A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
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| Nickname(s) | El Tri Femenil La Tri | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Federación Mexicana de Fútbol | ||
| Confederation | CONCACAF (North America) | ||
| Sub-confederation | NAFU (North America) | ||
| Head coach | Pedro López | ||
| Captain | Rebeca Bernal | ||
| Most caps | Maribel Domínguez (116) | ||
| Top scorer | Maribel Domínguez (86) | ||
| FIFA code | MEX | ||
| |||
| FIFA ranking | |||
| Current | 31  4 (15 March 2024)[1] | ||
| Highest | 21 (December 2011) | ||
| Lowest | 36 (August 2022; August 2023) | ||
| First international | |||
 Mexico 9–0 Austria  (Jesolo, Italy; 6 July 1970) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
 Anguilla 0–11 Mexico (The Valley, Anguilla; 9 April 2022) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 United States 12–0 Mexico (Port-au-Prince, Haiti; 18 April 1991) | |||
| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 3 (first in 1999) | ||
| Best result | Group stage (1999, 2011, 2015) | ||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Appearances | 1 (first in 2004) | ||
| Best result | Quarter-finals (2004) | ||
| CONCACAF Women's Championship | |||
| Appearances | 7 (first in 1991) | ||
| Best result | Runners-up (1998, 2010) | ||
| CONCACAF W Gold Cup | |||
| Appearances | 1 (first in 2024) | ||
| Best result | Semifinals (2024) | ||
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-20, U-17, and U-15 teams. The U-17 team reached the final of the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, and the U-15 cohort earned the bronze medal in the 2014 Youth Olympic Games.
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.
Pedro López is the current national team's manager, after taking the role in late 2022.
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.[2] 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,[3] 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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6] 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,[when?] 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[who?] 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[citation needed] seasons at their clubs in Spain's Primera División, onto the squad[7] led to his resignation from his position in April 2016.[8] Roberto Medina became the head coach in 2017.[9]
In 2018 Mexico won the Central American and Caribbean Games by defeating Costa Rica 3–1 in the final.[10]
At the 2018 CONCACAF Women's Championship Mexico entered as the third highest ranked team behind the United States and Canada. At the tournament Mexico finished third in their group with a record of one win and two losses, which included a surprising 2–0 loss to Panama. As a result of not advancing to the knockout round, Mexico was unable to qualify for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France.[11] Medina was replaced by U-20 coach Christopher Cuellar, Leo Cuellar's son. His tenure was short-lived, having placed fifth in the 2019 Pan American Games (despite absences from the United States and Canada) and after failing to qualify for the 2020 Olympics. He was replaced in January 2021 by Mónica Vergara, who led the U-17 squad to the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup 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)[12] 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 showed 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 70,000 fans were in attendance.
Until recently, attention around the women's team was dwarfed 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.
