atlas femenil · History

Atlas Femenil is the women’s team of Club Atlas in Guadalajara, Jalisco, and has played in Liga MX Femenil since July 2017, when Mexico’s professional women’s league kicked off with the clubs of the men’s top flight. The team is known as las Rojinegras (the Red-and-Blacks), las Zorras (the Foxes) or las Académicas. Its home ground is Estadio Jalisco, where the men’s side also plays, although in its early seasons it also used Estadio Alfredo “Pistache” Torres in Zapopan and Estadio Colomos. Its natural rival is Guadalajara, and the Clásico Tapatío is played in the women’s league too.

Founding and first tournaments

Atlas assembled its women’s squad in 2017 for the start of the new league. It made its debut on July 29, 2017, on the opening matchday of the Apertura 2017, against Guadalajara of all teams, losing 3-0 at Chivas San Rafael. In that first tournament, played in two groups, Atlas collected 20 points from six wins, two draws and six defeats. It finished fourth in its group and eighth overall, outside the playoffs, which only took the top two from each group. The Clausura 2018 was harder: seven points, two wins in 14 games and last place in the group. Of the four derbies that first season, Guadalajara won three; the other ended 1-1 in Zapopan on September 15, 2017.

The Fernando Samayoa era and the first playoffs

Fernando Samayoa took charge in 2018 and the team moved up a level. In the Apertura 2018 it finished eighth with 29 points and reached the playoffs, known in Mexico as the liguilla, for the first time. Tigres knocked it out in the quarterfinals 2-1 on aggregate: 1-2 at Estadio Colomos on November 23 and 0-0 at Estadio Universitario three days later. In the Clausura 2019 Atlas finished fifth with 34 points and Pachuca eliminated it, also 2-1 (0-1 in Zapopan and 1-1 in Hidalgo). In the Apertura 2019 the opponent was Monterrey, who won the tie with a goal in the second leg at Estadio BBVA after a 0-0 draw at Estadio Jalisco.

The Clausura 2020 was suspended on March 15, 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Atlas second in the table (22 points from nine matchdays), and on May 22 the federation cancelled it with no champion. In the Guardianes 2020 Atlas finished second again, this time with 41 points, 13 wins and 45 goals scored. In the quarterfinals it won 2-1 in Querétaro on November 27 but lost 3-2 in Zapopan; the 4-4 aggregate went Querétaro’s way on away goals. That made four straight playoff appearances and four quarterfinal exits.

Guardianes 2021: a first semifinal

The Guardianes 2021 belonged to Alison González. The forward scored 18 goals in the regular season and won the scoring title. Atlas finished third with 34 points and beat Pachuca in the quarterfinals: 2-0 at Estadio Hidalgo on May 7, 2021, and 3-1 in Zapopan on May 10, with two goals from González, for a 5-1 aggregate. That earned the club its first semifinal, against Guadalajara. The first leg ended 0-0 at Estadio Jalisco on May 14; in the second leg, on May 17 at Estadio Akron, Guadalajara won 2-1. Atlas’s goal was a stoppage-time penalty from González.

Apertura 2021: one goal short of the final

Six months later Atlas was back in the semifinals. Third in the regular season with 36 points, it eliminated Santos Laguna in the quarterfinals: 2-2 in Torreón on December 3, 2021, and 2-1 in Guadalajara on December 6. Against Monterrey it won the first leg 1-0 at Estadio Jalisco on December 10, with Alison González scoring in the 68th minute. In the return leg in Guadalupe, Rayadas won 2-1. The tie finished 2-2 on aggregate and Monterrey advanced thanks to its higher seeding, second in the overall table against Atlas’s third. At the start of 2022 the club began a new phase without Samayoa on the bench.

Meetings with Tigres and a rebuild

In the Clausura 2022, sixth with 27 points, Atlas reached the playoffs again, but Tigres knocked it out in the quarterfinals. In the Apertura 2022 it finished tenth with 23 points and missed the playoffs. In the Clausura 2023, seventh with 28 points, it met Tigres again in the quarterfinals: 5-0 to Tigres in the first leg in Guadalajara and 2-0 in the return, 7-0 on aggregate. Three tournaments without qualification followed: 13th in both the Apertura 2023 and the Clausura 2024, each with 18 points, and 11th in the Apertura 2024 with 25. For the Clausura 2025 the club appointed Juan Pablo Alfaro as head coach. In April 2026, on the final matchday of the Clausura 2026, Atlas lost 2-1 to Juárez, a result that gave Las Bravas eighth place and the last playoff spot.