.jpg) Ambriz asAmérica manager in 2015 | |||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Marcos Ignacio Ambriz Espinoza | ||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1965-02-07)7 February 1965 (age 60) | ||||||||||
| Place of birth | Mexico City, Mexico | ||||||||||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||
| Position | Centre-back | ||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||
Current team | León (head coach) | ||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||
| 1983–1986 | Necaxa | 33 | (0) | ||||||||
| 1986–1987 | Petroleros | ||||||||||
| 1987–1989 | León | ||||||||||
| 1989–1996 | Necaxa | 193 | (16) | ||||||||
| 1996–1997 | Atlante | 22 | (3) | ||||||||
| 1998 | Puebla | 19 | (0) | ||||||||
| 1998 | Celaya | 7 | (0) | ||||||||
| 1999–2001 | Necaxa | 57 | (1) | ||||||||
| Total | 331 | (20) | |||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||
| 1992–1995 | Mexico | 64 | (5) | ||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||
| 2002 | Mexico (assistant) | ||||||||||
| 2003 | Puebla | ||||||||||
| 2003–2006 | Osasuna (assistant) | ||||||||||
| 2006–2009 | Atlético Madrid (assistant) | ||||||||||
| 2009–2011 | San Luis | ||||||||||
| 2012 | Guadalajara | ||||||||||
| 2013–2015 | Querétaro | ||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | América | ||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Necaxa | ||||||||||
| 2018–2021 | León | ||||||||||
| 2021 | Huesca | ||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | Toluca | ||||||||||
| 2024 | Santos Laguna | ||||||||||
| 2025– | León | ||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||
Marcos Ignacio "Nacho" Ambriz Espinoza (born 7 February 1965) is a Mexican professionalmanager and formerfootballer. He is the current head coach ofLiga MX clubLeón.
Playing for various clubs in Mexico, Ambríz is closely associated withClub Necaxa, a club he had three spells with, and was part of two championship-winning seasons in 1994–95 and 1995–96.
Ambríz earned 64 caps and scored 6 goals for theMexico national team between 1992 and 1995,[1] and captained the squad at the1994 FIFA World Cup, where he played in all four games. He also formed part of the national squad that won the1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Following his retirement from the playing field, Ambríz began his coaching career in 2002 with theMexico national team, where he was the assistant toJavier Aguirre, taking part in the2002 FIFA World Cup.[2] Following his participation with the national team, he joinedPuebla, managing only seven matches. In 2003, he was once again the assistant to Javier Aguirre at Spanish clubsOsasuna andAtlético de Madrid. They parted company when Aguirre was sacked from the Madrid position in 2009.[3] He also had spells withSan Luis – from 2009 to 2011 – andGuadalajara in 2012, only in charge for twelve matches.[4]
On 4 February 2013Adolfo Ríos, President ofQuerétaro, announced Ambríz as their new manager after the club sackedSergio Bueno after a 3–0 loss toClub América atEstadio Azteca. He managed the club up until February 2015, where Ambríz was sacked after a string of bad results during theClausura tournament.[5]
On 26 May 2015, Ambríz was confirmed as the new manager atClub América, signing a two-year contract.[6] He led América to a disappointing run at theFIFA Club World Cup, losing the quarter-final match to Chinese teamGuangzhou Evergrande, and defeating Congolese clubTP Mazembe to claim a fifth-place finish in the competition.[7] The following year, Ambríz led América to theCONCACAF Champions Leaguefinals, defeatingTigres UANL 4–1 on aggregate, thus earning their qualification to the2016 FIFA Club World Cup.[8] In September, he was ranked as the 10th best coach according toFootball Coach World Ranking.[9] On 17 September, after suffering a 2–0 home defeat toLeón, Ambríz was sacked as manager the following day.[10]
In August 2017, Ambríz was appointed manager ofNecaxa, staying with the club for a year; he won theClausura 2018 Copa MX with Necaxa, beatingToluca 1–0 in thefinal to end a 19-year trophy-less drought for the club.[11]
"We are all conscious that at any moment we can be at full-back, at any moment we can be holding midfielders, forwards, and we have to take on the roles and play as the position demands, and that is something that "Nacho" likes."
On 18 September 2018, Ambríz was named manager of Club León, replacingGustavo Díaz.[13] During the2019 Clausura, he helped León attain the records of most consecutive wins with eleven[14] and the most points attained during the current 17-match tournament format with 41 points and a first-place finish.[15] They facedTigres UANL in theClausura championship final but lost following an aggregate score of 1–0.[16] Despite the loss, his feats with the club contributed to him being named best manager at the conclusion of theseason.[17] After a first-place finish in theGuardianes 2020 general table, on 13 December, León won the league title defeatingClub Universidad Nacional with an aggregate score of3–1, becoming Mexico's joint fourth most successful team with eight titles in total alongsideCruz Azul.[18]
Following León's championship win, Ambríz and Club León were unable to reach an agreement for Ambríz's contractual renewal. Ambríz opted to not renew the contract, citing his desire to manage a European club.[19]
On 28 June 2021, Ambríz became the manager ofLa Liga clubHuesca.[20] On 25 October, he was dismissed from his position following a disappointing start.[21]
On 1 December 2021,Toluca appointed Ambríz as their new manager.[22] On 25 October 2023, Ambríz and Toluca parted ways by mutual agreement.[23]
On 12 February 2024,Santos Laguna announced Ambríz as their new manager.[24] On 11 November 2024, Ambríz resigned from his role following the club's last-place finish in theApertura 2024 tournament.[25]
On 29 September 2025, Ambríz took on the position of head coach atLeón, starting his second spell with the club.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | April 11, 1993 | Estadio Azteca,Mexico City,Mexico |  Honduras | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2 | April 18, 1993 | Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico |  El Salvador | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 3 | July 22, 1993 | Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico |  Jamaica | 5–1 | 6–1 | 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup |
| 4 | July 25, 1993 | Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico |  United States | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup |
| 5 | November 3, 1993 | Jack Murphy Stadium,San Diego, United States |  China | 1–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | ||||
| Puebla |  | 1 April 2003 | 30 June 2003 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 11 | −4 | 028.57 |
| San Luis | | 10 December 2009 | 9 November 2011 | 78 | 22 | 25 | 31 | 90 | 103 | −13 | 028.21 |
| Guadalajara | | 25 January 2012 | 19 April 2012 | 18 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 23 | −11 | 027.78 |
| Querétaro | | 4 February 2013 | 23 February 2015 | 98 | 37 | 24 | 37 | 114 | 111 | +3 | 037.76 |
| América | | 26 May 2015 | 18 September 2016 | 68 | 37 | 12 | 19 | 126 | 83 | +43 | 054.41 |
| Necaxa | | 15 May 2017 | 9 May 2018 | 47 | 18 | 18 | 11 | 62 | 42 | +20 | 038.30 |
| León | | 19 September 2018 | 11 May 2021 | 114 | 60 | 27 | 27 | 195 | 125 | +70 | 052.63 |
| Huesca |  | 28 June 2021 | 25 October 2021 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 13 | +2 | 033.33 |
| Toluca | | 1 December 2021 | 25 October 2023 | 77 | 33 | 23 | 21 | 133 | 117 | +16 | 042.86 |
| Santos Laguna | | 12 February 2024 | 12 November 2024 | 31 | 5 | 8 | 18 | 22 | 50 | −28 | 016.13 |
| León | | 29 September 2025 | Present | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 13 | −9 | 000.00 |
| Total | 556 | 223 | 147 | 186 | 780 | 686 | +94 | 040.11 | |||
Necaxa
Mexico
América
Necaxa
León
Individual
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