By Victor Araiza
Toluca’s Leagues Cup conquest was historic on several levels.
The Diablos Rojos became the first Mexican club to lift the Leagues Cup trophy under the competition’s current format, adopted in 2023, as an all-Liga MX Final Four brought an end to a three-year run of MLS champions.
The triumph also completed Toluca’s collection of the major North American club trophies it has competed for during this extraordinary stretch of success.
And at the center of it all is Antonio Mohamed.
Since the Argentine took over in December 2024, Toluca has won six trophies: the Liga MX Clausura 2025, the 2025 Campeón de Campeones, the 2025 Campeones Cup, the Liga MX Apertura 2025, the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup and, now, the 2026 Leagues Cup.
Six trophies in less than two years have transformed Mohamed’s tenure from a successful chapter into one of the most accomplished eras in club history.
Toluca’s Leagues Cup Conquest
After being eliminated from Leagues Cup 2025 on penalties following a scoreless draw with Orlando City, Toluca entered the 2026 edition with a different determination.
“We were knocked out of the tournament without having lost a match,” said Mohamed ahead of Toluca’s start to Leagues Cup 2026. “We know we have to aim to win every game.”
“It is a tournament in which we aim to reach the very top—the final match,” Mohamed added.
Toluca then began its 2026 campaign by making history, hosting the first Leagues Cup match ever played on Mexican soil.
Perhaps symbolic of what was to come, Toluca defeated reigning Leagues Cup champions Seattle Sounders FC 3-0, with goals from Jesús Gallardo, Helinho and Federico Viñas.
A 1-0 defeat at Los Angeles FC in its second match briefly interrupted the momentum, but Toluca returned home to close Phase One with a 3-1 victory over FC Dallas. Alexis Vega, Viñas and Érick Gutiérrez scored to send the Diablos Rojos into the knockout stage.
Mohamed’s message remained unchanged.
“We are going to play with the squad we have and the players who are available. Despite the injuries and the depleted roster, we still consider ourselves favorites in any knockout series we have to play,” he stated.
His team backed up that confidence.
Toluca did not concede a goal throughout the knockout stage.
Helinho and Jorge Díaz Price led Toluca to a 2-0 win against Austin FC in Harrison, New Jersey, in the Quarterfinals, sending Toluca to Houston for the final two rounds.
The Diablos Rojos then defeated Club León 2-0 in the Semifinals at Shell Energy Stadium, with Federico Pereira and Federico Viñas finding the net.
In the Final, Alexis Vega opened the scoring before Helinho added the second, securing the trophy and completing a remarkable run through the knockout stage.
Vega was named the tournament’s Best Player, while Helinho earned Man of the Match honors in the Final.
More importantly, Toluca had become the first Liga MX club to win the modern Leagues Cup.
Mohamed’s Midas Touch
Antonio Mohamed put pen to paper on December 11, 2024, to take the helm at Toluca.
The Argentine arrived with a championship pedigree, having already won Liga MX titles with three other clubs. For Toluca, the hope was that El Turco could be the manager capable of ending the club’s long wait for another league championship.
He didn't need long.
Less than six months later, Toluca lifted its 11th league title by winning the Clausura 2025. The club finished first in the Liga MX standings and used its home-field advantage to secure a 2-0 aggregate victory over Club América, ending the Mexico City club’s run of three consecutive league titles.
Toluca followed the league championship by winning the Campeón de Campeones in the summer and then the Campeones Cup in October, adding another international trophy to its collection.
Then came another Liga MX title.
Toluca won the Apertura 2025, becoming back-to-back league champions and claiming the club’s 12th Liga MX championship. The achievement moved Toluca level with Chivas de Guadalajara for the second-most league titles in Mexican soccer.
Once again, a first-place finish in the regular season gave Toluca home-field advantage through the Final. After winning the second leg 2-1 at home to level the series at 2-2 on aggregate, Toluca prevailed on penalties over Tigres UANL.
Toluca and Tigres would meet again in another final a few months later, with another encounter that went the distance. Due to a better record during the competition's earlier stages, Toluca hosted the single-leg Final and once again prevailed on penalties to win the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup.
The Champions Cup conquest marked the club’s third overall and secured a place in the 2026 FIFA Intercontinental Cup and 2029 FIFA Club World Cup.
Leagues Cup was the final major North American trophy missing from Toluca’s collection. The club finally added it in September.
The Key Players
Mohamed’s success has been built around a core group of players who have repeatedly delivered in important moments.
Alexis Vega has been one of the manager’s most important attacking pieces, providing goals and assists throughout Toluca’s championship run and scoring the opening goal in the Leagues Cup Final.
Paulinho has also been a talisman, delivering important goals throughout Toluca’s championship run. He won the Liga MX Golden Boot during Toluca’s title-winning seasons and the Top Scorer Award during the club’s Concacaf Champions Cup championship run. Sidelined for most of Leagues Cup due to injury, Paulinho came on in the closing moments of the Final to help see out the victory.
The depth of the squad was particularly important during the Leagues Cup campaign.
With Luis García unavailable for four Leagues Cup matches, Hugo González stepped in and helped Toluca record three consecutive clean sheets during the knockout stage.
Helinho, Jesús Angulo, Marcel Ruiz and others have also become important pieces of Mohamed’s blueprint for success at Toluca. Together, they form the core of a Mexican powerhouse that has already turned its attention toward the next trophy.
And Mohamed isn't interested in allowing that expectation to fade.
“We can't relax; relaxing isn't an option here,” Mohamed said of Toluca’s championship aspirations. “We have to keep competing and aiming for wins—because that’s the mindset that we have, the internal competition and the demands that we have from the board and the fans.”
That mindset has produced six trophies in less than two years.
For Toluca, the question is no longer whether the Mohamed era has been successful.
It is how much more history this era can create.
