Liga MX, officially as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and Primera División de México (1949–2012), the league is contested by 18 participating clubs. The season is divided into two tournaments: Apertura (from July to December) and Clausura (from January to May). The champions of each tournament are decided by a final knockout phase, commonly known as Liguilla. Since 2020, promotion and relegation has been suspended.
The league has held 115 editions. The inaugural edition as a professional league was the 1943–44 season, with Asturias crowned as the first champions.
Liga MX currently ranks first in CONCACAF's league ranking index. According to the IFFHS, it was ranked as the 10th strongest league in the first decade of the 21st century. According to CONCACAF, the league with an average attendance of 25,557 during the 2014–15 season, draws the largest crowds on average of any football league in the Americas.
Twenty-four clubs have won the title at least once. América is the most successful club with sixteen titles, Guadalajara and Toluca with twelve titles each, Cruz Azul with ten titles, Tigres UANL and León with eight titles each.
Contents
History
Amateur era (1922–1943)
Prior to the Liga Mayor, there was no national and professional league in Mexico, and all football competitions were held within relatively small geographical regions. The Liga Mexicana de Football Amateur Association was created in 1902, a local league consisting of clubs near and around Mexico City, it was the first amateur football league played in Mexico. Later, other regional leagues were also created: Liga Amateur de Veracruz, Liga Amateur de Puebla, Liga Occidental De Jalisco and the Liga Amateur del Bajío.
In 1922, after the founding of the first governing body of football in Mexico, the Campeonato de Primera Fuerza was also created as the first amateur league organized by a Mexican football federation. It was held from 1922 to 1943, although most of the participating clubs were from Mexico City and the first matches held outside the country's capital were played until the 1940–41 season.
Many club owners were keen to remain amateur although they paid players under the table. The increasing interest in football would not thwart a unified professional football system in the country. The first true national and professional league in Mexico was officially established in 1943 as Liga Mayor.
Liga Mayor (1943–1949)
The Federación Mexicana de Fútbol announcement of the nation's first professional league brought interest from many clubs to join. The FMF announced that ten clubs would form the Liga Mayor, six clubs from the Liga Mexicana de Football Amateur Association, two clubs from the Liga Occidental, and two clubs from the Liga Veracruzana.
The inaugural season had ten founding clubs: ADO, América, Asturias, Atlante, Atlas, Guadalajara, Veracruz Sporting, Necaxa, Marte and Moctezuma.
Primera División de México (1949–2012)
Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, many small clubs faced many economic difficulties which were attributed to the lack of international competition by Mexico's clubs and an unrewarding league format. Consequently, clubs from Mexico that placed high in the league standings could not afford to participate in the overarching continental competitions, such as the Copa Libertadores.
The 1970 World Cup held in Mexico was the first World Cup televised on a grand scale. The season following the FIFA World Cup, the FMF changed the league format and established a final knockout phase to determine the champions. This was done to regenerate interest and reward clubs that placed fairly high in the standings.
The final phase, known as liguilla, was played using various formats to determine the champions. The most common format was a straight knockout between the top eight clubs in the table. At other times the league was divided into groups with the top two in each group, often as well as the best 3rd placed clubs, qualifying for the liguilla and in some seasons the playoff matches themselves involved clubs playing in groups with the group winners playing off for the title. The format was changed from season to season to accommodate international club commitments and the schedule of the Mexico national team.
The change in the rules affected clubs that traditionally dominated the table, as talented clubs that had not performed well in the regular season were able to perform successfully in the final phase (Cruz Azul in the 1970s, América in the 1980s, and Toluca in the 2000s).
Liga MX (2012–present)
Prior to the start of the 2012–13 season, the organization Liga MX-Ascenso MX was created to replace the FMF as the main organizing body of the competition. The league also announced a rebranding, with the introduction of a new name and a new logo.
In August 2018, it was announced that Liga MX would begin testing the use of VAR technology. The initial test run was conducted during U-20 matches played inside senior league stadiums, with live testing across senior Liga MX matches taking place during weeks 13 and 14 of the Apertura tournament. The league needed final approval from FIFA to fully implement the technology.
On April 2026, Liga MX officials convened and passed a historic decision, by fully separating the Liga MX from the FMF's control, and to make Liga MX a separate company running the domestic league, while FMF retains regulation rights. The move took effect on 16 July the same year.
