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Like the rest of the world, Mexico faces severe environmental challenges due to its energy dependence on fossil fuels, for that reason Mexican researchers have conducted studies related to the development of renewable energy technologies. In this sense, different research groups have contributed top quality results in the design, synthesis, characterization, and evaluation of the performance of electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). This review describes Mexican contributions to the design of new nanocatalysts for the cathodic reaction in fuel cells. Two categories of nanocatalysts are discussed, those based on Pt and those which are Pt-free, with special attention given to Pd and Ru-based materials, whose catalytic activities are noteworthy. Mexican scientific groups have published more than 100 articles on the ORR in the last 20 years, with over 50% of those publications focused on the performance of Pt-based catalytic compounds which have shown high active and stable surface area, and low catalyst loading. The remaining publications address Pt-free nanoparticles that present catalytic activity for the ORR. • Mexican contributions for the improvement of catalysts for the ORR are revised. • Pt-based catalysts show higher catalytic activities than commercial Pt/C. • Pd and Ru-based catalysts present competitive performances with respect to Pt/C. • Other alternative catalysts are under study to avoid the use of Pt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]