Liga MX

Liga MX

Organising body	Mexican Football Federation
Founded	17 October 1943; 75 years ago (1943-10-17)
Country	Mexico
Confederation	CONCACAF
Number of teams	18
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Ascenso MX
Domestic cup(s)	Copa MX Supercopa MX Campeón de Campeones
International cup(s)	CONCACAF Champions League Campeones Cup
Current champions	América (13th title) (Apertura 2018)
Most championships	América (13 titles)
TV partners	Claro[1] ESPN[2] Fox Sports[3] Grupo Imagen[4] Televisa[5] TV Azteca[6]
Website	LigaMX.net
2018–19 Liga MX season

The Liga MX (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈliɣa ˈeme ˈekis]) is the top level of the Mexican football league system. Currently sponsored by BBVA through its Mexican subsidiary BBVA Bancomer, it is officially known as Liga BBVA Bancomer.^[7]

Each season, the league holds two tournaments: the Apertura, which starts in the summer, and the Clausura, which starts in the winter. As of 2017, the league comprises 18 clubs, with one being relegated every year (two tournaments) based upon its league performances over the previous three years. The first 8 teams in the table at the end of the regular phase of the tournament qualify to the liguilla ("mini-league", or "playoff"). Up until July 2011, the league was divided into 3 groups. The group formatting was removed in favor of a single-table format.

The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in all of Latin America. According to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, the league currently ranks 20th worldwide^[8] and was ranked as the 10th strongest league in the first decade of the 21st century (2001–2010).^[9] 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 and the third largest crowds of any professional sports league in North America, behind only the National Football League and Major League Baseball, and ahead of the Canadian Football League.^[10] It is also the fourth most attended football league in the world behind Germany's Bundesliga, England's Premier League and Spain's La Liga.^[11]

Of the 56 teams to have competed in the league, América has won the title 13 times, followed by Guadalajara (12), Toluca (10), Cruz Azul (8), León and Pumas UNAM (7), and Pachuca, Tigres UANL, and Santos Laguna (6). The current league champions are América, who won the Apertura 2018 tournament.

Contents

• 
  1 History
  
  
  
  • 
    1.1 Amateur era
    
  
  
  • 
    1.2 Professional era
    
    
    
    • 
      1.2.1 Founding members
      
    
    
    • 
      1.2.2 Reformation
      
    
    
    • 
      1.2.3 The Mexican league boom
      
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • 
    1.3 Liga MX
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  2 Competition format
  
  
  
  • 
    2.1 Regular season tournaments
    
  
  
  • 
    2.2 Playoffs (liguilla)
    
  
  
  • 
    2.3 Relegation
    
  
  
  • 
    2.4 CONCACAF Champions League Qualification
    
  
  
  • 
    2.5 Previous Qualification Tournaments
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  3 Teams
  
  
  
  • 
    3.1 2018–19 season
    
  
  
  • 
    3.2 Champions
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  4 Stadiums and locations
  


• 
  5 Media coverage
  
  
  
  • 
    5.1 Television home matches broadcast rights
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  6 Sponsorship
  


• 
  7 Managers
  


• 
  8 Player records
  
  
  
  • 
    8.1 Most appearances
    
  
  
  • 
    8.2 Most goals
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  9 Promotion and relegation
  


• 
  10 See also
  


• 
  11 References
  


• 
  12 External links
  

History

Amateur era

Prior to the Liga Mayor, there was no national football league in Mexico, and football competitions were held within relatively small geographical regions. The winners of the Primera Fuerza, a local league consisting of teams near and around Mexico City, was considered the national competition. There were other regional leagues such as the Liga Amateur de Veracruz, the Liga Occidental De Jalisco and the Liga del Bajío that also had notable clubs. Many club owners were not keen on the idea of establishing a professional league, despite paying players under the table. With the increasing demand for football, there was a sense of urgency to unite all the local amateur leagues in Mexico to progress as a football nation. The professional national league was finally established in 1943.^[12]

Professional era

When the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación (F.M.F.) announced the formation of the nation's first professional league, many clubs petitioned to join. The F.M.F. announced that 10 clubs would form the Liga Mayor (Major League). The league was founded by six clubs from the Primera Fuerza of Mexico City, two clubs from the Liga Occidental, and two from the Liga Veracruzana.