Competition format
Regular phase
Liga MX uses a single table of 18 clubs that play two short tournaments (Apertura and Clausura) resulting in two champions per season. The season opens with the Apertura from July to December, followed by the Clausura from January to May. This format matches other Latin American schedules and corresponds with FIFA world football calendar, which "opens" in July/August and "closes" in April/May of the next year. The top eight clubs advance to the final knockout phase for each tournament.
From 1996 to 2002, the league followed a schedule consisting of two short tournaments in the season, Invierno and Verano tournaments. From 2002 to 2011, the 18 clubs were divided into three groups of six, with the top two from each group and the two best third-place clubs qualifying for the Liguilla. The clubs played in the same group for each tournament. The qualification phase of the tournament lasted 17 matches, with all clubs playing each other once per tournament in a home and away series over both tournaments.
Final phase
The final phase of each tournament, commonly known as Liguilla, consisting of eight clubs that qualify for the tournament based on regular phase point totals. The clubs are paired according to seeding, with the highest-seeded club playing the lowest-seeded and so on. Each tie is played over two legs with the winner on aggregate score progressing.
The champions are awarded the Liga MX trophy, and the runners-up is awarded a smaller version of the trophy. The start of Liguilla in 1970 modernized the league despite the disagreements between the traditionalists and the modernists. Clubs that were near bankruptcy were now better able to compete and generate profits.
If at least two clubs finish the regular season with an equal number of points, the following criteria are used to break the tie:
Goal difference
Number of goals scored
Number of away goals scored
Head-to-head matchup
Best placed in the general quotient table
Fair play points in all group matches (only one deduction could be applied to a player in a single match)
Yellow card: −1 points
Indirect red card by second yellow card: −3 points
Direct red card: −3 points
Yellow card and direct red card: −5 points
Drawing of lots.
Relegation
Originally at the end of a season, after the Apertura and Clausura tournaments, one club was relegated to the next lower division, Ascenso MX, and one club from that division was promoted and took the place left open by the relegated team. The relegated club was determined by computing the points-per-game-played ratio for each club, considering all the games played by the club during the last three seasons (six short tournaments). The club with the lowest ratio is relegated; if the club that was in last place in the relegation table was among the 12 clubs qualifying for the Liguilla at the end of the Clausura tournament, the 13th place team qualified for the Liguilla instead. For clubs recently promoted, only the games played since their promotion are considered (two or four tournaments). The club promoted from Ascenso MX is the winner of the Campeón de Ascenso, the division's super cup between the Apertura and Clausura champions. If a club became the champions in both tournaments, it was automatically promoted.
Prior to the start of the 2017–18 season, the rules for relegation and promotion changed: if a club wins promotion but does not meet certain Liga MX requirements (e.g. stadium infrastructure and a youth team) the relegated Liga MX club of that season will be obligated to pay the prize money to the Ascenso MX club (MXN$120 million) for winning the promotion playoff, which should be utilized to fulfill necessary requirements for promotion within the next season, and remain in Ascenso MX, and the relegated Liga MX club will remain in the top division. However, if the relegated Liga MX club cannot distribute the prize money to the promoted Ascenso MX club, both clubs will lose their right to play in Liga MX and must play in Ascenso MX the following season.
As of the 2018–19 season, only six clubs met the full requirements to be promoted to Liga MX, those clubs being Atlético San Luis, Atlante, Celaya, Juárez, Sinaloa, and Leones Negros UdeG.
On 16 April 2020, the Ascenso MX was folded due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the lack of financial resources. Liga MX President Enrique Bonilla later announced during a video meeting with the club owners of the league that promotion and relegation would be suspended for six years. During the suspension, the Ascenso MX was replaced with the Liga de Expansión MX although no club from that league will be promoted to Liga MX nor any Liga MX team that performs poorly will be relegated from the Liga MX for the time being.
CONCACAF Champions Cup qualification
Each year, at least six clubs from Liga MX qualify for the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the North American premier club competition; Liga MX itself is guaranteed six spots while teams from the league can earn three more spots via the Leagues Cup with MLS for a maximum of nine spots. Generally, the Apertura and Clausura champions and runners-up, as well as the next best two clubs in the aggregate table, qualify, with the higher ranking champion from the Apertura and Clausura tournaments earning a bye to the Round of 16. Liga MX would implement a formula for ensuring that the Apertura and Clausura had two qualifying clubs should one or more clubs reach the finals of both tournaments, devised when Liga MX sent 4 clubs to North America premier club competition:
If the same two clubs qualify for the finals of both tournaments, those two clubs will qualify along with the non-finalists with the best record in both the Apertura and Clausura.
