to have qualified consecutively since 1994.
Mexico played France at the first World👄 Cup on 13 July 1930.
Mexico's best progression was reaching the quarter-finals in the 1970 and 1986 World Cups, both of👄 which were staged on Mexican soil, and will host once again in 2026 sharing with Canada and United States.
Mexico won👄 the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup and the gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics, finished twice as runners-up at the👄 Copa América, won the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship, and have reached the quarter-finals twice at the World Cup.
Recently, some👄 players from Mexico have moved on to European clubs, including Rafael Márquez, Carlos Salcido, Ricardo Osorio, Pável Pardo, Andrés Guardado,👄 Guillermo Franco, Carlos Vela, Giovani dos Santos, Omar Bravo, Aaron Galindo, Héctor Moreno, Francisco Javier Rodríguez and others.
Mexico is historically👄 the most successful national team in the CONCACAF region, holding twelve CONCACAF championships, including nine CONCACAF Gold Cups, one North👄 American Nations Cup and three NAFC Championships.
Mexico is the only team from CONCACAF to have won an official FIFA competition,👄 the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup.
Although Mexico is under the jurisdiction of CONCACAF, the national football team has been regularly invited👄 to compete in the Copa América since 1993 finishing as runner-up twice and obtaining the third place medal on three👄 occasions.
Men's Professional leagues [ edit ]
The first Mexican club, C.F.Pachuca, survives.
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 top-level Liga MX, formerly the Primera División, has👄 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.
Inside Estadio BBVA during a Clásico Regiomontano derby game.
Mexican football is👄 divided into four divisions, beginning with Liga MX and followed by Ascenso MX, the Liga Premier, and Tercera División.
The bottom👄 two leagues translate literally as "Second Division" and "Third Division"; their names reflect their former positions in the league hierarchy👄 before the Segunda División was split into two leagues, with the league now known as Ascenso MX becoming the new👄 second level.
The teams are promoted and relegated by the FMF based on percentage calculations.
Relegation is a common practice in Mexican👄 football.
There is a club exchange of each tier with the adjacent tiers so that a division's least successful team is👄 relegated (transferred) to the next lower tier and the most successful club of the lower tier is promoted to the👄 tier above.
By the placement of each, the top tier cannot promote and the bottom tier cannot relegate.
The relegation system does👄 not punish clubs for producing a single poor season.
Mexican clubs are assessed on their previous five campaigns.
Points are accumulated for👄 five seasons, and are divided by the number of matches played.
The club with the lowest percentage in the Apertura is👄 relegated to a lower division.
Each team must earn their promotions.
Since 1943, Mexico's five most successful clubs in Mexican football league👄 system matches have been América (13 championships), Chivas (12), Toluca (10), Cruz Azul (8) and Pumas (7).
[21] America is the👄 historical arch-nemesis of Chivas, so a match between the two is the Clásico Nacional derby that the entire country awaits.
Another👄 noted derby in Mexico is the Clásico Regiomontano between crosstown rival teams Monterrey and Tigres.
Whereas the Clásico Nacional involves two👄 teams from cities in different states the Clásico Regiomontano game involves two neighboring cities.
Chivas are renowned for using only Mexican👄 players in their squad.
Consequently, they have long fed players to the Mexico national football team.
Men players [ edit ]
Hugo Sánchez👄 widely regarded as the greatest Mexican footballer of all time, was named best CONCACAF player of the 20th century by👄 IFFHS.
No other Mexican footballer has scored as many goals in Europe as Hugo Sánchez.
He is the fourth highest scorer in👄 the history of La Liga, the third-highest scoring foreign player after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Carlos Vela described[by whom?] as👄 a versatile player who can play as a forward, winger, and attacking midfielder, Vela is known[by whom?] for being a👄 creative player and prolific scorer.
Rafael Márquez the first Mexican to win the UEFA Champions League is considered by many the👄 best defender in the country's football history.
Márquez is Mexico's record World Cup player and one of only three players with👄 appearances in five tournaments.
Cuauhtémoc Blanco is the only Mexican football player to be presented with an award (The Silver Ball👄 and Silver Shoe) in a major international FIFA competition (1999 FIFA Confederations Cup).
He shares the record as the highest scorer👄 of the tournament with Ronaldinho (nine goals in two editions).
He has been awarded the MVP of the México Primera División👄 League five times.
Jorge Campos with the national team, appeared in three World Cups, two Confederation Cups, two Gold Cups and👄 three Copas América.
Horacio Casarín was sought out by defenders and fouled him mercilessly during a 1939 game between Casarin's Necaxa,👄 and Asturias F.C.
, Necaxa fans were so angry that they burnt the Parque Asturias stadium.
Horacio retired as the all-time Mexican👄 scorer, with 256 goals to his count.
Antonio Carbajal was the first player to appear in five World Cups and the👄 only Mexican player that has received the FIFA Order of Merit.
Claudio Suárez is the most capped player in the history👄 of Mexico national team with 178 caps.