Founding members

Club Asturias in 1927.

Primera Fuerza: América, Asturias, Atlante, Necaxa, and Marte.

Liga Occidental De Jalisco: Atlas and Guadalajara.

Liga Amateur de Veracruz: ADO, Veracruz and Moctezuma.

Reformation

Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, many small clubs faced economic difficulties which were attributed to the lack of international competition by Mexico's clubs and an unrewarding league format. Like many South American and European clubs, Mexico's clubs that placed high in the league standings could not afford to participate in prestigious international tournaments, such as the Copa Libertadores.

The Mexican league boom

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 F.M.F. changed the league format and established a playoff phase to determine the national champion. This was done to regenerate interest and reward teams that placed fairly high in the standings.

The play-off, called the Liguilla, was played using various formats to determine the champion. The most common format was a straight knock-out between the top eight teams 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 teams, qualifying for the play-offs and in some seasons the play-offs themselves involved teams 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 teams that traditionally dominated the table, as talented teams that had not performed well in the regular season were able to perform successfully in the play-offs (Cruz Azul in the 1970s, América in the 1980s, and Toluca in the 2000s).

Liga MX

Prior to the start of the 2012–13 season, the organization LIGA MX / ASCENSO MX was created to replace the Mexican Football Federation as the organizing body of the competition. The league also announced a rebranding, with the introduction of a new logo.^[13]

On 20 August 2018, it was announced that the Liga MX would begin testing the use of video assistant referee technology.^[14] The initial test run will be conducted during under-20 matches played inside senior league stadiums, with live testing across senior Liga MX matches to take place during weeks 13 and 14 of the Apertura tournament. The league will, however, still need final approval from FIFA to fully implement the technology.^[15]

Competition format

Regular season tournaments

Liga MX uses a single table of 18 teams that play two annual tournaments resulting in two champions per season. The season opens with the apertura tournament (opening tournament- running from July to December) followed by the clausura (closing - running from January to May). This format matches other Latin American schedules and correspond with FIFA's world footballing calendar, which "opens" in July/August and "closes" in April/May of the next year. The top eight teams progress to the liguilla for each tournament. If one of those teams is in last place in the league's relegation table (see below), that team is replaced by the team that finished ninth in the tournament.

From 1996 to 2002, the league followed a two-tournament schedule with invierno (winter) and verano (summer) tournaments but from 2002 to 2011 the 18 teams were divided into three groups of six with the top two teams from each group and the two best third place teams qualified for the liguilla. The teams played in the same group for each tournament. The qualification phase of the tournament lasted 17 weeks, with all teams playing each other once per tournament in a home and away series over both tournaments.

Playoffs (liguilla)

The liguilla (Spanish for "little league") is the play-off phase of the tournament. This phase starts with eight qualifying teams playing two-legged ties with the winner on aggregate-score progressing. The Champion team is awarded the First division trophy, and the runner up is awarded a smaller version of the trophy. The birth of La 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.

Relegation

At the end of a season, after the Apertura and Clausura tournaments, one team is relegated to the next lower division, Ascenso MX, and one team from that division is promoted and takes the place left open by the relegated team. Currently, the relegated team is determined by computing the points-per-game-played ratio for each team, considering all the games played by the team during the last three seasons (six tournaments). The team with the lowest ratio is relegated. For teams recently promoted, only the games played since their promotion are considered (two or four tournaments). The team promoted from Ascenso MX is the winner of a two-leg match between the champions of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments of that division. If a team becomes the champion in both tournaments, it is automatically promoted.

CONCACAF Champions League Qualification

Each year, four teams from Liga MX qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League, the premier North American club competition. Generally, the Apertura and Clausura champions and the Apertura and Clausura runners-up qualify, and are placed in Pot 3. Should one or more teams reach the finals of both tournaments, Liga MX has implemented a formula for ensuring that two teams that qualify via the Apertura and two teams qualify via the Clausura:^[16]

• If the same two teams qualify for the finals of both tournaments, those two teams will qualify along with the non-finalists with the best record in both the Apertura and Clausura.


• If the same team wins both the Apertura and the Clausura (facing two different teams 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 best record in the Clausura. This occurred most recently in the 2013–14 season (2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League) when León (2013 Apertura and 2014 Clausura champions) and Pachuca (2014 Clausura runners-up) were placed in Pot A, while América (2013 Apertura runners-up) and Cruz Azul (non-finalists with the best record in the 2014 Clausura) were placed in Pot B (at the time, the champions and runners-up were placed in different pots).