If the same club wins both the Apertura and Clausura (facing two different clubs in the finals of each tournament), then the berth reserved for the Clausura champions is passed to the Clausura runners-up and the berth reserved for the Clausura runners-up is passed to the non-finalists with the best record in the Clausura. This occurred most recently in the 2021–22 season (2023 CONCACAF Champions League) when Atlas (2021 Apertura and Clausura 2022 champions), Pachuca (Clausura 2022 runners-up) and León (Apertura 2022 runners-up) were placed in Pot 1, while Tigres (non-finalists with the best record in the Clausura 2022) were placed in Pot 2 (at the time, the pot placings were determined via the CONCACAF Club Index, which ranked the performance of certain spots within the last 5 years). As of the 2022–23 season, the team that wins both the Apertura and Clausura also automatically qualifies for the Round of 16.
If the Apertura runners-up win the Clausura (facing two different clubs in the finals of each tournament), then the berth reserved for the Apertura runners-up is passed to the non-finalists with the best record in the Apertura. This occurred most recently in the 2011–12 season (2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League) when Tigres (Apertura 2011 champions) and Santos Laguna (Apertura 2011 runners-up and Clausura 2012 champions) were placed in Pot A, while Guadalajara (non-finalists with the best record in the Apertura 2011) and Monterrey (Clausura 2012 runners-up) were placed in Pot B (at the time, the champions and runners-up were placed in different pots).
Qualification for previous international competitions
Championship of Central America and Mexico (1959)
Copa Interamericana (1969–1992)
CONCACAF Cup Winners Cup (1991–1995)
Copa Libertadores (1998–2016)
Copa Merconorte (2000–2001)
CONCACAF Giants Cup (2001)
Copa Sudamericana (2005–2008)
Participating clubs
2026–27 season
The 2026–27 Liga MX season has the following 18 participating clubs.
Performances
Notes
Currently in Liga de Expansión MX.
Currently in Liga Premier.
Currently in Liga TDP.
Currently on hiatus.
Defunct.
Media coverage
All Liga MX clubs have the right to sell their own broadcast rights. Televisa, TV Azteca, Imagen Televisión, Claro Sports, Fox Sports, and ESPN have broadcasting rights in México, while ESPN Deportes, Fox Deportes, Univision, and Telemundo have the rights in the United States, with FS1/FS2 airing select matches with English commentary.
In previous years, when a club was relegated, the club that was promoted could only negotiate with the company holding the television rights of the relegated club. This agreement was canceled by Liga MX in 2012 when the promotion of Club León caused a television rights dispute with Televisa. Currently, Club León matches are broadcast in Mexico by Fox Sports and other online media sites, and in the United States by Univision (Telemundo from 2013 to 2016).
Telelatino and Fox Sports World formerly hold broadcasting rights in Canada. From 2019–20 until 2021–22, OneSoccer broadcast the league for Canada viewers. Fox Sports is the only network that holds rights to broadcast selected matches in United States and South America. Additionally, Televisa-owned networks Sky Sports and TUDN hold exclusive broadcasting rights over selected matches throughout the regular season, although the majority of the most important ones are broadcast live on the national networks. The coverage also available for Central America viewers.
Most of the Saturday afternoon and evening matches broadcast by Televisa are shown primarily on Gala TV, though Saturday games played by Televisa's club America, are broadcast on Televisa's flagship network, Canal de las Estrellas. However, a blackout policy is usually applied in selected markets where affiliates are forced to air alternate programming during the matches, Sunday noon and afternoon games broadcast by Televisa are shown on Canal de las Estrellas. All of the games broadcast by TV Azteca on Saturday and Sunday are shown on Azteca 13; Friday's matches however are shown on Azteca 7. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (known in Mexico as Fecha Doble or Double Date) matches picked by the national networks are shown on Canal 5 and Azteca 7 and the rest of the matches air on Sky Sports and TDN.
Since 2011, the final match of every season is played on Sunday during prime time, regardless of whether the club used to play local games in another timeslot, in order to capture more television audience during the game. This also prevents most playoff collusion, where one or both clubs already in the Liguilla put in lesser effort to lose or draw, in order to draw a more favorable opponent.
Sponsorship
BBVA México has been the official main sponsor of the league since its rebranding in 2012, hence it is officially known as Liga BBVA MX. In July 2013, the league president Decio De María stated that the money generated from the sponsorship would be divided among the 18 clubs and to be invested in each club's youth teams. Since 1986, the official ball of the league is manufactured by Voit.
Managers
Current managers of Liga MX clubs: