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Cruz Azul (women)

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Cruz Azul Femenil
Image
Full nameClub de Futbol Cruz Azul S.A. de C.V. Femenil
NicknamesLa Máquina (The Machine)[1]
Las Celestes (The Sky Blues)[2]
Las Cementeras (The Cement Workers)
Las Liebres (The Hares)
Los de La Noria (Those from La Noria)
Founded5 December 2016; 9 years ago (2016-12-05)
GroundEstadio Centenario
Cuernavaca, Morelos[3]
Capacity9,670[4]
OwnerCooperativa La Cruz Azul
PresidentVíctor Velázquez
Head coachJoaquín Moreno (interim)
LeagueLiga Femenil
Clausura 2026Regular phase: 7th
Final phase: Quarter-finals
Websitecfcruzazul.com
Image Current season

Club de Futbol Cruz Azul S.A. de C.V. Femenil, commonly referred to as Cruz Azul Femenil or simply Cruz Azul, is a Mexican professional women's football club based in Cuernavaca, Morelos. The club competes in the Liga Femenil and has been the women's section of the Cruz Azul men's team based in Mexico City since 2016.[5] As of 2026, the club plays its home games at Estadio Centenario in Cuernavaca, Morelos.[3]

History

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2016–2017: Foundation and first league tournament

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Cruz Azul Femenil was founded on 5 December 2016, following the formal creation of the Liga MX Femenil.[6] In its initial years, the team was based in Ciudad Cooperativa Cruz Azul (formerly Jasso, Hidalgo), the location of the parent company and the club's birthplace. The squad played its home games at Estadio 10 de Diciembre, the first major stadium of the men's club.[7] Former Cruz Azul player and youth manager, Eduardo Calderón, was appointed as the first manager of the team in 2017. The club's debut came in the 2017 Copa MX Femenil, a preparation tournament held ahead of the league's inaugural season. The team's first official match was played on 3 May 2017 against Tijuana, resulting in a 2–0 loss.[8] Following the conclusion of the Copa MX Femenil, Calderón was dismissed as manager. Pablo Bocco was subsequently named the new head coach of the team in June 2017.[9]

Cruz Azul's first league match in history was a 2–1 away defeat against Toluca.[10] The team began competing in the league's inaugural season, the Apertura 2017 tournament, where Cruz Azul ended the regular phase of the tournament 14th-place, eventually not qualifying for the playoffs.[11]

2018–2020: Managerial changes and relocation

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The club underwent significant managerial and structural changes following the inaugural season. After Bocco's departure, former Mexico national football team goalkeeper coach Alberto Aguilar was appointed as manager on 9 November 2017 for the Clausura 2018 tournament,[12] with the team achieving an 11th-place finish.[13] In the Apertura 2018 tournament, Cruz Azul ended at 16th-place, the clubs lowest-ever league finish and a club-record twelve losses in the regular season. On 23 September 2018, the club announced the departure of Aguilar, with Hugo Santana initially taking charge as interim head coach.[14] Santana was subsequently ratified as the permanent manager, overseeing the team for the remainder of the Apertura 2018 and the Clausura 2019 tournament.[15] Santana was succeeded by Rogelio Martínez in June 2019, ahead of the Apertura 2019 tournament.[16] Under Martínez, the team achieved its largest league victory at the time, a 4–0 away win against Veracruz.[17]

In December 2020, following the conclusion of the Guardianes 2020 tournament, Martínez was sacked as manager.[18] Concurrently, the club's management decided to relocate the women's team from Ciudad Cooperativa Cruz Azul to Mexico City, ending the team's three-year tenure at Estadio 10 de Diciembre as its home ground. The club relocated its base of operations and home matches to the training facilities at Instalaciones La Noria.[19]

2021–present: First playoffs qualifications

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On 22 December 2020, Cruz Azul announced the appointment head coach Roberto Pérez.[20] The club qualified for the liguilla for the first time in the club's history during the Apertura 2021 tournament, after finishing in 8th-place in the regular phase, but the team was eventually eliminated in the quarter-finals of the playoffs by Tigres UANL.[21] A year later, the team secured their second playoff in the Apertura 2022 tournament, where they were again eliminated in the quarter-finals.[22] Following the Apertura 2022, between the Clausura 2023 and Clausura 2025 tournaments, Cruz Azul failed to qualify for the liguilla playoffs for five consecutive seasons.[23]

Image
Cruz Azul Femenil team at Estadio Olímpico Universitario against Pumas UNAM in March 2020.

