In 2011 and 2012, charcoal rot-like symptoms were observed on sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) plants cv. MEX 69-290 in fields located in Cosamaloapan, Veracruz, Mexico. The diseased plants showed symptoms of stem and root rot, chlorotic foliage and premature death. The stem rot was firm and dark brown, and black microsclerotia and pycnidia were observed at the base. Disease incidence ranged from 10 to 30%. To isolate the causal agent, 200 symptomatic pieces of stem and root obtained from 20 diseased plants were surface disinfested with 2% sodium hypochlorite solution for 3 min, rinsed three times in sterile distilled water, dried on sterilized paper and plated onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) supplemented with 150 μg ml-1 of streptomycin sulfate. Petri plates were incubated in continuous darkness at 30ºC for 6 days. The most frequent fungal colonies were purified and sub-cultured in fresh PDA. Ninety-two percent of the fungal colonies were identified as Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Goid (1). On PDA, colonies showed dense growth, initially gray, then becoming black. Sclerotia were produced after 5 to 10 days. None of the isolates produced pycnidia on PDA. However, pycnidia were abundantly produced on infected stems collected from the field. Longitudinal sections of pycnidia were made and morphological characters were observed using a compound microscope. The pycnidia were characteristic of those described for M. phaseolina according to taxonomic and descriptions (1). Briefly, they were usually black, solitary, globose, 165-250 μm in diameter and with truncate ostiole. Conidiogenous cells were hyaline, obpyriform to subcylindrical. Conidia were hyaline, cylindrical to ellipsoid, unicellular, 9.22-15.51 x 3.21-4.69 μm. To confirm the identification, DNA from a representative isolate was extracted from a lab culture, and the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) was amplified by PCR and sequenced using the universal primers ITS1 and ITS4 (2). The sequence was deposited in GenBank (Accession No. KJ609175). BLASTn search of the sequence showed 100% identity with sequences of M. phaseolina (KJ567077, KF234552 and JX945170). Pathogenicity of the M. phaseolina isolate was tested by inoculation of stem cuttings (setts) of two sugarcane cultivars (MEX 03-47 and LAICA 82-2220). Inoculation was performed by the immersion of 10 setts of each cultivar into a suspension of mycelial propagules (1 x 105 colony- forming units ml-1) before planting. The 10 control setts were immersed in distilled water. The inoculated and control setts were planted in pots containing sterile soil. The pots were maintained in a greenhouse at 30±2ºC. Eighty days after inoculation, all the inoculated plants showed typical charcoal rot symptoms. No symptoms were observed on the control plants. M. phaseolina was re-isolated only from symptomatic plants, fulfilling Koch ́s postulates. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of M. phaseolina causing charcoal rot on sugarcane in the world. Based on the incidence and severity of symptoms, this disease poses a potential threat to sugarcane production in Mexico.