Club Tijuana

Tijuana

Full name	Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente
Nickname(s)	Los Xolos[1] El Xolaje (The Xolos-Crowd in Mexican Spanish) La Jauría[2] (The Pack)
Founded	January 14, 2007; 17 years ago (2007-01-14)
Ground	Estadio Caliente Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Capacity	29,333
Owner	Grupo Caliente
Chairman	Jorge Hank Inzunsa
Manager	Juan Carlos Osorio
League	Liga MX
Clausura 2023	Regular phase: 15th Final phase: Did not qualify
Website	http://www.xolos.com.mx
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente, commonly known as Tijuana, or simply as Xolos, is a Mexican professional football club based in Tijuana, Baja California, that competes in Liga MX. The team plays its home games at Estadio Caliente.^[3][4] The club was founded on 14 January 2007; its badge is the founder's (Jorge Hank) hairless xoloitzcuintle, Hermoso.^[5]

After winning the 2010 Apertura Tournament of the Mexican Promotion League, the club obtained the right to play in the promotion final against C.D. Irapuato, which it defeated to obtain promotion to play the 2011 Apertura Tournament. The team won the first title in its history in the 2012 Apertura Tournament of Liga MX.^[6][7]

The club is the 2nd latest in a long line of league teams in the city of Tijuana. Gallos Caliente was instituted in the summer of 2006 but it disappeared that same year. Then some businessmen from Tijuana bought the Guerreros de Tabasco and moved it to Tijuana, becoming Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente. The team and owner announced the construction of the Estadio Caliente, a new stadium with a capacity for 33,333 people near Grupo Caliente's Agua Caliente Racetrack. Jorge Alberto Hank, the son of Jorge Hank Rhon, is the President of the team. They became the Apertura 2012 champions after defeating Toluca 4–2 in a two-legged series.

The team advanced to the Primera División de México with a win at home over Irapuato, 2–1 on May 21, 2011.^[8]

Jorge Alberto Hank and Gog Murguia Fernandez, the vice president, became the youngest executives in the history of Mexican professional football to be at the head of a club in the Primera División de México.

The team obtained its first title in the Apertura 2010 tournament, after having finished as general leader during the regular tournament, which gave them a direct pass to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals the Xolos faced Albinegros de Orizaba. In both semifinal legs, the Xolos and Albinegros finished 0–0, with the aggregate score 0–0 too. The position that the Xolos had during the regular tournament permitted them to pass to the final against the Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz. In the first leg the "Xolos" had a surprise win 0–2 in the Estadio Luis "Pirata" Fuente in Veracruz, while in their field they won again 1–0 and this way Tijuana obtained half a ticket towards the Mexican football maximum circuit, the Primera División Mexicana.^[9][10]

The final of the Clausura 2011 of the Liga de Ascenso was between Tijuana and Irapuato. The first leg was played on Wednesday May 11 in Tijuana's stadium. The game finished 1–1. The second leg played was in Irapuato, in the Estadio Sergio León Chavez. Irapuato won the game 1–0, being crowned champion of the Clausura 2011 afterwards. With the Tijuana having won the Apertura 2010 title, the Promotion Final was going to be, yet again, Tijuana vs Irapuato. The first leg was played in Irapuato on Wednesday May 18 and it remained 0–0, with the second leg deciding what team was going to be promoted to the Primera División de la Federación Mexicana de Fútbol (now known as Liga MX).^[11] Played in Tijuana's Estadio Caliente, the second leg saw the Club Tijuana being crowned champion of the Promotion Final with a result of 2–1. Thus Tijuana replaced the Necaxa as the new Primera Division Team in Mexico.^[12]

Kicking off their inaugural season in the Primera Division, Tijuana signed José Sand,^[13] Leandro Augusto, Fernando Arce, Egidio Arévalo^[14] and Dayro Moreno would move to Tijuana for a fee of US$3.5 m.^[15] during summer 2011.

