Prayers unanswered for Liga MX teams out of the Apertura 2025 hunt

The math has finally spoken and in a league where opportunity stretches further than almost anywhere in world football, elimination hits harder.

With two matchdays left in the Apertura 2025 regular season, only Puebla had been ruled out. That’s the beauty and chaos of Liga MX’s format: life lines everywhere, miracles possible until the final whistle… until they aren’t.

Now, they have company.

León runs out of runway and ideas

León’s 2-0 loss to América at Ciudad de los Deportes slammed the final door shut. Sitting at 13 points, the Esmeraldas are officially eliminated from Play-In contention and bow out early, a fall few predicted when the season began.

What makes it sting more? The off-field cloud hovering above the club. James Rodríguez, once signed as the star who’d elevate León into the Club World Cup spotlight, is now headed to the exit with no renewal coming. His Liga MX chapter three World Cups on his résumé, endless expectations, and flashes that never became fire is closing in a whisper, not the roar many expected.

It’s a gray ending to a cycle that never truly began.

Puebla: statistical heartbreak made official

Puebla hit the wall earlier. One win in their last 14 matches the kind of drought no playoff structure can cover. They were the first to go and have looked like it since September.

Two clubs, same fate: outside looking in.

Who’s next on the edge?

With one matchday left after this weekend, Mazatlán is closest to joining them. A loss would mathematically seal their fate. A win only keeps hope alive on life support their goal difference and fixture list mean they’d need more than three points. They’d need the football gods in full miracle mode.

Everyone else fights on, barely

Pumas, Querétaro, and Mazatlán entered Sunday clinging to Play-In desperation, while Santos Laguna sits as the current 10th seed with 17 points, the target for every hopeful beneath them.

And there’s drama everywhere:

• Pumas at home vs Tijuana, needing three points to stay alive

• Querétaro vs Mazatlán a survival playoff in disguise

• Santos knowing even a draw could change everything if Pumas and company trip

Liga MX, weaponizing suspense since forever.

Who’s out?

• Puebla

• León

Who could fall next?

• Mazatlán (most urgent candidate)

In a league built on late twists and resurrection arcs, León and Puebla hit the end early and painfully. The rest? They’re sprinting, limping, and praying into the last jornada. Because in Mexico, you don’t die until the table says so.