As of 2006, it was estimated that Mexico has over 324,000 registered players and👄 8,155,000 unregistered players.
Maribel Dominguez was captain and leading scorer of the Mexico women's national football team.
The Mexico women's national football👄 team boasts one silver (1971) and one bronze (1970) in the Women's World Cup, though these accomplishments are not officially👄 recognized, as they took place prior to FIFA's recognition of the women's game.
Mexico stopped allocating players to the NWSL management👄 of the United States, having established its own women's league the Liga MX Femenil in 2017, and the numbers of👄 allocated players and international players on each team vary each year due to trades.
Maribel Domínguez was a noted captain and👄 leading scorer of the Mexico women's national football team.
[22][23][24] She is known internationally as "Marigol" for her record of 46👄 goals scored in 49 matches for the Mexico women's national team.[25]
Beach football is a variant of the sport of association👄 football which was invented in Brazil.
It is played on beaches, and emphasizes skill, agility and goal scoring.
The FIFA Beach Football👄 World Cup has been held annually since 2005.
Mexico finished as runners up to Brazil in its first appearance at the👄 2007 Beach Football World Cup.
Recently indoor association football has become a popular sport in Mexico, being included as part of👄 the Universiada (University National Games) and the "CONADEIP" (Private School Tournament), which match University school teams from all over Mexico.
In👄 Mexico, "indoor" football fields are commonly built outdoors, and the sport is known as "fútbol rápido" (fast football).
The Mexican team👄 Monterrey La Raza joined the Major Indoor football League in 2007 and finished the season in second place during its👄 inaugural year.
A previous version of Monterrey La Raza (1992–2001) won three championships in the now defunct organizations Continental Indoor Football👄 League and World Indoor Football League.
Baseball [ edit ]
Estadio de Béisbol Monterrey is the largest baseball stadium in Mexico and👄 the third largest in Latin America.
It is the home field of the Sultanes Monterrey.
Baseball has been practiced throughout all Mexico👄 across time.
It has been traditionally known as the most popular sport in some regions of Mexico, mainly in Sonora and👄 Sinaloa, and arguably in Campeche, Yucatán, Durango, Chihuahua, Nayarit and Tabasco, where it rivals football in popularity.
Other states where baseball👄 has had a strong traditional legacy include Baja California, Oaxaca, Coahuila, Veracruz, Puebla, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Quintana Roo and Mexico👄 City.
Despite historically lagging third in popularity behind football and boxing, Mexico has had relative success in the sport, probably just👄 behind boxing and comparable to the success obtained in football.
Although there is some dispute about exactly when and where baseball👄 started in Mexico, baseball has a long and colorful history in Mexico, particularly in the north, with historians placing its👄 origin there as early as the 1840s.
Today, baseball flourishes in Mexico, where it is played professionally in both summer and👄 winter.
Over 100 Mexicans have played in the major leagues in the United States, including Cy Young Award winner Fernando Valenzuela,👄 top 300 home run hitter Vinny Castilla, Gold Glove Award winner Aurelio Rodríguez, and AL batting champion Bobby Ávila.
The first👄 Mexican to play in Major League Baseball in the United States was Mel Almada, who participated with the Boston Red👄 Sox in 1933.
Most recently Benji Gil, Esteban Loaiza, Julio Urías, José Urquidy, and Cuban defector Randy Arozarena.
The Mexican Baseball League👄 ("Liga Mexicana de Béisbol" or "LMB") was founded in 1925, establishing six teams, and playing all their matches in Mexico👄 City.
In the 1930s and 1940s, African-Americans from the United States – who were still barred from Major League Baseball until👄 Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947 – played alongside Mexicans and Cubans in the Mexican League.
In 1937, legendary👄 Negro leagues' stars Satchel Paige and "Cool Papa Bell" left the Pittsburgh Crawfords to play in Latin America.
After playing a👄 year in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Paige and Bell joined the Mexican League.
In the 1940s, multi-millionaire Jorge Pasquel attempted to👄 turn the Mexican League into a first-rate rival to the major leagues in the United States.
[26] In 1946, Pasquel traveled👄 north of the border to pursue the top players in the Negro and major leagues.
Pasquel signed up close to twenty👄 major leaguers, including such well known names as Mickey Owen and Sal Maglie, and a number of Negro league players.
Ultimately,👄 Pasquel's dream faded, as financial realities led to decreased salaries and his high-priced foreign stars returned home.
Currently, 16 teams divided👄 into North and South Divisions play in the Mexican Baseball League in a summer season, which ends in a 7-game👄 championship series between the winners of the two divisions.
Since 1967, the league has been sanctioned as an AAA minor league,👄 though no team has an affiliation with any team in the United States.
In the winter, 10 teams play in the👄 Mexican Pacific League ("Liga Mexicana del Pacífico" or "LMP"), whose winner advances to the Caribbean Series against other Latin American👄 champions.