On 18 December 2024, Diego Testas was appointed by the club as new head coach of the team.[24] Testas's first season was the Clausura 2025 tournament, which saw the team finish 10th-place. In the Apertura 2025 tournament, the team finished the regular phase in 7th-place, setting a new club-record for their highest historical league position with 28 points.[25] In the playoffs, Cruz Azul made their first-ever advancement to the semi-finals by eliminating the defending champions, Pachuca, with a 5–0 victory in the second-leg of the quarter-finals.[26] The team's playoff run concluded in the semi-finals, where they were defeated by Tigres UANL with a 3–2 aggregate score (1–1 in the first-leg at Estadio Olímpico Universitario and 2–1 in the return leg at Estadio Universitario in Monterrey, Nuevo León).[27]

On 15 December 2025, the team was relocated to Cuernavaca, Morelos because the team's growth made it necessary for the club to move to a proper stadium.[3]

Personnel

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Coaching staff

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Position Staff
Head coachMexico Joaquín Moreno (interim)
Assistant coachesMexico Marco Sánchez Yacuta
Mexico Lupita Worbis
Fitness coachesMexico Raúl Maldonado
Mexico Carlos Martínez
Mexico Arturo Sánchez
PhysiotherapistsMexico Irma Chávez
Mexico Javier Rivero
Team doctorMexico Daniel Martínez

Source: Liga Femenil

Management

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Position Staff
PresidentMexico Víctor Velázquez
Director of footballMexico Fernanda Pons

Source: Cruz Azul

Players

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First-team squad

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As of 31 July 2026[28][29]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Image MEX Melany Villeda
2 DF Image MEX Valeria Miranda
3 DF Image USA Heidi Ruth
4 DF Image MEX Tanna Sánchez
5 MF Image MEX América Frías
6 MF Image MEX Liliana Rodríguez
7 MF Image MEX Lizbeth Ángeles
8 MF Image MEX Alejandra Lomelí
9 FW Image GUA Ana Lucía Martínez
10 MF Image ESP Alicia de la Cuerda
11 DF Image USA Desiree Mendoza
12 GK Image MEX Ofelia Solís
13 FW Image MEX Daniela Calderón
No. Pos. Nation Player
14 DF Image PER Mía León
17 MF Image MEX Cristina Montaño
18 MF Image MEX Belén Cruz
19 MF Image MEX Valeria Valdez (captain)
20 FW Image ESA Brenda Cerén
23 DF Image MEX Ivonne Gutiérrez
24 DF Image MEX Alexa Michel
26 DF Image MEX Araceli Torres (on loan from Guadalajara)
27 MF Image MEX María Esquivel
28 MF Image MEX Ana García
29 FW Image NGR Uchenna Kanu
30 MF Image MEX Joselyn Solís

Out on loan

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF Image MEX Lia Martínez (at Puebla)
— MF Image MEX Hanna Osorio (at Puebla)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF Image MEX Diana Salmorán (at Puebla)

Academy

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Former players

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Managers

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Managerial history

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Name Period Notes
Mexico Eduardo Calderón 2017
Argentina Pablo Bocco 2017
Mexico Alberto Aguilar 2017–2018
Mexico Hugo Santana 2018–2019 Interim manager, ratified
Mexico Rogelio Martínez 2019–2020
Mexico Roberto Pérez 2021–2022
Mexico Nicolás Morales 2023
Mexico Cecilia Cabrera 2023
Mexico José Julio Cevada 2024
Uruguay Diego Testas 2025–2026
Mexico Israel del Real 2026 Interim manager, ratified
Mexico Lupita Worbis 2026 Interim manager
Mexico Raúl Gutiérrez 2026
Mexico Joaquín Moreno 2026– Interim manager

