Between the wrapping of the U20 South American Championship, a full international break, and the start of the NWSL season, it’s been a while since we’ve covered the leagues around the Americas. Let’s fix that this week with a quick round up of some of the leagues in action.

One important note: these summaries were done before the matches this weekend, so there may be twists and turns from this weekend that are not accounted for in this post.

The league in Mexico is well into the Clausura for the 2025/26 season. The usual suspects are in the fight to make the playoffs, but there have also been some surprise packages this season.

(1) Monterrey were not the favorites to top the table, but they’re just difficult to beat. While the likes of Club America, Tigres, and Chivas made big signings, Las Rayadas have quietly remained the most consistent team. This may shift in the playoffs, and there’s still enough of the season left for things to shift in the table, but Monterrey are laying claim to being the best team on the field in a season when so many other teams tried to be best in the headlines.

(2) Mazatlan finished the 2025 Apertura with zero wins to their name. This season, they’ve been much improved. Not only did they open the season with two wins, they’ve stayed within shouting distance of the playoffs. With Cruz Azul, Tijuana, Juarez, and Pumas in the mix for those final two playoff spots, it would be understandable if you didn’t fancy Mazatlan’s chances, but they won’t mind. The fact they’re in the fight is enough for this team to feel proud.

(3) Toluca have everything you could want in a roster, but they just cannot perform consistently. They’ve got experienced players in all positions, and they don’t struggle to score goals. Eugenie Le Sommer is battling for the golden boot. But Toluca just cannot find that next gear of dominance. This team will be the playoffs, and they should be genuine contenders in a stacked league, but they don’t look like they can hold it together when it matters. A first round exit from the playoffs would not be surprising. But they can finally put a run of consistent performances together? Watch out.

All of the Liga MX Femenil’s matches are available on TV or streaming. The majority of the matches are available on the league’s YouTube page, with some television broadcasters also having some matches available on YouTube. I have a playlist on YouTube with the matches in a single list.

The start to the 2026 season hasn’t been too surprising except in one particular way- Corinthians finally looks mortal.

(1) The early season gave us another matchup between Palmeiras and Corinthians. Both teams made big additions in the offseason, and they were the two favorites coming into the season. Corinthians had a slow start to the season, and they fired their head coach after two matches, hiring Emily Lima as the replacement. Lima’s first match in charge was against Palmeiras.

Palmeiras seemed to have the number of Corinthians of late, but this match started differently. As Brabas got out to a 2-0 lead and looked in control. Until they didn’t. Palmeiras fought back and turned the tie around, winning the match 3-2. There’s a lot of season left, but Corinthians look like they may not be the league’s premier team.

(2) In an earlier post about launch of the season, I asked if some of the newcomers could compete in the league. In particular, I had Mixto in mind. The Brasileirao expanded in size for the 2026 season, with four teams getting promoted instead of the normal 2. However, two of the teams that would have been promoted ended up dissolving their women’s teams before the 2026 season. As a result, Mixto became the last team to get promoted, but from 6th place in the A2 season. How would they hold up? It turns out they can fight.

Mixto aren’t going to win the league. Their not going to make the playoffs. But they’ve shown that they can compete, and there’s a good chance we’ll see them in the top flight for at least another season. I know that’s an early prediction, and a lot can change over the course of a season, but the early signs suggest they have what it takes to sustain themselves at this level, and a team that’s fighting the odds are always a fun cheer.

(3) Palmeiras and Cruzeiro have probably opened the season the strongest, but it is difficult to tell who else will rise to the top, making that next tier a competitive one. Surely, despite the slow start, Corinthians will be there. Flamengo and Fluminense have had solid starts, points-wise, but they’ve not had the most difficult schedules. Sao Paulo, Santos, and Ferroviaria are expected to be competitive but are not showing consistency. Bragantino and Internacional have also shown early positive signs, but they’ve left questions about consistency as well. Overall, this suggests the season could be a very competitive one, and that’s exciting.

The majority of the league’s matches are available via Brazilian TV. They do stream some matches via the federation’s YouTube page. Additionally, some of the Televised matches are also available on YouTube, but you need to be in Brazil to view. I have a YouTube playlist that includes the matches only available in Brazil, for those with VPN access.

Colombia have been the nation on the rise, challenging Brazil’s dominance at both the club and international level. Colombia’s Liga Femenina has seen a lot of young stars leave and some old stars return. The league feels like it’s getting a bit of a refresh. It’s not radically different, but the last couple seasons don’t feel like they’ll predict this season.