Although the Mexican League has a longer history, the Mexican Pacific League is the premier baseball league in Mexico today.
It👄 is played during the Major League Baseball (MLB) off-season, so many MLB players also compete in the LMP.
The Mexican Professional👄 Baseball Hall of Fame has inducted 167 players, consisting of 138 Mexicans, 16 Cubans, 12 from the United States, and👄 one Puerto Rican.
[27][28] Distinguished players include MLB stars Roy Campanella and Monte Irvin, who played in the Mexican League in👄 the 1940s.
Nicknamed "El Bambino Mexicano", or the Mexican Babe Ruth, Héctor Espino was inducted in the Mexican Hall of Fame👄 in 1988, after playing with San Luis Potosí, and Tampico from 1962 to 1984.
His 453 home runs remained the record👄 until Nelson Barrera surpassed him in 2001.
Espino still holds the all-time records in many offensive categories.
The Mexico national baseball team👄 represents Mexico in international tournaments, most notably the World Baseball Classic.
In the Bronze Medal Game of the Premier12 tournament in👄 Tokyo, Mexico defeated USA, 3–2, in 10 innings to earn a spot in the 2020 Olympic Games.
At the 2023 World👄 Baseball Classic Mexico placed third in the tournament after losing to Japan.
The country's softball team, finished fourth with a 3–2👄 loss to Canada in the bronze-medal game at The Tokyo Olympics.
The games were Mexico's first foray into Olympic softball.
Basketball [👄 edit ]
Men's basketball [ edit ]
Eduardo Nájera, NBA retired professional basketball player and currently a scout with the Dallas Mavericks
Basketball👄 is the third most popular team sport in Mexico.
Mexico has a few professional basketball leagues, the top professional league is👄 the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional where the Halcones UV Xalapa are the most successful team of the league, having👄 won the competition four times.
The best teams of the LNBP advance to the FIBA Americas League.
In the northwestern states is👄 the CIBACOPA competition, with professional basketball players from Mexico and U.S.universities.
This regional league have a stake in the rest months👄 of the LNBP.
Manuel Raga is the first and only Mexican inducted in the FIBA Hall of Fame.
In 1996 Horacio Llamas👄 made history by becoming the first Mexican to participate in an NBA game.
Since then, several Mexicans followed, including Eduardo Nájera,👄 Earl Watson, Gustavo Ayón and Jorge Gutiérrez; also, Manuel Raga and Gustavo Ayón had notable triumphs in the European Basket,👄 as the only Mexican champions in the EuroLeague.
The best results of the National team is the first place in the👄 2013 Americas Championship, for qualify to the 2014 Basketball World Cup, where it reached the playoffs, the team also won👄 the bronze medal in Berlin 1936.
The nation hosted the FIBA AmeriCup in 1989 and 2015.[29]
Gimnasio Nuevo León Independiente one of👄 the most modern multipurpose venue located in the city of Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico.
It was inaugurated on October 7, 2013,👄 and is home to Fuerza Regia de Monterrey.
In December 2019, commissioner Adam Silver of the National Basketball Association (NBA) announced👄 Capitanes de Ciudad de México, a Mexican professional basketball team based in Mexico City, were joining the NBA G League.
[30]👄 The Capitanes join the NBA G League for the 2021–22 season, initial plan was starting from the 2020–21 season, the👄 team would play in the G League for five seasons and be the first team outside the United States and👄 Canada.
Juan Toscano-Anderson became the 2nd Mexican American basketball player to win an NBA title when he won an NBA championship👄 with the Warriors in 2022.
Juan had played for the Fuerza Regia de Monterrey and the Soles de Mexicali.
Women's basketball [👄 edit ]
Lou Lopez Sénéchal became the first player born in Mexico to be drafted by the WNBA when she was👄 selected by the Dallas Wings.
Mexico has two main leagues to support women's basketball
LNBPF (Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional Femenil): Founded👄 in April 2022 out of the men's organisation the LNBP.
In its inaugural season it had eight teams spread across two👄 zones:[31][32]
LNBPF initial clubs Zone North Zone South Abejas de León Femenil Fuerza Regia de Monterrey Astros de Jalisco Femenil Plateras👄 de Fresnillo Panteras de Aguascalientes Femenil Halcones de Xalapa Femenil Libertadores de Querétaro Las Adelitas de Chihuahua
LMBPF (Liga Mexicana de👄 Baloncesto Profesional Femenil) was founded in 2014 out of a dispute within the LMPB surrounding a previous attempt to set👄 up a women's league league entitled the "Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional Femenil".
The league was formed with ten original teams👄 who had been members of the 2014 version of the LNBPF: Mieleras de Guanajuato, Lobas de Aguascalientes, Mexcaltecas de Nayarit,👄 Tapatias de Jalisco, Rieleras de Aguascalientes, Gamos de la Universidad Marista, Quetzales Sajoma, Nueceras from the State of Mexico, Leonas👄 Cenhies and Bengalis.
