The 2025 Liga MX Clausura starts on January 10, the closing half of the 2024-25 season in Mexico’s topflight that includes the 2024 Apertura. As we explained in our guide to the Liga MX season, Liga MX plays 17 games per season, with each of its 18 teams playing one another once. That setup, combined with the short break between seasons, means things can shift quickly from the Apertura to the Clausura based on form and home-field advantage.
With our focus on USMNT players, the big news over the break between the end of the Apertura playoffs and the start of the 2025 Clausura is Brandon Vazquez completing his transfer from Monterrey to Austin FC. Vazquez played in 16 games for Monterrey during the Apertura and four more in the playoffs. Monterrey finished 5th, but playoff series wins over UNAM Pumas and San Luis had them finalists, ultimately losing 3-2 to Club America.
Alex Zendejas at Club America is one of the biggest success stories for USMNT players abroad, given his individual success and the dominance America has shown over recent Liga MX seasons. Individually, Zendejas made 12 appearances in the 2024 Apertura regular season, scoring twice with two assists. With Club America finishing 8th, they had to advance through the play-in round, ultimately needing seven playoff games to clinch another Liga MX title. Zendejas played in all of them, scoring two more goals and adding three more assists. That Apertura title is the third in a row for Club America, with Zendejas a member of all of those squads. Add in the 2024 Campeones Cup, the 2024 Supercopa, and the 2024 Campeon de Campeones for another glory era for one of the biggest clubs in North American soccer.
One of the other biggest clubs in North American soccer also features a USMNT player. Cade Cowell joined Chivas last January, playing in 12 games during the Apertura with five goals and two assists. Chivas finished 9th, exiting the playoffs in the play-in round. Chivas signed two MLS players since the conclusion of their Apertura season, Miguel Tapias from Minnesota and Alan Pulido from Sporting Kansas City. Pulido scored seven goals in 31 games for Sporting KC in 2024.
Joe Corona played in ten games for Club Tijuana during the 2024 Apertura, finishing in 7th-place. Corona played in two of Tijuana’s playoff games, and their playoff run is worth considering. Tijuana lost their first-playin game to Club America on penalties after drawing 2-2. They advanced with a 3-0 shutout of Atlas, dropping them from the 7th to 8th seed. In the round of 16, they lost on a seeding tiebreaker after drawing 3-3 over two legs with top seed Cruz Azul. That’s how close Tijuana came to disrupting the playoff picture in the 2024 Apertura.
Ventura Alvarado played in five games for Mazatlan, the team he joined in September 2023. Mazatlan finished the Apertura in 14th-place with 14 points, tied on points with 15th-place Puebla and a point behind 13th-place Necaxa. Since relocating to Mazatlan from Morelia in 2020, Mazatlan hasn’t finished higher than 12th.