(1) The last few seasons have seen Deportivo Cali and Santa Fe compete for the championship. In the early going of 2026, Santa Fe just do not look as competitive. Don’t get me wrong, they’ve had a difficult early schedule, facing off with Deportivo Cali and Nacional already. But both of those matches were at home, and Santa Fe didn’t win either match. They mustered a 1-1 draw with Cali and lost 3-0 to Nacional. It’s early, and they’ve got a big match against America for match day 6, so they can begin to turn things around. But the early signs suggest Santa Fe may have some worries.

(2) The Usmes (Catalina and her brother, Andres) returned to America de Cali for 2026, and the club has started strong. America are perfect through their first 5 matches, and Catalina Usme has been an important component to the side. America’s last stretch of glory came with the Usme’s were with the team. That team was central to the Colombia side that made themselves the darlings of the 2023 World Cup, and many of those players moved on to bigger clubs. The return of Catalina and Andres has proven a success so far, and the side has handled it’s biggest challenge in the opening 5 matches- a 1-0 victory at home to Nacional. It feels like 2026 has been a season of change for a lot of teams, so we’ll see what sustains in the long run, but America look the team to beat.

(3) Inter de Palmira and Millonarios aren’t among the teams likely to be champions of Colombia, but they’ve both had great starts to the season. Neither have been perfect, but both have been difficult to beat, and they’ve been competitive in matches against the top sides. For Millonarios, in particular, they’ve also ridden consistent goal scoring from Kelly Restrepo, who tops the league with 5 goals in 5 matches. These sides may not reach the final come the end of the season, but they could be the queen makers among those that fancy a run at the crown.

The Liga Femenina matches can be streamed on the WinSports YouTube page and the Dimayor YouTube page.

The 2026 season just got going, and there are some exciting developments for the league.

(1) All of the matches for the league are streamed live on the LFP Play site. That’s awesome. As someone who wants to watch these leagues, it is wonderful when their matches can be reliably watched on a single page. That’s it. I’m just excited the matches can be watched.

(2) San Lorenzo had some financial issues, and they saw a number of star players depart in the offseason, but that hasn’t stopped them from starting strong in 2026. Like Boca, they took a step back in 2025, and I think it’s fair they’ll find themselves outside that top tier of clubs when the season wraps, but their strong start could suggest a return to the form that made them champs of the 2024 Clausura.

(3) Speaking of Boca Juniors, they are producing some early doubts. There’s no doubt about Kishi Nunez. She’s got all three goals for Boca in their opening two matches. And, if we’re being fair, Boca has opened the season with San Lorenzo and Racing Club, two of the better teams in the league. But Boca Juniors should be among the favorites, and the start to the 2026 season is suggesting they’ll be something other than among the favorites. As the eternal mantra goes, it’s early in the season, but Boca needs to show something different if they want people to believe they can be contenders.

As noted in (1), all league matches can be streamed on the LFP Play website.

It’s been a weird start to the 2026 season with a number of postponed matches due to youth tournaments that, you know, were scheduled a long time ago. But the season is beginning to pick up. Appropriately, a lot of these sides have seen an older set of players depart, and they’ve turned to their younger players fresh off success in the recent U20 South American Championship. It will be exciting to see which of those players can take their teams on their backs in 2026 and win the Superliga.

(1) It’s difficult to see the contenders this season being any different than the contenders last season. Independiente del Valle (Dragonas IDV) and Liga de Quito (Guerreras Albas) are the favorites. That latter club lost their star striker at the end of last season, so they may slide this year, but they’re still a very solid team. Barcelona have started the season strong but have not faced a challenging opponent yet. Universidad Catolica are sitting low on the table, but they’ve only played a single match having been most impacted by the youth tournaments. They’ve got one point from that one match, but it was a point earned on the road to Liga de Quito, and U. Catolica were equals with the hosts. If that’s they’re level, Universidad Catolica should be competing to top the table.

(2) The absence of Club Ñañas is definitely felt in this early season. The contenders explored above are expected, but the next tier would have started with Ñañas, and it is sad to not see their name in the standings. The other team that entered 2026 in a cloud from financial struggles is Emelec (Electricas), who have started decently with two wins in three. Their wins have come against the weaker teams in the league, but the financial cloud isn’t dampening their early play. Emelec are not going to be contenders, but they could have been a punching bag. Early signs suggest they’re more resilient than that.

(3) Carneras are the newcomers, winning promotion in the 2025 season. We’ll see if they can keep themselves competitive, but they’ve been in their early matches, even if they haven’t won yet. Their goal for 2026 has to be, first, staying in the Superliga. It will be a fight throughout, but they’re showing they can scrap.

The Superliga Femenina matches are streamed live on the ECDF YouTube page.

This league has been a two-horse race for the past couple seasons, and that’s set to continue. But it might be a closer race this year, and that’s exciting.