It operates, in 2022, with two conferences of seven teams each:[33][34]
Conferencia Nacional Conferencia Mexicana Barreteras Algodoneras Escaramuzas Atléticas👄 Mexcaltecas Leñadoras Mieleras Lobas Phoenix Racers Plebes Regias Quetzales Temporacas
American football (gridiron) has been played in Mexico since the early👄 1920s, and is a strong minority sport at Mexican colleges and universities, mainly in Monterrey.
American football is the fourth most👄 popular team sport in Mexico.
The maximum competition is the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (LFA).
[35] The Liga de Fútbol Americano👄 Profesional was founded in 2016[36] with 4 initial teams (Raptors, Eagles, Condors and Mayas), all based in Mexico City.
On February👄 21 it held the first game and the championship game was held on April 10, leaving the Mayas as champions👄 and the Raptors as runners-up.
[37] The LFA has since expanded to eight members as of 2019.
There are plans to expand👄 the league and increase the number of teams and the number of participating states.
Funded in 2018, the Fútbol Americano de👄 México (FAM) is considerad as a rival to the LFA given they compete for television spaces, players, coaches and in👄 general for the same market segment.
The team that became champion of the first season are the Pioneros de Querétaro (Pioneers👄 of Querétaro).
A player from the Borregos Salvajes of Monterrey Tech during a game in Mexico
Before this professional league was founded,👄 the maximum competition of American football in Mexico was at the college level.
American football has been played in Mexico since👄 the early 1920s in different colleges and universities, mainly in Mexico City.
In 1928 the first college championship was played, organized👄 by Jorge Braniff.
Over successive decades, more universities and colleges joined the championship, and four categories, called "Fuerzas", were created.
The First👄 Fuerza became the National League in 1970.
In 1978, this was reorganized under the name "Organización Nacional Estudiantil de Fútbol Americano"👄 (ONEFA).
[38] In 2010 a breakaway league, CONADEIP, was formed by the Monterrey Tech system, UDLAP and additional private universities.
The Aztec👄 Bowl is an NCAA sanctioned college division post-season bowl in which American Division III college All-stars face off against a👄 team of Mexican all-stars.
The Mexico national American football team has competed in the IFAF World Cup, which has been held👄 every four years since 1999.
Mexico participated in 1999 and 2003, finishing second in both competitions.
Raul Allegre is a former football👄 placekicker in the National Football League (NFL); he played for the Baltimore Colts, the Indianapolis Colts, the New York Giants,👄 and the New York Jets.
Later eventually leading to his current work as color commentator for Monday Night Football with Álvaro👄 Martín for ESPN in Latin America.
He also appears on NFL32 and contributes to other ESPN programs.
[39] Isaac Alarcón was signed👄 by the Dallas Cowboys in 2020 as a part of the league's International Player Pathway program.
Mexico's Estadio Azteca is also👄 notable as being the venue of the NFL-game with the all-time record attendance of 103,467 on October 2, 2005.
Mexico defeated👄 the United States in the Women's gold-medal game at the Women's tournament in Flag football at the 2022 World Games.
Flag👄 football made its international debut at the World Games 2022.
Rugby in Mexico has a long tradition dating back to the👄 early 1900s when Europeans were migrating to Mexico.
Though rugby has been a minor sport in Mexico, the Mexican Rugby Federation👄 was established, and the sport has been steadily increasing in popularity, with around twelve teams competing in the top league.
The👄 Mexican national rugby sevens team have achieved some good results in international tournaments, including taking third place at the 2015👄 NACRA Sevens.
Ice hockey [ edit ]
A Mexico men's national ice hockey team jersey at the Hockey Hall of Fame in👄 Toronto, Canada.
Pelota purépecha (Spanish for "Purépecha ball"), called Uárukua Ch'anakua (literally "a game with sticks") in the Purépecha language, is👄 an Indigenous Mexican sport similar to those in the Hockey family.
Although not a mainstream sport in Mexico, ice hockey is👄 played in larger cities like Monterrey, Guadalajara, Villahermosa, Culiacán, León and Mexico City.
The Mexican Elite League is the top level👄 of ice hockey in Mexico.
The Mexican Elite League, was inaugurated on 2 October 2010 with the aim to establish Mexico👄 as a high-level international competitor in ice hockey.
Currently it has 4 professional teams and 17 associated equipment.
The "Federación Deportiva de👄 Mexico de Hockey Sobre Hielo" (Mexico National Ice Hockey Federation) regulates all tournaments in Mexico.
The Mexican hockey league includes 7👄 federation clubs and 8 independent clubs.
[40] Mexico is also the only Latin American full member of the International Ice Hockey👄 Federation and competes in international tournaments.
[41] Claudia Téllez, at 32 became the first Mexican national to sign for the Canadian👄 Women's Hockey League and Jorge Perez, became the first Mexican-born player at the Junior A level in Canada for Rayside-Balfour.
