Liga MX Clausura 2025 Playoff Teams: Power Rankings | OneFootball

The business end of the Liga MX Clausura 2025 season is upon us, with the eight team playoff field set, the quarterfinals will kick off this week and the madness of La Liguilla will ensue.

It's a three week sprint to crown a champion of Mexico's top-flight. The top eight teams from the regular season moved on to the quarterfinals for the third season in a row, with Pachuca and Monterrey earning the final two playoff spots leaving FC Juárez and Pumas behind in the Play-In round.

Two of the big four clubs in the country, Club América and Cruz Azul are in the dance as well as the two North East powerhouses in Tigres and Monterrey. Toluca topped the standings and boast the best attack in Liga MX. The last two Concacaf Champions Cup champions Club León and Pachuca will be a tough out in the knockout rounds, so will the surprise of the tournament Necaxa, who are keen on continuing their Cinderella run into the playoffs.

On the eve of the thrilling and always dramatic, action-packed Liga MX playoffs, here's Sports Illustrated's rankings of the teams that are most likely to lift the title on May, 25.

Liga MX Clausura 2025: Quarterfinals Matchups

Liga MX Clausura 2025 Playoff Teams: Ranked

8. Club León

León topped the table during the first half of the season, storming out of the gate fueled by the signing of former Real Madrid star James Rodríguez. However, since rumors grew and news broke that the club would be disqualified from the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, the team fell off a cliff.

Eduardo Berizzo's side ended the regular season winning just one of their final seven games, stumbling to the finish line and narrowly securing a direct playoff spot after winning eight of their first 10 matches.

Only the two bottom teams of the regular season had a worse final seven game stretch than León and to make matters worse, they face the most in-form team in the country in the quarterfinals. With James unavailable for the first leg after getting sent off in the last game of the season, León looks like the clear underdog heading into La Liguilla.

7. Monterrey

If this list was based on roster talent alone, then Monterrey would probably be near or at the top. Rayados were finalists a season ago and added even more firepower in Nelson Deossa and lured legendary center back Sergio Ramos to the club during the winter transfer window.

Yet, since the turn of the year the team has once again failed to deliver on the expectations their individual quality and economic investment warrant. The performances of Martín Demichelis's side during 2025 have been unconvincing at best and issues within the dressing room have stolen headlines in recent weeks.

It's been a disappointing season for Rayados, who have shown little to make fans believe they have what it takes to get past the top seed in the playoffs in the quarterfinals.

6. Tigres

The most successful team in Mexico over the past decade have had a tumultuous start of the year, firing their manager halfway through the season and accelerating the retirement of historic midfielder Guido Pizarro to take over managerial duties.

Despite the turmoil, Tigres ended a respectable fourth during the regular season and made it to the semifinals of the Concacaf Champions Cup. But the core of players that led Tigres' golden era is aging and the new, young talents recruited over recent years haven't lived up to the potential that was placed on them—see Diego Lainez.

Pizarro still hasn't won a single game as manager away from home and, although they're talented enough to advance past Necaxa in the quarterfinals, it's hard to imagine Tigres making a championship run in what's unquestionably a season of transition.

5. Necaxa

The biggest surprise of the Clausura 2025 is the emergence of Nicolás Larcamón's Necaxa. The team more than doubled their points tally from a season ago and scored the second most goals of any team during the regular season.

Pavél Pérez, José Paradela and Díber Cambindo came out of nowhere to become arguably the best front three in Liga MX and, if they find a way to just slightly sure up the back line during the playoffs, they're capable of upsetting any team left in contention.

The matchup against Tigres in the quarterfinals is the most even on paper, but with a season's worth of impressive performances under their belt, there's no telling when the clock might hit midnight in Necaxa's Cinderella run.

4. Pachuca

After placing the final pieces of a rebuild during the latter part of 2024, Pachuca are back to the upper-echelon of Liga MX thanks to a young core complemented by a deadly front three and one of the best managers that's arrived in Mexico since the decade started.

With two of the most exciting young Mexican talents in Elías Montiel and Pedro Pedraza anchoring the midfield and John Kennedy, Oussama Idrissi and Salomón Rondón leading the line, Pachuca are well equipped to compete against any team in the playoffs.

Guillermo Almada led Pachuca to their last Liga MX title in 2022 and after enduring a lengthy rebuild, he's managed to once again develop the team into a well-structured attacking based side.

Club América in the quarterfinals is a daunting task, though, Pachuca did eliminate the Las Águilas in the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup semifinals and beat them in their last meeting during the regular season. It just might be that Los Tuzos are the kryptonite of the side that's dominated Liga MX for the past three seasons.

3. Cruz Azul

Cruz Azul enter the playoffs on a high on the back of a 16-game unbeaten run that led them to a third place finish during the regular season and into the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup final.

La Máquina started the season having to deal with the abrupt departure of Martín Anselmi, the man who led them to a record-setting season last semester. Vicente Sánchez took over and there wasn't much faith this team could compete with a rookie manager. However, Cruz Azul grew into their own as they settled under their new manager and now one of the most talented rosters in the region are back to being among the favorites to lift the trophy.

The team is peaking at the perfect time and drew a favorable matchup vs. León in the quarterfinals. Come the semifinals, a Mexico City derby vs. arch-nemesis Club América—the team that's ended their title hopes the last two seasons—appears to be inevitable.

2. Toluca

Antonio Mohamed's Toluca dominated the regular season with a high-octane attack that bulldozed opponents to the tune of a league leading 41 goals and only two defeats in 17 games.

Toluca has a wealth of talent on their ranks that already thrived in previous seasons under Renato Paiva, but Mohamed's arrival saw the team reach another gear. Alexis Vega has been the best player in Liga MX during 2025, striker Paulinho secured his second straight golden boot and former Mexico national team regular, Héctor Herrera arrived in January to add even more talent to the midfield.

Los Diablos Rojos have been knocking on the door of ending a 15 year championship drought and it appears this is their best shot to achieve it. However, this attacking machine has lost 7–0 on aggregate in their last three meetings vs. the top team on the list.

1. Club América

The reigning, defending, back-to-back-to-back champions have well-earned their right to be considered the favorites going into La Liguilla to lift the Liga MX trophy for the fourth straight season.

When André Jardine's América are at their best, there's no team in Mexico that can defeat them over 180 minutes. Despite just one win in their last four games of the regular season, they're coming off winning the title after entering the playoffs as as the seventh seed a season ago.

The fitness status of Brian Rodríguez and Henry Martin remains up in the air, but América have plenty of viable replacements ready to go, plus Álvaro Fidalgo and Alejandro Zendejas have risen their level this term to cement their status as two of the best players in Liga MX.

América are yet to lose a Liga MX playoff series since the appointment of Jardine in the summer of 2023, until that happens, there's no reason to believe Las Águilas won't become the second team in Mexican soccer history and the first in over 60 years to win four championships in a row.