Mexico Women

Unofficial era

Although not officially recognized by FIFA until 1991, Mexico's team was actually established in 1963, when many countries still had bans on women's football. In the 1950s, both Costa Rica and Argentina witnessed increased interest in the women's game and held tours in various countries. In 1963, , the Costa Rica women's national football team, spent six months in Mexico conducting a tour to increase exposure of the game. Observing the success of Las Ticas, Mexico formed its first team to play in opposition to Costa Rica.

Led by Alicia Vargas, Mexico placed third in the 1970 Women's World Cup, a tournament FIFA has yet to acknowledge. Mexico fell 2–1 in the semifinal to hosts Italy before defeating England 3–2 in the third place match. The following year, Mexico hosted the 1971 Women's World Cup, which has also yet to be officially recognized. The squad reached the final but fell 3–0 to Denmark. An estimated 110,000 people attended the final at Estadio Azteca, which is the largest crowd ever to witness a women's soccer game; FIFA has not recognized this attendance record either.

To participate in each world cup, teams had to qualify. Mexico faced Peru, Argentina, and South Africa en route to the 1971 edition.

Modern era

In the 1980s, when a series of mundialitos took place, Mexico participated in the 1986 edition. Mexico was placed in Group A along with Italy and Japan, but the team did not advance beyond the first stage.

Mexico's first official appearance in the Women's World Cup was in 1999, when the United States hosted the tournament. The team also qualified in 2011 and 2015, hosted by Germany and Canada, respectively. Likewise, the team qualified for the Summer Olympic Games in 2004. In all four instances, El Tri Femenil failed to advance beyond the group stage; in fact, the team has yet to win a single game in either major tournament.

The first official coach for the Mexico women's national football team was Leonardo Cuéllar. One of his first objectives was to qualify for the 1999 Women's World Cup. The team accomplished this by placing second to Canada in the 1998 CONCACAF Women's Championship. However, much controversy arose regarding the nationalities of the recruited players. Preference was given to US-born players of Mexican heritage, largely because Mexico did not have an official league at the time. Andrea Rodebaugh, the team's then-captain, argued that the team's main goal was to qualify; she also wanted to strengthen the team and celebrate its official recognition. Despite the controversy, the team went on to participate in the 1999 Women's World Cup with a mix of US-born and Mexican-born players.

In recent years,^[] an increase in young talent developing in Mexico brought an increase of expectations from Mexican football fans and media alike. Following their worst ever World Cup finish in 2015, fans began calling for Cuellar's resignation or firing. In 2016, the women's national football team failed to qualify for the Olympics, and lost to Costa Rica, which was the turning point in the team's history since many^[] thought the defeat resulted in Mexico becoming the fourth-best team in CONCACAF. With these results and Leonardo Cuellar's controversial decision to not bring Charlyn Corral and Kenti Robles, who had terrific^[] seasons at their clubs in Spain's Primera División, onto the squad led to his resignation from his position in April 2016. Roberto Medina became the head coach in 2017.

In 2018 Mexico won the Central American and Caribbean Games by defeating Costa Rica 3–1 in the final.

At the 2018 CONCACAF Women's Championship Mexico entered as the third highest ranked team behind the United States and Canada. At the tournament Mexico finished third in their group with a record of one win and two losses, which included a surprising 2–0 loss to Panama. As a result of not advancing to the knockout round, Mexico was unable to qualify for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France. Medina was replaced by U-20 coach Christopher Cuellar, Leo Cuellar's son. His tenure was short-lived, having placed fifth in the 2019 Pan American Games (despite absences from the United States and Canada) and after failing to qualify for the 2020 Olympics. He was replaced in January 2021 by Mónica Vergara, who led the U-17 squad to the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup final.

Notable matches

Mexico's first recorded international game was against Austria during the 1970 Women's World Cup, when squad beat the European side 9–0 in the group stage. However, to participate in this inaugural tournament, teams had to qualify, so La Tri played against other teams prior to this match.

Before the modern era, Mexico defeated England 2–1 in the third place match of the 1970 Women's World Cup, the first edition of the tournament. In front of a record-breaking crowd, the team also reached the final of the 1971 Women's World Cup, but fell 3–0 to Denmark.

Among the most notable victories is when the team finished second in the 2010 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup. Hosts of the cup, Mexico defeated the United States in the semifinal for the first time before falling to Canada in the final. Mexico would go 14 years before defeating the United States again after defeating the hosts 2–0 in the first-ever 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup. It was the second time Mexico beat the senior team in 43 attempts, and it was the first time Mexico did so in the United States. The United States hadn't lost against a CONCACAF rival at home since a defeat by Canada in 2000.