Although👄 American born and trained, National Hockey League (NHL) center Auston Matthews is of Mexican heritage through his mother, and grew👄 up in Scottsdale, Arizona.
In the 2016 NHL Entry Draft Matthews was drafted first overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs, and👄 began his NHL career by scoring four goals against the Ottawa Senators in his NHL debut, becoming the only rookie👄 in modern history to achieve such a feat.[42]
Guadalajara born Xavier A.
Gutierrez serves as the CEO and President of the Arizona👄 Coyotes, and is the first Latino team President & CEO in NHL history.
[43] Notable former NHL players of Mexican descent👄 include former Montreal Canadiens forward Scott Gomez and retired San Jose Sharks winger Raffi Torres.
In 2017 the Mexican women's ice👄 hockey team won a gold in Iceland, in their six-team division of the women's world championship.
It was the first gold-medal👄 win for Mexico at a full International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) world championship event.
The team formed in 2012.
The team's win👄 this past week in Akureyri, Iceland, which left it in 27th place in the women's championships, earned it a promotion👄 from Group B to Group A in Division II for next year.[44]Polo [ edit ]
Memo Gracida playing in Florida in👄 2005.
Photo by David Lominska.
Polo was first popularized by the Escandon-Barron family in the late nineteenth century.
Three members of the Escandon-Barron👄 family would win a bronze medal at the 1900 Olympics.
The Mexican polo team also won an Olympic bronze medal in👄 1936, the last Olympic Games which featured polo.
Mexico hosted the World Polo Championship in 2008.
The World Polo Championship has been👄 held every three years by the Federation of International Polo since 1987.
Mexico's best finishes have been second place in 1987,👄 and third place in 1995 and 2008.
The best Mexican polo player is Carlos Gracida, who is also considered to be👄 one of the best polo players in the sport.
He has accumulated more tournament wins than any other athlete in the👄 history of the sport, winning the Abierto Argentino de Palermo tournament five times, the British Open Gold Cup ten times,👄 and the US Open nine times.
Carlos' brother, Memo Gracida, is a polo player of international renown as well and a👄 member of the Polo Hall of Fame.
The two have teamed together to win numerous tournaments worldwide.
Basque pelota [ edit ]
Basque👄 pelota is the name for a variety of court sports played with a ball using one's hand, a racket, a👄 wooden bat, or a basket propulsor, against a wall.
Since 1952, the International Federation of Basque Pelota has organized the World👄 Championships of Basque pelota every four years.
Mexico hosted the world championships in 1982, 1998 and 2006.
Mexico gave its best performance👄 at the 2006 games when they led all nations with six gold medals.
Frontenis is a variation of the Basque pelota👄 game, itself a derivation of real tennis.
It was created in 1916 in Mexico, when the idea of merging tennis and👄 the traditional Basque pilota emerged.
It is played in one of the largest courts in racquet sports with a tennis racquet👄 that contains an optional custom double string called "doble encordado" and a tiny frontenis ball.
Racquetball [ edit ]
Players in a👄 game of frontenis
Racquetball is a popular sport that is played in Mexico.
The Racquetball World Championships were first held in 1981👄 and have been played every two years since 1984.
San Luis Potosí hosted the championships in 1994 and 2000.
Álvaro Beltrán was👄 World Champion in 2000, and Mexican men have won the doubles titles four times: in 2000 (Luis Bustillos & Javier👄 Moreno), 2002 (Polo Gutierrez & Gilberto Mejia), 2006 (Moreno & Beltran), and in 2012 (Moreno & Beltran).
[45] while the Mexican👄 teams have finished among the top three in men's and top four in women's since 1986.[46]
Paola Longoria was the 1👄 player on the Women's Professional Racquetball Organization tour at the end of its 2008–2009 season, becoming the first woman not👄 from Canada or the US to do so.
She also won gold at the 2009 and 2013 World Games, and again👄 is the first non-American woman to do so.
Additionally, in 2012, she became the first player to win both the singles👄 and doubles Racquetball World Championship.
Racquetball will be included in the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara.
Volleyball and Beach volleyball [👄 edit ]
The 1974 FIVB Women's World Championship was the seventh edition of the tournament, organised by the world's governing body,👄 the FIVB.
It was held from 13 to 27 October 1974 in Mexico.
[47] Mexico featured national teams in beach volleyball that👄 competed at the 2018–2020 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Continental Cup in both the women's and the men's sections.[48]
Individual sports [ edit👄 ]Boxing [ edit ]
Canelo Álvarez is a multiple-time world champion in three weight classes.
Mexican sport is also known for its👄 boxing tradition.
Boxing is the most popular individual sport in Mexico.
Mexico is also the second in total number of world champions👄 produced, after the United States,[49] and has recently produced more World Champions in the last 30 years.
[50] The first boxing👄 champion Mexico produced was Battling Shaw when he became the Light Welterweight Champion by outpointing Johnny Jadick in 1933.