(1) Colo-Colo were perfect in 2025, winning every match -league and playoff. They also made a run to the semifinals of the 2025 Copa Libertadores. They’re favorites to win this year, and they have a lot of talent on the team, but some of that talent is aging. Yanara Aedo, Yessenia Lopez, and Ryann Torrero are all in their 30s and important to this team. They won their first match, but they weren’t as dominant as some of the other stronger teams. Colo-Colo are still favorites, but they’re approaching a need for a refresh. This may not be the year they’re unseated, but it could happen soon.

(2) The team to unseat them, naturally, is Universidad de Chile. After two matches, they’ve got a +10 goal difference, and they’ve recently announced the signing of Cecil Aldana, Cuban striker and reigning golden boot winner in Ecuador. Aldana was, frankly, one of the bigger free agents after the 2025 Copa Libertadores, and I was surprised it took her so long to land with a team. If there’s one way La U needed to improve to compete with Colo-Colo, it was attacking threat, and Aldana can help with that. As noted above, I’m not sure U. de Chile are quite ready to unseat Colo-Colo, but they look a lot closer than they have in recent seasons.

(3) Chile had a disappointing run in the U20 South American Championship, but a lot of that young talent sees regular minutes with Universidad Catolica, and it will be interesting to see how that side competes with the two giants. They’ve started the season strong, easily handling their first two opponents. It’s hard to see them finishing anywhere lower than third or forth, but they want to start competing with Colo-Colo and U. de Chile. The likes of Ambar Figueroa, Vaitiare Pardo, and Amparo Abarca are not ready to dominate this league, but they’ve got the signs that they could develop into that kind of player, and this season will be a good litmus test for where they are. The U20 Championship disappointed, but that doesn’t have to prove their ceiling, and the early season suggests they'll start to realize that potential.

Individual clubs currently stream their team’s home matches on their respective YouTube pages, but not all clubs steam, and some clubs require membership signups to view the matches. I have a YouTube playlist that I maintain where I post the matches when they become available.

The league as just gotten underway. The contenders have started strong, but like with Argentina, the biggest story may be about being able to see the teams play.

(1) Alianza and Universitario split the titles last season, with Alianza winning the Apertura and Universitario winning the Clausura. Alianza would take home the grand championship to remain the overall season champions. In the offseason, both teams lost some key players.

Alianza saw star keeper Maryory Sanchez move to Deportivo Cali and midfielder Rafaela Marques return to her native Brazil with Gremio. Their biggest addition was Nisa Marquinez from Deportivo Cali, but they’ve got the talented youngster, Lupita Rodriguez getting closer to being ready for prime time

Universitario lost Catalina Usme, but they brought back Fefa Lacoste, the experienced Uruguayan defender, and her compatriot, the striker Sofia Oxandabarat.

Their first encounter doesn’t come until week 7, so we’ve get to see the teams gain form before they face each other for the first time. That will be an exciting match.

(2) If anyone is likely to upset that front-runners, it is Sporting Cristal. They put down a marker of intent in their opening match, handily beating Melgar 4-0. If there was another team to look to as a dark horse, it was Melgar. They followed that up with another dominant 4-0 win, this time away to Yanapuma. They have a big match with Universitario coming up in week 4, so it will be a chance to see them take on one of the favorites, but they’ve opened the season suggesting the should be taken seriously.

(3) The biggest news for the 2026 season was the announcement of a broadcast deal that sees the matches broadcast on the Justos television channel and streamed live on the Peruvian federation YouTube channel, Bicolor+. This is wonderful, as it makes the matches available to more people, and the YouTube streaming gives the games a wider audience, including myself.

As noted in (3), all of the league’s matches are available on the Bicolor+ YouTube page.

Alianza have been the dominant side in El Salvador for some time now. Municipal Limeño have been the dutiful second-fiddle for a few seasons now. For the 2026 Clausura, Inter FA have added themselves to this conversation, and this season appears to be a genuine three-horse race.

(1) The story of the season has been the rise of Inter FA, joining Alianza and Limeño as a legit contender. The foundation for this run have been the additions of Colombian striker Aslyn Carabali and Salvadoran midfielder Genesis Carpio, whom they signed from Alianza.

Inter FA, in their two matches against Alianza, have outplayed them both times. In their first matchup, Inter FA were the better side, but had to settle for a 1-1 draw in a match where they just couldn’t turn their superior attacking into goals. In the return match from a couple weeks ago, Inter FA went to Alianza and came away with a dominant 3-0 win. They’ve shown they have what it takes to beat the long-reigning champions and genuinely feel like they may help produce a new champion.

