Ángel Baltazar Sepúlveda Sánchez (born 15 February 1991) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga MX club Cruz Azul and the Mexico national team.
Sepúlveda was born in Apatzingán, Michoacán. He made his senior team debut for Monarcas on 18 September 2010 as a substitute in a match against Atlante.[1]
Sepúlveda scored his first goal on 4 April 2011, against Chiapas that gave Monarcas the win in a 2–1 victory. He scored his second and third goal against Tempête Football Club during the preliminary rounds of the first-leg and second-leg of the CONCACAF Champions League. On 10 October 2011 he scored his fourth goal against Pachuca to tie the game 2-2 during a regular season matchup of the 2011–12 Mexican Primera División season. On 4 December 2011 he came off as a substitute yet again replacing the injured Miguel Sabah and scored two goals against Santos Laguna to tie up the aggregate score 4–4 but due to Santos Laguna's higher seeding on the league table they failed to advance for the final of the Liguilla
On 7 June 2018, Guadalajara announced the signing of Sepúlveda.
On 29 August 2023, Cruz Azul announced the signing of Sepúlveda.[2] On 4 October 2023, Sepúlveda scored a hat-trick with his first goal coming via bicycle kick.[3]
On 9 November 2024, Sepúlveda scored a header during the last minute of the last league game for the Apertura 2024 against Tigres UANL which helped Cruz Azul break the record for most points during a short league season.[4]
Sepúlveda was named top scorer of the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup ahead of players such as Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez, as Sepúlveda had scored a total of 9 goals, scoring in all stages of the tournament including a brace against cross-city rivals América during the quarter-finals, a penalty against Tigres UANL in the semi-finals, and another brace during the final against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC where Cruz Azul won 5–0 claiming their seventh CONCACAF Champions Cup trophy.[5][6][7]
On 19 July 2025, during the second match day of the Apertura 2025, Sepúlveda scored his second hat trick for Cruz Azul against Atlas at Estadio Jalisco, where the game ended in a 3–3 draw.[8]
Sepúlveda never represented any of Mexico's youth teams, and he was first called up to the senior national team under Colombian manager Juan Carlos Osorio for the qualification of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[9] Sepúlveda made his national team debut on 2 September 2016 against El Salvador where he scored the second goal of the match as Mexico went on to win the game 3–1.[10]
After the match Sepulveda went on to state the following during an interview with ESPN México:
"It was an unforgettable night, it was a dream come true to be with the national team and represent a whole country."[11]
Sepúlveda was called up for the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup[12] where he played six matches and scored a goal during the tournament’s group stage against Curaçao where Mexico won 2–0.[13]
After a seven year absence from the national team, Sepúlveda was called back up by Javier Aguirre for the CONCACAF Nations League matches against Honduras during November of 2024.[14] On 7 June 2025, Sepúlveda scored his third goal for the national team during a friendly match against Switzerland where Mexico lost 4–2.[15] Sepúlveda was once again called up for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup where he was crowned champion with the Mexican national team.[16]
| Club | Season | League | Copa MX | Continental[a] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Morelia | 2010–11 | Mexican Primera División | 5 | 1 | — | — | — | 5 | 1 | |||
| 2011–12 | Mexican Primera División | 15 | 3 | — | 7 | 3 | — | 22 | 6 | |||
| 2012–13 | Liga MX | 5 | 0 | 6 | 2 | — | — | 11 | 2 | |||
| Total | 25 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 3 | — | 38 | 9 | |||
| Toros Neza (loan) | 2012–13 | Ascenso MX | 19 | 2 | 4 | 1 | — | — | 23 | 3 | ||
| Atlante | 2013–14 | Liga MX | 29 | 6 | 5 | 2 | — | — | 34 | 8 | ||
| Querétaro | 2014–15 | Liga MX | 37 | 6 | 9 | 3 | — | — | 46 | 9 | ||
| 2015–16 | Liga MX | 23 | 3 | — | 6 | 1 | — | 29 | 4 | |||
| 2016–17 | Liga MX | 27 | 2 | 5 | 1 | — | — | 32 | 3 | |||
| Total | 87 | 11 | 14 | 4 | 6 | 1 | — | 107 | 16 | |||
| Morelia | 2017–18 | Liga MX | 37 | 5 | 4 | 2 | — | — | 41 | 7 | ||
| Guadalajara | 2018–19 | Liga MX | 5 | 0 | 5 | 1 | — | — | 10 | 1 | ||
| Necaxa | 2018–19 | Liga MX | 19 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 2 | ||
| Tijuana | 2019–20 | Liga MX | 19 | 2 | 7 | 0 | — | 1[b] | 0 | 27 | 2 | |
| Querétaro (loan) | 2020–21 | Liga MX | 34 | 9 | — | — | — | 34 | 9 | |||
| Necaxa (loan) | 2021–22 | Liga MX | 10 | 0 | — | — | — | 10 | 0 | |||
| Querétaro | 2021–22 | Liga MX | 17 | 5 | — | — | — | 17 | 5 | |||
| 2022–23 | Liga MX | 29 | 6 | — | — | — | 29 | 6 | ||||
| 2023–24 | Liga MX | 4 | 3 | — | — | 5[b] | 2 | 9 | 5 | |||
| Total | 50 | 14 | — | — | 5 | 2 | 55 | 16 | ||||
| Cruz Azul | 2023–24 | Liga MX | 33 | 9 | — | — | — | 33 | 9 | |||
| 2024–25 | Liga MX | 39 | 14 | — | 8 | 9 | 3[b] | 0 | 50 | 23 | ||
| 2025–26 | Liga MX | 11 | 6 | — | 0 | 0 | 3[b] | 0 | 14 | 6 | ||
| Total | 83 | 29 | — | 8 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 97 | 38 | |||
| Career total | 417 | 84 | 45 | 12 | 21 | 13 | 12 | 2 | 495 | 111 | ||
| Team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico | 2016 | 2 | 1 |
| 2017 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 3 | 1 | |
| Total | 12 | 3 | |
International goals
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 2 September 2016 | Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador, El Salvador |  El Salvador |
2–1 | 3–1 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2. | 16 July 2017 | Alamodome, San Antonio, United States |  Curaçao |
1–0 | 2–0 | 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup |
| 3. | 7 June 2025 | Rice–Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City, United States |  Switzerland |
2–3 | 2–4 | Friendly |
Querétaro
Cruz Azul
Mexico
Individual
Mexico squads | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
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