Thirteen Olympic👄 boxing medals have been won by Mexico.[51]
International Boxing Hall of Fame members include Julio César Chávez, Sr.
, Salvador Sánchez, Ricardo👄 Lopez, José Nápoles, Rubén Olivares, Baby Arizmendi, Pipino Cuevas, Chiquita González, Sugar Ramos, Daniel Zaragoza, Miguel Canto, Vicente Saldivar, Carlos👄 Palomino, and Carlos Zárate.
Other prominent Mexican boxers include World Boxing Hall of Fame members, Kid Azteca, Jesús Pimentel, Lupe Pintor,👄 Juan Zurita, Jorge Paez and José Luis Ramírez.
More recent champions include Canelo Álvarez, Julio César Chávez Jr.
, Marco Antonio Barrera,👄 Érik Morales, Juan Manuel Márquez, Rafael Márquez, Israel Vázquez and Juan Francisco Estrada.
Mexico's biggest rival in the sport of boxing👄 is Puerto Rico.
There have been many classic match ups between the two such as Salvador Sánchez–Wilfredo Gómez, Gómez–Carlos Zárate Serna👄 and many more.
Other great match ups are between two Mexican fighters and Mexican vs.Mexican-American.
Good examples of fighting between two Mexicans👄 are the Barrera vs.
Morales trilogy and the Márquez-Vázquez rivalry.
A good example of a Mexican vs a Mexican-American are Julio César👄 Chávez vs.
Oscar De La Hoya, Bobby Chacon vs.
Rafael Limón, Chiquita González vs Carbajal, (particularly so Michael Carbajal vs.
Humberto González I)👄 Márquez vs Díaz, and Corrales versus Castillo.
Taekwondo [ edit ]
María Espinoza became the first Mexican woman to win medals at👄 three Olympic Games.
Taekwondo was introduced to Mexico in 1969 by Korean Mexican Dai Won Moon.[52] With over 1.
5 million taekwondo👄 practitioners and 3,500 schools throughout the country, taekwondo is one of the most popular sports in the nation.
[52] Mexico has👄 also been competitive on the international level in the sport of taekwondo.
Over forty Mexican taekwondo practitioners have medaled at the👄 World Taekwondo Championships.[53]
Taekwondo made its official debut at the 2000 Summer Olympics and Mexican athletes have medaled in the sport👄 in every Olympics since then.
Mexican athletes won a bronze medal in taekwondo at the 2000 Summer Olympics, a silver and👄 bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics, two gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics, a bronze medal at the👄 2012 Summer Olympics and a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
María Espinoza has medaled at the 2008, 2012 and👄 2016 Olympics.
Mexico currently ranks fourth on the total medal count for taekwondo, its best performance for any Olympic sport.
Jackie Galloway👄 was an alternate for the Mexican team at the 2012 Olympics.[54]
Mixed Martial Arts [ edit ]
Mixed martial arts has achieved👄 popularity in the early 21st century.
Many companies promote MMA cards, with the U.S.
-based UFC the most dominant.
Brandon Moreno, from Tijuana,👄 made history when he became the first Mexico-born champion in UFC history.
Jessica Aguilar, a native of Veracruz, was the first👄 Mexican-born champion in a major MMA promotion, winning the WSOF Strawweight title in 2014 (pre-dating the UFC in that division).
There👄 have been many Champions in MMA who born in the U.S.
but are of Mexican heritage, however, including some of the👄 pioneers of the sport such as Frank "Shamrock" Juarez (UFC), Tito Ortiz (UFC), Gilbert Melendez (Strikeforce), Miguel Angel Torres (WEC),👄 Zoila Frausto Gurgel (Bellator).
Tennis [ edit ]
An open shot from the Acapulco Open, 2015.
The Abierto Mexicano Telcel is a tennis👄 tournament held in Acapulco, Mexico.
It is an event on both the ATP Tour (International Series Gold event) and the WTA👄 Tour (Tier III).
Rafael Osuna is the best tennis player to come out of Mexico.
He was ranked number one in 1963👄 when he won the U.S.Open Championship.
Osuna led Mexico to the 1962 Davis Cup, becoming the first team from Latin America👄 to compete for the trophy.
Osuna would go on to win a Grandslam singles championship in 1963.He also won the U.S.
Open👄 Doubles Championship in 1962, the Wimbledon double's championship in 1960 and 1963, and a doubles tennis Olympic gold medal in👄 1968.
Osuna was killed in a plane crash in 1969 at the age of 30.
In 1969, the Intercollegiate Tennis College Association👄 NCAA instituted "The Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award" in his honor.
Later that year, the Chapultepec Club, renamed its stadium "Rafael Osuna👄 Stadium".
He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1979.
Raúl Ramírez was the first player to finish first👄 in both singles and doubles Grand Prix point standings, accomplishing the feat in 1976.
Raúl Zurutuza is the director of Mextenis,👄 which organizes Mexico's Acapulco and Los Cabos tennis tourneys.