References

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  1. ↑ "Inició el camino de La Máquina femenil en Copa ⋆ Cruz Azul Futbol Club". 3 May 2017. Archived from the original on 26 December 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  2. ↑ "LIGA MX Femenil - Página Oficial de la Liga del Fútbol Profesional en México .: Bienvenido". Liga Femenil.
  3. 1 2 3 "Cruz Azul Femenil deja la CDMX para mudarse a Cuernavaca" [Cruz Azul Women's team leaves Mexico City to move to Cuernavaca]. ESPN México (in Spanish). 15 December 2025. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
  4. ↑ "Estadio Unidad Deportiva Centenario" (in Spanish). Liga Femenil. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
  5. ↑ "Cruz Azul" (in Spanish). Liga Femenil.
  6. ↑ "México tendrá Liga MX femenil a partir de 2017". El Financiero (in Spanish). 5 December 2016.
  7. ↑ "10" (in Spanish). Club de Futbol Cruz Azul S.A. de C.V.
  8. ↑ "Mujeres buscarán título que se le ha negado a Cruz Azul". espn.co.cr (in Spanish). 10 March 2017.
  9. ↑ "Cruz Azul tendría nuevo técnico femenil: el argentino Pablo Bocco". espn.com.mx (in Spanish). 1 July 2017.
  10. ↑ "Cruz Azul femenil la cruzazuleó en su debut". espndeportes.espn.com (in Spanish). 28 July 2017.
  11. ↑ "Liga MX Femenil Torneo Apertura 2017" (in Spanish). Liga MX Femenil.
  12. ↑ "El exentrenador de porteros del Tri ahora será el técnico de Cruz Azul femenil". tudn.com (in Spanish). 11 November 2017.
  13. ↑ "Liga MX Femenil Torneo Clausura 2018" (in Spanish). Liga MX Femenil.
  14. ↑ "Alberto Aguilar, técnico de Cruz Azul Femenil, es destituido". mexico.as.com (in Spanish). 23 September 2018.
  15. ↑ Parra, Abigail (13 April 2019). "DT CAZ Femenil desea apostar por continuidad de su plantel; 'tengo un súper equipo'". mediotiempo.com (in Spanish).
  16. ↑ "Cruz Azul Femenil anuncia a su nuevo DT". record.com.mx (in Spanish). 3 June 2019.
  17. ↑ "Cruz Azul golea a Veracruz en busca de la Liguilla". tudn.com (in Spanish). 11 October 2019.
  18. ↑ Molina, Geraldine (2 December 2020). "Oficial: Cruz Azul Femenil inicia una reestructuración y despide al DT Rogelio Martínez y a cinco jugadoras". vamoscruzazul.bolavip.com (in Spanish).
  19. ↑ Hernández, Nestor (18 December 2020). "Cruz Azul Femenil dejará Ciudad Cooperativa por la Noria". debate.com.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  20. ↑ Azuara, Samantha (22 December 2020). "ÚLTIMA HORA: Cruz Azul Femenil anuncia a Roberto Pérez como dt". onefootball.com (in Spanish).
  21. ↑ "Liga MX Femenil Torneo Apertura 2021" (in Spanish). Liga MX Femenil.
  22. ↑ "Liga MX Femenil Torneo Apertura 2022" (in Spanish). Liga MX Femenil.
  23. ↑ Martínez, Raúl (17 April 2025). "Cruz Azul Femenil se despide del Clausura 2025 con goleada sobre Bravas". tudn.com (in Spanish).
  24. ↑ "¡Bienvenido a Cruz Azul Femenil, Diego Testas!" (in Spanish). Club de Futbol Cruz Azul S.A. de C.V. 18 December 2024.
  25. ↑ Díaz Valdivia, Mauricio (17 October 2025). "¡Máquina de Liguilla! Cruz Azul Femenil asegura clasificación tras vencer a Querétaro a domicilio". record.com.mx (in Spanish).
  26. ↑ "¡Sorpresa mayor! Cruz Azul elimina a Pachuca en la Liguilla de la Liga MX Femenil". mediotiempo.com (in Spanish). 8 November 2025.
  27. ↑ "Liga MX Femenil: Tigres supera a Cruz Azul y va a la Final". espn.com.mx (in Spanish). 16 November 2025.
  28. ↑ "Primer Equipo Femenil". Club de Futbol Cruz Azul S. A. de C. V. Retrieved 26 June 2026.
  29. ↑ "Cruz Azul Plantilla". Liga Femenil. Retrieved 26 June 2026.
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