Tijuana opened the 2011–12 season with a 2–1 home loss to Morelia. American Joe Corona scored the club's first top-flight goal in the defeat. They would earn their first victory as a top-flight club in a 3–1 victory at Santos Laguna on August 6; however, after five consecutive home matches without a victory manager Joaquin del Olmo was sacked and replaced by Antonio Mohamed.

After having finished the 2011 Apertura with just three wins against nine draws and five losses, Tijuana would have more success in the 2012 Clasura. Behind the league's top defense (allowing just eleven goals in 17 matches), Tijuana finished with seven wins and seven draws against just three defeats and earned their first playoff berth in the top flight, where they would fall to Monterrey.

Xolos would continue their strong defense in the 2012–13 Liga MX season. In the 2012 Apertura, Xolos allowed joint-fewest goals with 15 while finishing tied atop the table with Toluca. Seeded #2 in the La liguilla, they would avenge the previous season's defeat to Monterrey before rallying from a 2–0 deficit against León in the semi-finals. They would win the Liguilla over Toluca with a 4–1 aggregate victory, achieving the title in the shortest time after promotion to the top flight in Mexican history.^[16]

Xolos would falter in the Clausura, finishing in 10th place, two points outside of Liguilla qualification. However, invited to Copa Libertadores, Tijuana would make a run to the quarter-finals before falling to Atlético Mineiro.

The Estadio Caliente, a multi-use stadium in Tijuana, Baja California, was officially inaugurated on November 11, 2007, in a game between Club Tijuana and Pumas Morelos. The attendance was 13,333, then the stadium capacity. In July 2009, the capacity was increased to 16,000. Stadium owner Jorge Hank Rhon's main reason for constructing the stadium was his wish to have a professional football club in the city. Because the Mexican Football Federation says that teams participating in the First Division must have a stadium with a capacity over 15,000, Club Tijuana officially became qualified for promotion to the Primera División de México when the capacity was increased. The construction of the stadium was planned in two parts. The first part finished the ground and lower sections of the stadium. In the second phase, the stadium's capacity was increased.^[17] Club Xoloitzcuintles added 4,000 seats to its home field of Estadio Caliente, pushing its capacity to 20,000, according to the team's management. The team also remodeled the players’ dressing rooms and resurfaced the dirt parking lot with a stone surface. Among the construction projects is the installation of stadium lights, which should not be an issue.^[18]

What first seemed to be a hobby to the football aficionado Jorge Hank Rhon, has now been projected as a business and institution with many ambitions by his son Jorge Alberto Hank Inzunza, President of Club Tijuana, and co-owner Alberto Murguia Orozco. The president has announced several times in press conferences that the project is far bigger than a stadium and a First Division team. The institutional plan involves football schools and clinics throughout the region, including San Diego and Los Angeles, professional football training, talent recruitment squads; 1st, 2nd, and 3rd division affiliates; foundations and green campaigns, and a heavily invested commercial complex.

Controversy surrounded the lease, because the team would have ties to a company whose major business is that of betting on sports events, including football. The case was presented to high authorities in the Mexican Football Federation, where it was ruled that no action would be taken against Xoloitzcuintles De Caliente or its parent company.

Position	Staff
Head coach	Juan Carlos Osorio
Assistant coaches	Francisco Londoño
	Cirilo Saucedo
Goalkeeper coach	José Torruco
Fitness coach	Raziel Alba
Physiotherapists	Gustavo González
	Raúl López
Team Doctor	Carlos Rincón

Position	Staff
Chairman	Jorge Alberto Hank Inzunza
Vice-chairman	Gog Murguia Fernandez
General director	José Antonio Núñez
Director of football	Juan Pablo Santiago
Coordinator of football	Roberto Cornejo
Director of academy	Fernando Arce
Director of strategic planning	Jeronimo Vera
Director of marketing and commercialization	Esteban de Anda
Sports adviser	Ignacio Palou

As of 5 July 2024^[19]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 GK  MEX José Antonio Rodríguez 3 DF  MEX Rafael Fernández 4 DF  CHI Nicolás Díaz 5 DF  MEX Rodrigo Parra 6 MF  USA Joe Corona 7 MF  ARG Carlos Valenzuela 8 MF  MEX Fernando Madrigal 10 MF  MEX Kevin Castañeda 11 MF  MEX Efraín Álvarez 14 MF  COL Christian Rivera 15 DF  MEX Diego Barbosa 16 MF  MEX Alan Vega 18 DF  MEX Aarón Mejía

