Toluca’s Liga MX Final Win Carves Out Place in History

Toluca became back-to-back Liga MX champions by conquering the Apertura 2025 title.

Alexis Vega (top) was the hero in the Apertura 2025 final. / Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images

In one of the most dramatic, thrilling and memorable Liga MX finals in recent times, Toluca came from behind and defeated Tigres in a penalty shootout to become the fifth team this century to win back-to-back Liga MX titles.

An early goal on Sunday’s return leg saw Tigres double their first leg advantage to put the reigning champions on the brink. But Toluca showed their championship character and responded, as a cracking goal from Helinho and a second half strike from Paulinho sent the game to stoppage time and an ensuing penalty shootout.

Chaos reigned supreme in the decisive shootout, with each team needing to take 12 penalties to determine the champion. After scoring his first penalty, 2022 World Cup champion Ángel Correa turned into the villain as he missed his second attempt, allowing Toluca’s hero, Alexis Vega, to step up and dispatch the title-winner with the 24th kick of the shootout.

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Los Diablos Rojos confirmed their status as the best team in Liga MX in 2025, finishing the year as champions of both the Clausura and Apertura 2025 seasons after topping the regular season standings in both campaigns.

After 15 years without lifting a league trophy, Toluca won two titles in a little over six months to add a 12th star to the badge, going level with Chivas as the second winningest club in Liga MX history.

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Toluca: The Most Successful Side in Modern Liga MX History

Toluca players celebrated with supporters at the Estadio Nemesio Diez after winning the Apertura 2025 title. / Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images

Toluca’s Apertura 2025 title was the club’s ninth since Liga MX moved to a two-tournament per year format in 1996—the most of any team in Mexico’s top-flight in that span.

Despite their 15-year title-drought, Toluca have become synonymous with triumphs ever since the six-month season introduction. Los Diablos Rojos won six league titles in one decade between 1998–08, adding another star in 2010.

Club América’s recent unprecedented threepeat as Liga MX champions saw them overtake Toluca with eight league titles since the format change. As fate would have it, Los Diablos Rojos dethroned América in the Clausura 2025 and with their triumph over Tigres, they claimed their ninth league championship since 1996.

Toluca, a club established in 1917, have always been one of the most traditional sides in the division. Now, in less than three decades, they have also become an undisputed Liga MX powerhouse.

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Teams With Most the Most Titles in Modern Liga MX History

Rank	Team	Titles
1.	Toluca	9
2.	Club América	8
3.	Pachuca	7
4.	Santos Laguna	6
5.	Tigres	6

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Antonio Mohamed Joins Exclusive Liga MX Managers List

Antonio Mohamed is one of the greatest managers in Liga MX history. / Cesar Gomez/Jam Media/Getty Images

When Toluca defeated América in the Clausura 2025 final, Antonio Mohamed became only the third manager in Liga MX history to win the tournament with four different teams. Now, with his fifth Liga MX title, he cemented his status as one of the greatest, most successful managers in Mexican soccer history.

“El Turco” is a pragmatic strategist, capable of tailoring his side depending on their specific strengths and their opponents in front. He can lead modest, defensive-minded sides like he did when Tijuana won their first and only Liga MX title in 2012, or powerful attacking rosters like Toluca’s current version.

The charismatic manager has a proven track record of pushing all the right buttons. On Sunday’s final, he benched starting goalkeeper Hugo González in favor of backup Luis García, a heavily-questioned decision that worked out brilliantly as García went on to save three penalties in the shootout, including a stunning stop to deny Correa and set up the match-winner.

Only three managers throughout history have won more Liga MX titles than Mohamed. The way things are going, there’s a very realistic chance the Argentine boss adds a couple more before it’s all said and done.

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Most Successful Managers in Liga MX history

Rank	Manager	Titles	Clubs
1.	Ignacio Trelles	7	Marte, Zacatepec, Toluca, Cruz Azul
2.	Ricardo Ferretti	7	Chivas, Pumas, Tigres
3.	Raúl Cárdenas	6	Cruz Azul, Club América
4.	Antonio Mohamed	5	Tijuana, Club América, Monterrey, Toluca
5.	Víctor Manuel Vucetich	5	León, Tecos, Pachuca, Monterrey
6.	Manuel Lapuente	5	Puebla, Necaxa, Club América
7.	Javier de la Torre	5	Chivas

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Alexis Vega Became a Toluca Legend in Liga MX Apertura 2025 Final

Alexis Vega is the face of Toluca’s recent dominance. / Hector Vivas/Getty Images

Alexis Vega had 13 goals and 11 assists in 23 games to lead Toluca’s drought-ending charge to win the Clausura 2025, earning player of the season honors. But in the Apertura 2025 final, Vega cemented his status as a club legend with a performance straight out of a Hollywood movie.

With 10 minutes left in the Apertura 2025 final, Mohamed turned to his “break in case of emergency” option, unleashing Vega, who hadn’t played a single minute since late October due to injuries.

Vega looked like a shell of himself from the moment he entered the pitch until the end of the 30-minute extra time, clearly showing he was far from full fitness.

But when the pressure of the penalty shootout ensued, Toluca’s captain tucked in the team’s first to set the tone and then calmly sent Nahuel Guzmán the wrong way with the final kick of the season to cover himself in glory.

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“Physically I wasn’t doing well,” Vega told TUDN after the final. “I haven’t trained with my teammates for a couple of weeks. But this is the love I have for Toluca, they gave me injections so I could be here today with my teammates.

“I knew I was taking a massive risk off aggravating my injury. Right now I can’t feel a thing, but we’ll see how I wake up tomorrow.”

Donning the No. 9 shirt previously owned by the biggest legend in Toluca’s history, José Saturnino Cardozo, Vega led Toluca to back-to-back titles for the first time ever. After underwhelming seasons with Chivas, marred by off-field issues, Vega returned to his best with Toluca and his heroics throughout 2025 will live forever in club folklore.

Toluca will hope Vega returns to full fitness to battle for more success come 2026. Perhaps more importantly, 2026 is a year where Vega is poised to be one of the first names on Javier Aguirre’s lineup, donning the No.10 shirt when Mexico hosts South Africa in the opening game of the 2026 World Cup.

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