Mexican League, top 5 in the World, MLS 84th.

According to IFFHS (International Federation of Football History & Statistics)
Mexico has the 5th best league in the world.

IFFHS League Rankings

The top 10 Leagues According to IFFHS:
Ranking 1st Division of: Points
1 Spain 602
2 Brazil 568
3 England 550
4 Argentina 548
5 Mexico 486.5
6 Italy 479.0
7 France 386.5
8 Colombia 364.5
9 Germany 361
10 Chile 342.5


IFHHS didn't base their ranking on average player salary or how much each club in the league is worth or how much the league generates. They based it strictly on participation on continental tournaments such as Champions League, Libertadores, UEFA Cup and Copa Sudamericana. Also the ranking was favorable to leagues which featured a broad range of teams participating in these continental type tournaments. So a League with 1 Good team, even if that team is the best in the world, is going to be ranked lower than a League with 2 or more good teams.

Mexican Leagues high ranking can be attributed to good participation in Libertadores.
Mexican teams have participated in Libertadores 21 different times, failing to get into knockout round only 3 times. This year all 3 Mexican teams reached the knockout round.

In Sudamericana Cup Mexican teams first started participating in 2005. So far the worst showing has been 1 Quarter finals exit. The rest are Semis, or finals, including last year’s Pachuca championship.

Mexico is ranked high for the similar reasons that Brazil is ranked 2nd. In the last 2 years The Brazilian Champion goes on to become the Libertadores Champion and then goes on to become World Champion at FIFA Club World Cup. This would mean that at least for now the Libertadores is above Champions League. Add to this the fact that in the last 2 Libertadores 6 different Mexicans teams participated and you can begin to see why Mexico is considered a strong AND balanced league.

Interesting Note: MLS was ranked 84th, probably due to lack of continental participation. MLS only has a participation in Copa Sudamericana, in 2005, and no participation in Libertadores. MLS along with U.S. Soccer need to change their view on South American tournaments if they really expect MLS to grow.