• If the Apertura runners-up win the Clausura (facing two different teams in the finals of each tournament), then the berth reserved for the Apertura runners-up is passed to the non-finalists with best record in the Apertura. This occurred most recently in the 2011–12 season (2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League) when UANL (2011 Apertura champions) and Santos Laguna (2011 Apertura runners-up and 2012 Clausura champions) were placed in Pot A, while Guadalajara (non-finalists with the best record in the 2011 Apertura) and Monterrey (2012 Clausura runners-up) were placed in Pot B (again, at the time, the champions and runners-up were placed in different pots).


• If the Apertura champions are runners-up of the Clausura (facing two different teams in the finals of each tournament), then the berth reserved for the Clausura runners-up is passed to the non-finalists with best record in the Clausura. This has not happened since Liga MX began using this qualification procedure.

Previous Qualification Tournaments

Campeonato Centroamericano (1959), Copa Interamericana (1968–91), CONCACAF Cup Winners Cup (1991–98), CONCACAF Giants Cup 2001, Interliga (2004–10), Copa Sudamericana (2005-08), and SuperLiga (2007–10), Copa Libertadores (1998-2015)

Teams

Main article: List of football clubs in Mexico

2018–19 season

The following 18 clubs will compete in the Liga MX during the 2018–19 season.

Team	Position in 2017–18	First season in top division	Seasons in top division	First season of current spell in top division	Consecutive Seasons in Liga MX	Top division titles	Last top division title
América	4th	1943–44	94	1943–44	94	13	Apertura 2018
Atlas	11th	1943–44	90	1979–80	56	1	1950/51
BUAP	17th	2017–18	2	2017–18	2	0	-
Cruz Azul	6th	1964–65	72	1964–65	72	8	Invierno 1997
Guadalajara	16th	1943–44	94	1943–44	94	12	Clausura 2017
León	7th	1944–45	69	2012–13	6	7	Clausura 2014
Monterrey	1st	1945–46	78	1960–61	76	4	Apertura 2010
Morelia	5th	1957–58	65	1981–82	54	1	Invierno 2000
Necaxa	9th	1951-52	82	2015–16	6	3	Invierno 1998
Pachuca	12th	1967–68	44	1998–99	34	6	Clausura 2016
Puebla	13th	1944–45	73	2007–08	16	2	1989/90
Querétaro	15th	1990–91	22	2009–10	12	0	-
Santos Laguna	8th	1988–89	30	1988–89	30	6	Clausura 2018
Tijuana	10th	2011–12	8	2011–12	8	1	Apertura 2012
Toluca	2nd	1953–54	83	1953–54	83	10	Bicentenario 2010
UANL	3rd	1974–75	59	1997–98	36	6	Apertura 2017
UNAM	14th	1962–63	74	1962–63	74	7	Clausura 2011
Veracruz	18th	1943–44	53	2013–14	6	2	1949/50

Champions

See also: List of Mexican football champions

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning years
América	13	9	1965–66, 1970–71, 1975–76, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1988–89, Verano 2002, Clausura 2005, Clausura 2013, Apertura 2014, Apertura 2018
Guadalajara	12	9	1956–57, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1969–70, 1986–87, Verano 1997, Apertura 2006, Clausura 2017
Toluca	10	7	1966–67, 1967–68, 1974–75, Verano 1998, Verano 1999, Verano 2000, Apertura 2002, Apertura 2005, Apertura 2008, Bicentenario 2010
Cruz Azul	7	11	1968–69, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1978–79, 1979–80, Invierno 1997
UNAM	7	7	1976–77, 1980–81, 1990–91, Clausura 2004, Apertura 2004, Clausura 2009, Clausura 2011
León	7	5	1947–48, 1948–49, 1951–52, 1955–56, 1991–92, Apertura 2013, Clausura 2014
UANL	6	5	1977–78, 1981–82, Apertura 2011, Apertura 2015, Apertura 2016, Apertura 2017
Santos Laguna	6	5	Invierno 1996, Verano 2001, Clausura 2008, Clausura 2012, Clausura 2015, Clausura 2018
Pachuca	6	3	Invierno 1999, Invierno 2001, Apertura 2003, Clausura 2006, Clausura 2007, Clausura 2016
Monterrey	3	6	Clausura 2003, Apertura 2009, Apertura 2010
Atlante †	3	4	1946–47, 1992–93, Apertura 2007
Necaxa	3	3	1994–95, 1995–96, Invierno 1998
Puebla	2	2	1982–83, 1989–90
Zacatepec †	2	1	1954–55, 1957–58
Veracruz	2	0	1945–46, 1949–50
Oro †††	1	5	1962–63
Morelia	1	3	Invierno 2000
Atlas	1	3	1950–51
Tampico Madero †	1	2	1952–53
Tecos ††	1	1	1993–94
Real España ††††	1	1	1944–45
Tijuana	1	0	Apertura 2012
Asturias ††††	1	0	1943–44
Marte ††††	1	0	1953–54
UdeG †	0	3
Querétaro	0	1
Toros Neza ††††	0	1
Atlético Celaya †	0	1
Atlético Español ††††	0	1
San Luis ††††	0	1

