Mexico women's national association football team

About Mexico women's national association football team

The Mexico women's national football team (Spanish: selección nacional de México femenil) represents Mexico in international women's football. The team is governed by the Mexican Football Federation and competes within CONCACAF, the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football. It has won three gold medals in the Central American and Caribbean Games and a gold medal in the Pan American Games, as well as a silver and bronze in the Women's World Cup prior to FIFA's recognition of the women's game. In addition to its senior team, Mexico also has U-23, U-20, U-17, U-16, U-15, and U-13 teams. The U-17 team reached the final of the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup and came in third in the 2025 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.

The senior team was originally established in 1963, but its first FIFA-recognized game was in 1991. Mexico's senior team has participated in three Women's World Cups and one edition of the Summer Olympic Games. Mexico is set to co-host the 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup along with the Costa Rica, Jamaica and United States, earning them an automatic qualification as co-hosts.

Pedro López is the current national team's manager, after taking the role in late 2022.

Contents

History

Unofficial era

Although not officially recognized by FIFA until 1991, Mexico's team was actually established in 1963, when many countries still had bans on women's football. In the 1950s, both Costa Rica and Argentina witnessed increased interest in the women's game and held tours in various countries. In 1963, Las Ticas, the Costa Rica women's national football team, spent six months in Mexico conducting a tour to increase exposure of the game. Observing the success of Las Ticas, Mexico formed its first team to play in opposition to Costa Rica.

Led by Alicia Vargas, Mexico placed third in the 1970 Women's World Cup, a tournament FIFA has yet to acknowledge. Mexico fell 2–1 in the semifinal to hosts Italy before defeating England 3–2 in the third place match. The following year, Mexico hosted the 1971 Women's World Cup, which has also yet to be officially recognized. The squad reached the final but fell 3–0 to Denmark. An estimated 110,000 people attended the final at Estadio Azteca, which is the largest crowd ever to witness a women's soccer game; FIFA has not recognized this attendance record either.

To participate in each world cup, teams had to qualify. Mexico faced Peru, Argentina, and South Africa en route to the 1971 edition.

Modern era

In the 1980s, when a series of mundialitos took place, Mexico participated in the 1986 edition. Mexico was placed in Group A along with Italy and Japan, but the team did not advance beyond the first stage.

Mexico's first official appearance in the Women's World Cup was in 1999, when the United States hosted the tournament. The team also qualified in 2011 and 2015, hosted by Germany and Canada, respectively. Likewise, the team qualified for the Summer Olympic Games in 2004. In all four instances, El Tri Femenil failed to advance beyond the group stage; in fact, the team has yet to win a single game in either major tournament.

The first official coach for the Mexico women's national football team was Leonardo Cuéllar. One of his first objectives was to qualify for the 1999 Women's World Cup. The team accomplished this by placing second to Canada in the 1998 CONCACAF Women's Championship. However, much controversy arose regarding the nationalities of the recruited players. Preference was given to US-born players of Mexican heritage, largely because Mexico did not have an official league at the time. Andrea Rodebaugh, the team's then-captain, argued that the team's main goal was to qualify; she also wanted to strengthen the team and celebrate its official recognition. Despite the controversy, the team went on to participate in the 1999 Women's World Cup with a mix of US-born and Mexican-born players.

In recent years, an increase in young talent developing in Mexico brought an increase of expectations from Mexican football fans and media alike. Following their worst ever World Cup finish in 2015, fans began calling for Cuellar's resignation or firing. In 2016, the women's national football team failed to qualify for the Olympics, and lost to Costa Rica, which was the turning point in the team's history since many thought the defeat resulted in Mexico becoming the fourth-best team in CONCACAF. With these results and Leonardo Cuellar's controversial decision to not bring Charlyn Corral and Kenti Robles, who had terrific seasons at their clubs in Spain's Primera División, onto the squad led to his resignation from his position in April 2016. Roberto Medina became the head coach in 2017.

In 2018 Mexico won the Central American and Caribbean Games by defeating Costa Rica 3–1 in the final.

Notable matches

Mexico's first recorded international game was against Austria during the 1970 Women's World Cup, when squad beat the European side 9–0 in the group stage. However, to participate in this inaugural tournament, teams had to qualify, so La Tri played against other teams prior to this match.

Before the modern era, Mexico defeated England 2–1 in the third place match of the 1970 Women's World Cup, the first edition of the tournament. In front of a record-breaking crowd, the team also reached the final of the 1971 Women's World Cup, but fell 3–0 to Denmark.

Among the most notable victories is when the team finished second in the 2010 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup. Hosts of the cup, Mexico defeated the United States in the semifinal for the first time before falling to Canada in the final. Mexico would go 14 years before defeating the United States again after defeating the hosts 2–0 in the first-ever 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup. It was the second time Mexico beat the senior team in 43 attempts, and it was the first time Mexico did so in the United States. The United States hadn't lost against a CONCACAF rival at home since a defeat by Canada in 2000.

