Miguel Herrera · Biography

In October 2013, with Mexico’s qualification for the World Cup in Brazil in jeopardy, the Mexican Football Federation handed the national team to Miguel Ernesto Herrera Aguirre, known as “Piojo”, who was then in charge of Club América. Born on 18 March 1968, he had played as a defender in the Mexican top flight for more than a decade before starting a coaching career in 2002 that took him to Atlante, Monterrey, Veracruz, Tecos, América, Tijuana, Tigres and the national teams of Mexico and Costa Rica.

A defender in the Mexican top flight

Herrera came through at Coyotes Neza, where he played from 1985 to 1986, and during those years he was part of Mexico’s youth national teams. He made his first-division debut on 22 May 1988 for UAG Tecos against Atlas. He then moved on to Santos Laguna and Querétaro, and in 1989 he joined Atlante, the club he would represent in three separate spells as a player: 1989-1990, 1991-1995 and 1999-2000. Between 1995 and 1999 he played for Toros Neza, reaching the Verano 1997 final, which they lost 7-2 on aggregate to Guadalajara. He won 14 caps for the senior Mexico team between 1993 and 1994.

Early coaching years

His first job on the bench came at Atlante in February 2002, and he stayed there until 2004. That year he moved to Monterrey, whom he led to two league finals: the Apertura 2004, lost 3-1 on aggregate to Pumas, and the Apertura 2005, in which they went down 6-3 to Toluca. He left Monterrey in 2007. In 2008 he spent a few months at Veracruz and later that year took over Tecos, where he remained until 2010. He returned to Atlante for a second spell between 2010 and 2011.

The title with América

His first championship came with América. In the Clausura 2013 final the team lost the first leg 1-0 to Cruz Azul and levelled the tie at 2-2 on aggregate in the second leg, which they played with ten men for more than 105 minutes; the title was settled on penalties, 4-2 in América’s favour. Six months later América reached the Apertura 2013 final but lost it to León. By then Herrera was combining the club job with the national team.

Mexico head coach

He took charge first on an interim basis and then permanently, with the intercontinental play-off as his first task: Mexico beat New Zealand 9-3 on aggregate in November 2013 to book their place in Brazil. At the 2014 World Cup the team finished second in Group A with seven points, beating Cameroon (1-0) and Croatia (3-1) and drawing 0-0 with Brazil. In the round of 16 they lost 2-1 to the Netherlands, who scored both goals in the closing minutes. In June 2015 he was criticised by the electoral authority for posting messages referring to the Green Party during the federal election campaign. In July that year he won the Gold Cup, beating Jamaica 3-1 in the final. On 27 July 2015, days after that title, he was involved in an altercation with commentator Christian Martinoli at Philadelphia airport, and the federation announced his dismissal the following day.

Tijuana, a return to América and Tigres

After leaving the national team he coached Tijuana from 2015 to 2017. In 2017 he went back to América, and during that second spell, which lasted until 2020, he won the Apertura 2018 with a 2-0 aggregate win over Cruz Azul in the final, as well as the 2019 Copa MX and the 2019 Campeón de Campeones. In May 2021 he took over Tigres, whom he led until November 2022 in 63 matches, with 32 wins, 13 draws and 18 defeats. Between 2023 and April 2024 he had a second spell at Tijuana.

Costa Rica and a return to Atlante

On 7 January 2025 he was appointed head coach of Costa Rica. He led the team at that year’s Gold Cup and in the Concacaf qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, in which Costa Rica failed to qualify, and he left the post on 20 November 2025. In 2026 Atlante returned to Liga MX after twelve years outside the top flight, and the club confirmed him as head coach on 28 April 2026.