Plaza de Toros México become a tennis court and hosted, as Roger👄 Federer faced Germany's Alexander Zverev on November 23, 2019.
A record tennis crowd of more than 42,000 watched, the attendance figure👄 smashed an almost decade-old record of 35,681, set in 2010.
Auto racing [ edit ]
The most notable Mexican professional auto racers👄 have been Pedro Rodríguez, who was the winner of the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans, and his brother Ricardo👄 Rodríguez, who at age 18 finished second at the 1960 24 Hours of Le Mans, becoming the youngest ever to👄 stand on the podium.
He was also the youngest F1 driver at that time.
They were both considered among the top drivers👄 before their untimely deaths.
The Mexico City racetrack Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez ("Rodríguez Brothers Racetrack") was named in their honor.
Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez👄 has hosted several racing events including the Formula 1 (1962–1970, 1986–1992, 2015–present), Champ Car World Series (1980–1981 and 2002–2007), World👄 Sportscar Championship, Grand-Am, Trans-Am, IMSA, A1 Grand Prix, NASCAR Nationwide Series, Formula BMW World Finals, Champ Car Atlantic Series, Panam👄 GP Series and NASCAR Mexico Corona Series.
More recently Sergio Pérez and Esteban Gutiérrez have re-established a Mexican presence in F1.
Before👄 them, Héctor Rebaque competed in the F1 between 1977 and 1981, their best position was tenth in the 1981 season,👄 and Jo Ramírez worked for a number of F1 teams, most notably as team co-ordinator for McLaren in the 1980s👄 and 1990s.
The A1 Team Mexico is the Mexican team of A1 Grand Prix, the World Cup of Motorsport; Salvador Durán👄 has earned two victories for the team.
Daniel Suárez in the No.
19 Joe Gibbs Racing car at Road America in 2016.
Adrián👄 Fernández has become a popular driver in Mexico since the 1990s and reached his climax when he finished in second👄 place during the 2000 CART season.
Fernández co-founded the Fernández Racing with which he championed the American Le Mans Series and👄 previously won in Champ Car, the IRL IndyCar Series, and Grand-Am.
Memo Rojas and Luis Díaz have also been successful in👄 formula racing and sports car racing.
Carlos Contreras was the first Mexican-born driver racing full-time in any NASCAR national series.
Daniel Suárez👄 won the 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship.
Daniel Suarez becomes first Mexican-Born driver to win in NASCAR Cup Series.
Since 2004, Rally👄 Mexico is a round of the FIA World Rally Championship, held in the state of Guanajuato, and over time it👄 has become one of the most popular rounds of the championship.
Other auto racing events currently held in Mexico include the👄 Baja 1000, the World's most important off-road race, taking place on Mexico's Baja California Peninsula and with the Mexicans normally👄 winning various categories.
Racing events formerly held in Mexico include the Tecate/Telmex Grand Prix of Monterrey and the Carrera Panamericana, which👄 is now held as one of the premiere vintage racing events of the World.
Golf [ edit ]
Lorena Ochoa; the recently👄 retired number one female golfer, pictured here in 2007
Golf is a popular sport in Mexico.
[55] There are over 150 golf👄 courses in the country.
Lorena Ochoa, who was the number-one-ranked female golf player in the world before abruptly retiring in 2010,👄 has helped increase the popularity of golf in the country.
On 10 November 2018, Gaby López won her first LPGA Tour👄 event at the Blue Bay LPGA and was the flag bearer for Mexico at the opening 2020 Summer Olympics.
In the👄 early days of Mexican golf, there were not many Mexicans playing golf at these Mexican golf clubs.
The introduction of golf👄 came from Anglo-American business owners.
These individuals used their power, influence, and money to develop the land.
This in turn made it👄 possible for these clubs to be erected, such an extravagant oasis in the middle of these cities.
For example, the Monterey👄 Club had connections in North American smelting, refining and mining companies.
Furthermore, the Oro golf Club in contrast was controlled by👄 London-based executives who held positions in El Oro Mining and Railways.
The explosion of capitalist society as well as the extreme👄 wealth being accrued by many around the world paved the way for enormous changes in infrastructure.
In the early days of👄 golf in Mexico, the MGA was composed of immigrants only.
This means that the Metropolitan Golf Association of Mexico had no👄 individuals of Mexican descent.
Additionally, the modernity of golf was evidence of the vast possibilities that can be achieved by hard👄 work.
These new construction projects were palpable evidence that humans can sculpt the world around them into something new adding lakes,👄 forests, and lush hills in the middle of an area that previously had a completely different complexion previous to this👄 renovation.
The Mexican Golf Association was originally started by Anglo-Americans although it is the Mexican Golf Association.
In Mexico, they still refer👄 to it in English rather than in Spanish which reflects the members who belonged.
These men were all interested in the👄 inherent battle with nature, risk-taking, calculation, and resilience in the face of defeat.
