Ignacio Ambríz

Ignacio Ambriz
	Ambriz as América manager in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Marcos Ignacio Ambriz Espinoza
Date of birth	7 February 1965 (age 59)
Place of birth	Mexico City, Mexico
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Centre-back
Team information
Current team	Santos Laguna (head coach)
Senior career*
Years	Team
1983–1986	Necaxa
1986–1987	Petroleros
1987–1989	León
1989–1996	Necaxa
1996–1997	Atlante
1998	Puebla
1998	Celaya
1999–2001	Necaxa
Total
International career
1992–1995	Mexico
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
Medal record
Representing Mexico
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Marcos Ignacio "Nacho" Ambriz Espinoza (born 7 February 1965) is a Mexican professional manager and former footballer. He is the current head coach of Liga MX club Santos Laguna.

Playing career

Playing for various clubs in Mexico, Ambríz is closely associated with Club 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 the Mexico national team between 1992 and 1995,^[1] and captained the squad at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, where he played in all four games. He also formed part of the national squad that won the 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Managerial career

Early career

Following his retirement from the playing field, Ambríz began his coaching career in 2002 with the Mexico national team, where he was the assistant to Javier Aguirre, taking part in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.^[2] Following his participation with the national team, he joined Puebla, managing only seven matches. In 2003, he was once again the assistant to Javier Aguirre at Spanish clubs Osasuna and Atlético de Madrid. They parted company when Aguirre was sacked from the Madrid position in 2009.^[3] He also had spells with San Luis – from 2009 to 2011 – and Guadalajara in 2012, only in charge for twelve matches.^[4]

Querétaro

On 4 February 2013 Adolfo Ríos, President of Querétaro, announced Ambríz as their new manager after the club sacked Sergio Bueno after a 3–0 loss to Club América at Estadio Azteca. He managed the club up until February 2015, where Ambríz was sacked after a string of bad results during the Clausura tournament.^[5]

Club América

On 26 May 2015, Ambríz was confirmed as the new manager at Club América, signing a two-year contract.^[6] He led América to a disappointing run at the FIFA Club World Cup, losing the quarter-final match to Chinese team Guangzhou Evergrande, and defeating Congolese club TP Mazembe to claim a fifth-place finish in the competition.^[7] The following year, Ambríz led América to the CONCACAF Champions League finals, defeating Tigres UANL 4–1 on aggregate, thus earning their qualification to the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup.^[8] In September, he was ranked as the 10th best coach according to Football Coach World Ranking.^[9] On 17 September, after suffering a 2–0 home defeat to León, Ambríz was sacked as manager the following day.^[10]

Necaxa

In August 2017, Ambríz was appointed manager of Necaxa, staying with the club for a year; he won the Clausura 2018 Copa MX with Necaxa, beating Toluca 1–0 in the final to end a 19-year trophy-less drought for the club.^[11]

Club León

"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."

—Club León footballer Fernando Navarro Morán^[12]

On 18 September 2018, Ambríz was named manager of Club León, replacing Gustavo Díaz.^[13] During the 2019 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 faced Tigres UANL in the Clausura 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 the season.^[17] After a first-place finish in the Guardianes 2020 general table, on 13 December, León won the league title defeating Club Universidad Nacional with an aggregate score of 3–1, becoming Mexico's joint fourth most successful team with eight titles in total alongside Cruz 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]

Huesca

On 28 June 2021, Ambríz was named the new manager of Spanish club Huesca.^[20] On 25 October, he was dismissed from his position following a disappointing start.^[21]

Toluca

On 1 December 2021, Toluca appointed Ambríz as their new manager.^[22] On 25 October 2023, Ambríz and Toluca parted ways by mutual consent.^[23]

Santos Laguna

On 12 February 2024, Santos Laguna appointed Ambriz as their new manager.^[24]

Career statistics

International goals

#	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

Managerial statistics

As of match played 15 September 2024^[25]

Managerial record by team and tenure
Team	Nat	From	To	Record
Team	Nat	From	To	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	present	22	4	6	12	16	34	−18	018.18
Total				541	222	144	175	770	657	+113	041.04