Team image

Nicknames

The Mexico women's national football team has been known or nicknamed as the "El Tri Femenil" or "La Tri."

Home stadium

The Estadio Azteca, also known in Spanish as "El Coloso de Santa Úrsula", was built in 1966. It is the official home stadium of the Mexico women's national team, as well as the Mexican club team Club América (women). It has a capacity of 87,000 seats (after renovation works) making it the largest football-specific stadium in the Americas and the third largest stadium in the world for that sport.

Domestic recognition

In various occasions, fans have shown up in large numbers to support La Tri. When Mexico played against Denmark in the 1971 Women's World Cup final, over 100,000 showed up at Estadio Azteca. Likewise, when Mexico played Argentina in a playoff game to qualify for the 1999 Women's World Cup, over 700,000 fans were in attendance.

Until recently, attention around the women's team was dwarf edition and was the subject for a series that featured the women's teams and women's teams competing at a tournament of their choosing at a time of the season and a tournament of its kind that included the by the men's squad. Few matches were televised or advertised, limiting knowledge around the team's achievements and struggles. Former ESPN commentator Nelly Simón frequently advocated for more attention to this team. Likewise, after winning the gold medal at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games, Kenti Robles called on news outlets and fans to pay more attention to them. However, with increased attention in the women's game after the establishment of the women's league in 2017, more games have been televised. Since then, millions watched Mexico play in the U-17 world cup final against Spain in 2018.

Player preparation

Many national team players currently play in the Liga MX Femenil, Mexico's first-division women's league. Some players also play in the United States via the NWSL or the NCAA, while others elect to play in Spain's Primera Divisíon. A few have played in the top women's leagues in Australia, China, England, France, Japan, Italy, Israel, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Sweden.

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Fixture

2026

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

As of 15 September 2022

Manager history

Winning percentages calculated according to FIFA's points scale, which provides 3 points for a victory, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss.

As of 9 June 2026, after the match against Australia.

1. Gil Monterd (1991–1998):As La Tri's first official coach between 1991 and 1998, Monterd took an inexperienced and under-resourced squad to the 1991 CONCACAF Women's Championship in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Sending only one qualifier from the confederation to the 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup, this tournament fielded eight teams divided into two groups. Matches were also only 80 minutes long. In Group A, Mexico lost to eventual winner United States 12–0, its worst ever appearance. With a loss against Trinidad and Tobago and a win against Martinique, Mexico finished third in the group, failing to advance to the semifinals. Likewise, during the 1994 CONCACAF Women's Championship, which determined the two qualifiers for the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup, Mexico finished in third place, failing to reach the international tournament yet again.

2. Leonardo Cuéllar (1998–2016):Once a highly touted player for the Mexico men's national football team, Cuéllar took over El Tri Femenil after a brief stint as the women's soccer coach at CSULA. Head coach until 2016—a period of 18 years—Cuéllar had a questionable record. As head coach, Mexico only qualified for the world cup on three occasions and the Olympics once; his teams never won a single game in any major tournament, nor did they finish first in the CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup. Common criticism of his leadership was his nepotism and overreliance on US-born players. Cuéllar was never at risk of losing his job despite dubious results, and he even hired close allies, including his son Christopher Cuéllar. He also regularly held tryouts in the United States without doing the same in Mexico.

Initially charged with taking the squad to the 1998 CONCACAF Women's Championship, which would award 1.5 qualification slots to the 1999 Women's World Cup, he was successful in qualifying for the team's first ever appearance at the official tournament. Finishing first in its group and winning against Guatemala in the semifinal, Mexico eventually fell 1–0 to Canada in the final. Mexico went on to qualify for the cup after defeating Argentina in the CONCACAF-CONMEBOL playoff match. Cuéllar was very lucky to qualify. The tournament expanded from 12 teams to 16 teams and the United States was the host, so their squad automatically qualified; had these two changes not been made, Mexico would have likely been out.

Players

Current squad

The following 24 players were named to the squad for two friendlies against Jamaica on October 9th and 13th. Alexandra Godínez was not part of the initial roster released on 30 September 2026, she was added to the team on October 6th.

Caps, goals, and player numbers accurate as of 9 June 2026 after second match vs. Australia.

Recent call-ups

The following players were called up to a squad within the last 12 months.

Notable players

Charlyn Corral: First Mexican women's player to win the Pichichi Trophy.

Maribel Dominguez: Mexico's top international goal scorer of all time, among both men's and women's squads, earning her the nickname "Marigol."

Mónica Ocampo: Scored a goal England at the 2011 World Cup, which was selected by fans as the greatest Women's World Cup goal ever.

Kenti Robles: Winner of the 2019 Trofeo EFE.

Andrea Rodebaugh: Sporting director for Mexico's women's teams.

Cecilia Santiago: Youngest goalkeeper ever to appear in a Men's or Women's World Cup.

Alicia Vargas: In 1999, she was named third best woman player of the century by CONCACAF.

Records

*Players in bold are still active, at least at club level.

As of 7 July 2023