These characteristics were all seen as applicable to👄 these individuals' daily lives.[56]
Professional golf tournaments held in Mexico includes, the Corona Championship, MasterCard Classic, Lorena Ochoa Invitational, Mayakoba Golf👄 Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancún, and the Mexican Open.
Jockey [ edit ]
Victor Espinoza won the Triple Crown of thoroughbred racing in👄 2015 on American Pharoah.
He began riding in his native Mexico and went on to compete at racetracks in California.
The first👄 Hispanic jockey to win the award.
Other well known jockeys include Jose L.
Espinoza and Mario Gutierrez.
Fencing [ edit ]
Pilar Roldán was👄 the first Mexican woman to win an Olympic medal (a silver in the 1968 Olympic games in Mexico City) and👄 was also part of the first father-daughter team (her father was the tennis player Ángel Roldán) in the Pan-American games👄 in 1955.
Track and field [ edit ]
The 400-meter event became popular when Ana Guevara became world champion in 2003.
Raúl González👄 set the world record in the 50-kilometres racewalk twice in 1978 (3:45:52 and 3:41:20).
As of October 2011, it was still👄 the North American record.
María Lorena Ramírez Hernández, a Mexican long-distance and ultra-fund runner, became known worldwide after having won the👄 2017 UltraTrail Cerro Rojo ultra-distance race of 50 kilometers, in a time of 07:20:00, and for having done it wearing👄 huaraches and a long skirt, without sports footwear or equipment.
Her story was depicted in a documentary film, Lorena, Light-Footed Woman,👄 for Netflix.
[57][58]Climbing [ edit ]
Elsa Ávila was the first Latin American woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, in👄 1999, and also the first to accomplish several other climbs.
She specializes in big wall climbs and was the first Latin👄 American woman to climb El Capitán in Yosemite, the Rockies, the Alps, the Andes, the Himalayas, Patagonia and Baffin Island👄 in the Arctic Circle.
Skiing and Figure skating [ edit ]
Rodolfo Dickson was the first Mexican alpine skier representing Mexico to👄 win an international ski race, winning in Super-G in January 2015.
[59][60][61][62][63]
Sports leagues in Mexico [ edit ]
Major sports leagues [👄 edit ]
The following table shows the professional sports leagues in Mexico and that have a national TV contract that pays👄 rights fees.
Association Football and Baseball are the two most popular team sports in Mexico.
Liga MX is the most important and👄 highest level league (Football).
Mexico has two Baseball leagues (winter and summer) which, historically, have been comparable to Triple-A in the👄 U.S.
; Liga Mexicana del Pacífico (winter)[citation needed] and Liga Mexicana de Beisbol (summer).
[citation needed] Liga de Expansión MX (formerly Ascenso👄 MX) is Mexico's second division in Football.
The following table shows the teams of these leagues and the cites/metro areas they're👄 based in.
Key to colors and symbols
Metro areas with 3 teams in league Metro areas with 2 teams in league Metro👄 areas larger than 500,000 population without a team in these leagues
Other team sports leagues [ edit ]
Other individual sports leagues👄 [ edit ]
International sporting events hosted by Mexico [ edit ]
2014 Mexican Delegation at the Winter Olympic games led by👄 Prince Hubertus of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
The version of pelota purépecha in play without a flaming ball
Italic text indicates upcoming events hosted by👄 Mexico.
Sports entertainment [ edit ]
Lucha libre (wrestling) [ edit ]
Mexican professional wrestling, which is known as lucha libre, has been👄 a popular spectacle in Mexico since 1933, when promoter Salvador Lutteroth Gonzales founded Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre.
Like other forms👄 of professional wrestling, it is not strictly a sport, but rather a form of sports entertainment, as matches usually have👄 predetermined outcomes.
Lucha libre is characterized by rapid sequences of holds and moves, as well as spectacular high-flying moves, many of👄 which have been adopted in the United States.
[68] The two most popular lucha libre promotions are Consejo Mundial de Lucha👄 Libre (CMLL), and Lucha Libre AAA World Wide (AAA).
Notable wrestling stars include El Santo, Blue Demon, and Mil Máscaras.
The original👄 "Big Three" of the lucha libre tradition in Mexico, other legendary wrestlers are Perro Aguayo, Rayo de Jalisco, and Huracán👄 Ramírez.
In 2019, Alberto Del Rio and fellow professional wrestler Chavo Guerrero Jr.
created their own promotion, Nación Lucha Libre.
The promotion aired👄 its first show on a television channel.[69]
Recently, Mexican wrestlers had more participation in foreign wrestling companies like WWE, AEW, ROH,👄 NWA, IMPACT and NJPW; these wrestlers are Blue Demon Jr, Alberto Del Rio, Rush, Bandido, Penta 0M, Rey Fenix, Thunder👄 Rosa, Andrade El Idolo, Dralístico, Dragon Lee, Laredo Kid, Flamita, Metalik, Komander, Humberto Carrillo, Angel Garza, Santos Escobar, etc.
See also👄 [ edit ]References [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ]