(2) Before put Alianza away, we should give them their flowers. Paola Calderon continues to score goals by the bucket load, but the key addition for this season have been Americans, Anna Hurley and Grace Paradis. With Carpio’s departure in the offseason, Alianza lost a key component to their offense. Carpio could score goals, but she also helped hold possession and served as a key playmaker.

Early in the season, before the pairs arrival at Alianza, Carpio’s absence was clear. Alianza could still find goals, but that often required Paola Calderon dropping further back to help facilitate buildup. Neither Hurley nor Paradis are the same player as Carpio. Neither are out and out midfield playmakers, but they both have a strong ability to possess and participate in buildup. Additionally, both are better finishers that Carpio, taking some of the goal-scoring pressure off of Calderon. Alianza still misses Carpio’s presence at times, but what looked to be a huge absence has been plugged with play by committee.

(3) What’s been interesting about this three horse race has been how inseparable the top three have been. Inter FA have topped Alianza. Alianza have topped Limeño. Limeño have topped Inter FA. After week 15, the queen makers have been sides like CD FAS, Zacatecoluca and Fuerte San Francisco, who have been able to steal points off of the three contenders.

The playoffs will feature Alianza, Inter FA, and Municipal Limeño, but it is very open as to who will win this season, and that’s fun.

Aloud TV streams a number of the league’s matches, and they are also available on demand. You need to create an account to watch, but registration is free.

Guatemala’s women’s division has had a rough start to the 2026 season, but it also had some important milestones that could be sign of firmer foundations being laid.

(1) The bad: the league saw Suchitepequez withdraw from the league just before the season started. A couple matches in the first week were abandoned because their teams didn’t get their players registered in time. A few weeks into the league, UNIFUT Juvenil also withdrew from the league. These are not uncommon problems in women’s soccer, but it is always sad to see teams dissolve or sit out seasons because they cannot afford to field a team.

(2) The good: I’ve not used the branded names of any of the leagues except for this one, and that’s for good reason. The Liga Nacional de Futbol Femenino de Guatemala officially became the Liga Femenina BANTRAB when the league announced a partnership with BANTRAB.

These are the types of partnerships that can help a league find the financial footing necessary to give the league the room to invest in players and grow, year over year. This partnership doesn’t come without risks. Allegations of money-laundering and arrests of a number of Bantrab’s board members in relation to the money-laundering certainly put some scrutiny on the bank, but as a result of the allegations, Bantrab went through auditing and has maintained itself as a solvent financial institution in the intervening years.

Along with the branding sponsorship, the partnership will also help fund financial, medical, and organizational support for the league and its players. It’s also resulted in a very pink mobile app that provides the basic stats and rosters that, frankly, are difficult to find for so many women’s leagues. These aren’t advanced statistics, but I can tell you who is tied for 26th on the goal-scoring chart and who has the most yellow cards. That puts Guatemala’s league well ahead of many bigger leagues.

It’s easy to get ahead of ourselves. This is the beginning, and that’s when all the excitement still exists. One of the most consistent elements of women’s soccer is, when things get tough, the money dries up and no has resources for WoSo. This partnership looks like it can be a great beginning. Let’s hope it lasts.

(3) From a soccer perspective, the season has been a bit disjointed due to the withdrawn teams, but it has been a very competitive season. Cuilco, winners of the 2025 Apertura, have a perfect record so far, but they aren’t running away with the season yet. A number of teams are within shouting distance.

Where there is perhaps less shouting distance is in the goal scoring. Cuilco’s Larissa Arias is well ahead of the pack with 7 goals in 6 matches. A handful of players sit in second with 4 goals scored- nearly half the goals with an extra match or two played.

Cuilco are looking most likely follow up their initial crown with a second for the 2026 Clausura. Perennial winners, UNIFUT, 2024/25 champs, Municipal, Xelaju, and Huehuetecas are all in with the shout. They may not unseat Cuilco from the top of the league, but all have the ability to upset them in the playoffs. The league phase wraps in mid-April, and then the fun begins.

Match streams can be found on the league’s Facebook page.

That wraps the round up of the leagues in the Americas. Some leagues are nearing the end of their league seasons. Others are just getting started. There is a lot of action in the Americas and a lot of talented players. Leagues vary wildly in their level of quality, but that’s part of the fun. Watching these leagues and players develop in time is part of the enjoyment.

Along with the leagues in action, an important international break is around the corner with major World Cup qualification fixtures for CONCACAF and CONMEBOL nations.

My goal is to settle into something of a routine for coverage, but I’ve not yet determined what that might be. Along with the leagues throughout the Americas, I also want to cover NWSL and, in particular, the Portland Thorns. So, we’ll see where this goes.