After scoring the goal that confirmed Banyana Banyana’s 2026 CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) qualification, Thembi Kgatlana continued where she left off when she returned to Mexico.
She came on as a second half substitute to rescue a point for her employers, entering the fray in the 59th minute with UANL Tigres two goals down against Cruz Azul in the Liga MX Femenil on Sunday (2 November 2025).
Ordone Torres pulled one back in the 79th minute.
Twenty-four (24) minutes after coming on, Kgatlana was on the scoresheet, making it 2-2, earning a crucial point that ensured they finish top of the table in the league.
This was her seventh goal of the season in 10 matches – she missed seven games in total: five at the beginning of the 2025 campaign after taking time off from the national team and club football, as well as two more recently when she was nursing an injury.
Tigres ends the season on 42 points after 13 wins, three draws and one defeat at the conclusion of 17 rounds of fixtures.
The point Tigres earned from the draw against Cruz Azul was enough to deny second-placed Pachuca to finish top of the log standings – interestingly, Pachuca has the same number of returns with Tigres (17 P, 13 W, 3 D, 1 L, 60 GA), but Kgatlana’s team has a better goal difference of nine.
Tigres Femenil ended the season by entering history books – they scored 60 goals, the highest they have ever achieved in the Liga MX Femenil.
Next up for them is the 2025 Apertura Play-offs which will see Tigres face Juarez away on Thursday (6 November) in the first leg, with the reverse fixture at home on 11 November.
Jermaine Seoposenwe’s Monterrey will take on Club America on the same date in another two-legged affair; Toluca will tackle Guadalajara Chivas while Pachuca vs Cruz Azul.
FACT File – about the play-offs:
- Each Liga MX Femenil season is divided into two tournaments
- An Apertura(opening) tournament, which usually takes place from July to December
- A Clausura (closing) tournament, which usually takes place from January to May
- Each tournament (Apertura and Clausura) crowns a champion
- Each tournament consist of a regular phase, and a Liguilla (Liga MX Femenil version of the playoffs) phase.
- After 17 matchdays, the top eight teams advance to the quarter-finals of the Liguilla
- The league does not have a promotion and relegation system.
Final phase (Liguilla)
- The top eight teams at the end of the regular phase/season qualify.
- The Liguilla (Spanish for little league) phase begins with the quarter-finals
- Each knockout stage of the Liguilla is played as a two-game series (home-and-away basis), in which the team that finished higher in the table during the regular phase always plays the second match at home.
- In case of a draw in the aggregate score of a series after 180 minutes in the quarter-finals or semi-finals stage, the team that finished higher in the table during the regular phase of the tournament advances to the next stage.
- In case of draw in the aggregate score of the final after 180 minutes, the teams go directly to penalties to decide the champion.
By Matlhomola Morake
