Dorados de Sinaloa

Club Deportivo Dorados de Sinaloa, simply known as Dorados, is a Mexican professional football club temporarily based in Tijuana, Baja California. It competes in Liga de Expansión MX, the second level division of Mexican football, and plays its home matches temporarily at the Estadio Caliente.

Dorados was founded in August 2003, in the Primera División "A" and secured promotion to Mexico's top flight just one year later. In 2016, the club was relegated and has since competed in the Liga de Expansión MX.

History

First promotion and relegation

Dorados was founded on 8 August 2003, in the Primera División "A", the second level of the Mexican football league system. On 20 December, they won their first title in the Apertura 2003 tournament, with Guadalupe Castañeda scoring the decisive goal against Cobras de Juárez in the final. In the following tournament, Dorados finished as runners-up.

On 29 May 2004, Dorados secured promotion to the Primera División after defeating León in the promotion play-off. Remarkably, the club achieved top-flight status just one year after its founding. In an effort to remain in the top division, Dorados made several high-profile signings, including Sebastián Abreu, Pep Guardiola and Jared Borgetti. However, after two years in the Primera División, Dorados was relegated following the Apertura 2006 tournament.

Dorados claimed the title in the Clausura 2007 tournament, which allowed them to participate in the promotion play-off, but ultimately fell to Puebla. In October 2012, Dorados emerged as the Copa Mx champion following their victory over Correcaminos in the final.

In May 2013, Grupo Caliente, known for its casino operations, acquired a majority ownership in the club.

Return to Primera División and Relegation

On 23 May 2015, Dorados once again secured promotion to Mexico's top flight after defeating Necaxa in the promotion play-off. However, just a year later, they were relegated after finishing at the bottom of the relegation table.

Dorados secured the Apertura 2016 title, earning a spot in the promotion play-off, but were ultimately defeated by Lobos BUAP.

In September 2018, Diego Maradona was appointed head coach of Dorados. He made his debut on 17 September with a 4–1 victory over Cafetaleros de Tapachula. Maradona guided Dorados to two consecutive finals, though they fell short in both, losing to Atlético San Luis. In June 2019, Maradona's lawyer announced that he would be stepping down from the role, citing health reasons.

Liga de Expansión

In the spring of 2020, Ascenso MX was restructured into Liga de Expansión MX, a competition designed to foster the development of young footballers. Following this change, Dorados began functioning as a reserve team for both Tijuana and Querétaro, as all three clubs are owned by the same group.

In September 2024, the team was relocated to Tijuana due to concerns about the public safety situation in Sinaloa.

Rivalry

When the Dorados de Sinaloa arrived at Primera División A in 2003, a rivalry was born. When the franchise was first created in 2003, Dorados became champions in their first tournament, becoming the first team to ever accomplish this feat in Primera A. In their second tournament, Dorados made it to the final once again, falling to Club León. Despite losing this final, Dorados and León played the promotion game to Primera División de México where Dorados were victorious. Dorados and Leon have played a total of four finals, with each team winning two.

Since the relegation of Dorados to the Ascenso MX, the two sides have not played in a league match.

Honours

Domestic

Notes

• record
• s shared record

Personnel

Management

Source: [citation needed]

Coaching staff

Players

First-team squad

As of 3 August 2025

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

Notable players

• Argentina Carlos Casartelli
• Argentina César Gradito
• Argentina Diego Latorre
• Argentina Pablo Gabriel Torres
• Argentina Milton Caraglio
• Argentina Gaspar Servio
• Argentina Gabriel Hachen
• Brazil Flavio Rogerio
• Brazil Iarley
• Brazil Lucas Silva
• Chile David Henriquez
• Colombia Andrés Orozco
• Colombia Yimmi Chara
• Costa Rica Óscar Rojas
• Ecuador Jefferson Montero
• Ecuador Vinicio Angulo
• Ecuador Segundo Castillo
• Ecuador Walter Ayovi
• Mexico Miguel Becerra
• Mexico Everaldo Begines
• Mexico Jared Borgetti
• Mexico Omar Briceño
• Mexico Guadalupe Castañeda
• Mexico Jorge Iván Estrada
• Mexico Hugo García
• Mexico Carlos Alberto Hurtado
• Mexico Héctor López
• Mexico David Mendoza
• Mexico Aurelio Molina
• Mexico Luis Padilla
• Mexico Mario Padilla
• Mexico Christian Patiño
• Mexico Carlos Pinto
• Mexico Aldo Polo
• Mexico Sergio Quiróz
• Mexico Lorenzo Ramírez
• Mexico Jaime Ruiz
• Mexico Diego Mejia
• Mexico Alfredo Frausto
• Mexico Mario Osuna
• Mexico Javier Güemez
• Mexico Joel Sánchez
• Mexico Cirilo Saucedo
• Mexico Christian Valdéz
• Mexico Cuauhtémoc Blanco
• Mexico Fernando Arce
• Mexico Elio Castro
• Mexico Raúl Enríquez
• Mexico Moisés Velasco
• Panama Roberto Nurse
• Spain Pep Guardiola
• United States Joe Corona
• Uruguay Sebastián Abreu
• Uruguay Héctor Giménez
• Uruguay Nelson Maz
• Uruguay Jonathan Lacerda

Coaches

• Mexico Juan Carlos Chávez (2003–2004)
• Costa Rica Alexandre Guimarães (2004)
• Mexico José Luis Real (2004–2005)
• Mexico Carlos Bracamontes (2005)
• Spain Juanma Lillo (2005–2006)
• Mexico Jose Luis Saldivar (2006)
• Mexico Jacques Passy (2006)
• Uruguay Hugo Fernández (2006–2008)
• Argentina Jorge Almiron (2008–2009)
• Mexico Ricardo Rayas (2009–2011)
• Mexico Francisco Palacios (Interim) (2011)
• Uruguay Robert Dante Siboldi (2012)
• Mexico Francisco Ramirez (2012–2014)
• Mexico Diego Torres (2014)
• Mexico Eduardo Fentanes (Interim) (2014)
• Argentina Carlos Bustos (2015)
• Mexico Omar Briceño (Interim) (2015)
• Colombia Luis Fernando Suarez (2015–2016)
• Mexico José Guadalupe Cruz (2016)
• Mexico Gabriel Caballero (2016–2017)
• Mexico Diego Ramirez (2017–2018)
• Mexico Francisco Ramírez (2018)
• Argentina Diego Maradona (2018–2019)
• Mexico José Guadalupe Cruz (2019)
• Mexico David Patiño (2020)
• Mexico Rafael García (2021–2024)
• Uruguay Sebastián Abreu (2024–2025)
• Mexico Cirilo Saucedo (2025)

Reserves

Dorados de Los Mochis

The team participated in the Segunda División, finishing as runners-up in the Clausura 2009, losing to Universidad Del Futbol[es] 5–2 on aggregate.

Dorados "B"/Dorados Premier

The team participated in the Serie B of the Liga Premier, Dorados Premier changed its name to Dorados "B", after Dorados de Sinaloa was relegated from Liga MX to Ascenso MX in 2016.

Dorados "C"/Dorados "TDP"

The team competes in the Liga TDP, winning the Torneo de Filiales de la Liga TDP in the 2020–21 season, defeating Cimarrones "B" 1–0 on aggregate.

External links