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 MF  MEX Eduardo Armenta 20 MF  MEX Francisco Contreras 21 DF  MEX Fernando Monarrez 23 MF  MEX Iván Tona 26 FW  COL José Raúl Zúñiga 27 MF  ARG Domingo Blanco 28 DF  MEX Alejandro Gómez (on loan from Santos Laguna) 30 GK  MEX José de Jesús Corona 31 DF  ESP Unai Bilbao 32 FW  PAR Carlos González 33 MF  ARG Emanuel Reynoso 34 FW  MEX Gerson Vázquez 35 DF  COL Kevin Balanta

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  MEX Ignacio Castro (at Sinaloa) — GK  USA Benny Díaz (at Juárez) — GK  MEX Ricardo Díaz (at Tepatitlán) — DF  MEX Abraham Flores (at Sinaloa) — MF  MEX Manuel Carrillo (at Sinaloa) — MF  COL Fabián Castillo (at Deportivo Cali)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ARG Federico Lértora (at Querétaro) — MF  CHI Joaquín Montecinos (at O'Higgins) — MF  ARG Lucas Rodríguez (at Querétaro) — FW  MEX Arath Egaña (at Sinaloa) — FW  CIV Aké Loba (at Querétaro)

Xolos Hermosillo

Reserve team that plays in the Liga TDP, the fourth level of the Mexican league system.

Date	Home Team	Result	Away Team	Tournament	Venue	Spectators
March 26, 2023	Club Tijuana	1–2	Club América	Tour Aguila	Snapdragon Stadium	TBD
February 19, 2022	Club Tijuana	2–3	San Diego Loyal	Club Friendly	Torero Stadium	4,500
July 10, 2021	Club Tijuana	1–0	San Diego Loyal	Club Friendly	Torero Stadium	6,000
January 31, 2018	Club Tijuana	2–3	Toronto FC	Club Friendly	Torero Stadium	6,000
December 28, 2013	Club Tijuana	3–3	Club América	Los Angeles Clasico	Dignity Health Sports Park	25,000
October 13, 2013	Club Tijuana	1–1	Santos Laguna	Club Friendly	Toyota Field	-
July 6, 2013	Club Tijuana	5–2	Club América	San Diego Clasico	Petco Park	29,000
June 30, 2012	Club Tijuana	1–1	Club América	San Diego Clasico	Qualcomm Stadium	19,880
February 22, 2012	Club Tijuana	5–2	Chivas USA	San Diego Clasico	Torero Stadium	6,000
March 2, 2011	Club Tijuana	2–2	LA Galaxy	San Diego Clasico	Torero Stadium	6,000

Most goals scored

Rank	Name	Goals
1	Raul Enriquez	81
2	Dayro Moreno	47
3	Duvier Riascos	23
4	Dario Benedetto	21
5	Fidel Martínez	21

Most Appearances

Rank	Name	Matches
1	Javier Gandolfi	243
2	Juan Carlos Núñez	221
3	Richard Ruiz	191
4	Raul Enriquez	190
5	Joe Corona	180

Type	Competition	Titles	Winning seasons	Runners-up
Top division	Liga MX	1	Apertura 2012	–
	Copa MX	0	–	2019–20
Promotion divisions	Primera División A/Liga de Ascenso	1	Apertura 2010	Clausura 2009, Clausura 2011
	Campeón de Ascenso	1	2010–11	–

Club Tijuana (Women), founded in 2014, that participated in the US-based Women's Premier Soccer League^[20] in the summer and in the Liga Mayor Femenil in the winter. In their first year, they finished in the middle of the competitive Pac-South division of WPSL before becoming Mexican national champions.^[21] Since 2017 participates in the Liga MX Femenil.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Club Tijuana.

• Official Club Tijuana site (in Spanish and English)
• Primera División