† Teams currently in the Ascenso MX

†† Teams currently in the Liga Premier

††† Teams currently in the Amateur Levels

†††† Defunct teams

Stadiums and locations

Guadalajara
Atlas

Veracruz

León

UANL
Monterrey

Morelia

Necaxa

Pachuca

Puebla
BUAP

Querétaro

Santos Laguna

Tijuana

Toluca

Location of the 2018–19 Liga MX teams

América
Cruz Azul

UNAM

Location of the 2018–19 Liga MX teams in Greater Mexico City

Club	Location	Stadium	Capacity	Ref
América	Mexico City	Azteca	87,000	[17]
Atlas	Guadalajara	Jalisco	56,713	[18]
BUAP	Puebla City	Universitario BUAP	19,283	[19]
Cruz Azul	Mexico City	Azteca	87,000	[18]
Guadalajara	Zapopan	Akron	45,364	[20]
León	León	León	31,297	[21]
Monterrey	Guadalupe	BBVA Bancomer	53,500	[22]
Morelia	Morelia	Morelos	35,000	[23]
Necaxa	Aguascalientes City	Victoria	25,500	[24]
Pachuca	Pachuca	Hidalgo	30,000	[25]
Puebla	Puebla City	Cuauhtémoc	51,726	[26]
Querétaro	Querétaro City	Corregidora	33,162	[27]
Santos Laguna	Torreón	Corona	30,000	[28]
Tijuana	Tijuana	Caliente	27,333	[29]
Toluca	Toluca	Nemesio Díez	31,000	[30]
UANL	San Nicolás de los Garza	Universitario	42,000	[31]
UNAM	Mexico City	Olímpico Universitario	52,000	[32][33]
Veracruz	Boca del Río	Luis "Pirata" Fuente	28,703	[34]

Media coverage

In theory, all First Division clubs have the right to sell their own broadcast rights. In practice, however, the league is divided between teams broadcast on Televisa, TV Azteca, Imagen Televisión, Claro Sports, Fox Sports, and ESPN in México. ESPN Deportes, Fox Deportes, and Univision have the rights in the United States, with FS1/FS2 airing select matches with English commentary.

In previous years, when a team was relegated, the team that was promoted could only negotiate with the company holding the television rights of the relegated team. This agreement was canceled by Liga MX in 2012 when the promotion of Club León caused a television rights dispute with Televisa.^[35] 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 2013–16).^[36]

Telelatino and Fox Sports World hold broadcasting rights in Canada; 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 TDN 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.

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.

A recent rule, in effect since 2011, requires teams to play the final game of every season on Sunday during prime time, regardless of whether the team used to play local games in another timeslot, in order to capture more television audience during the game.

For the Apertura 2016, and the majority of the Clausura 2017, Guadalajara home matches in Mexico were not shown on over-the-air television or cable and satellite operators. Instead, they were exclusively shown on an internet streaming service called Chivas TV. As of April 8, 2017, the matches are shown on both Televisa's Televisa Deportes Network (TDN) and Chivas TV.

On February 13, 2017, it was announced Univision Deportes would live stream 46 games in English on Facebook in the United States.^[37]

After the Clausura 2017 season, Azteca América sold the rights of the Atlas, Morelia, Tijuana, and Veracruz matches to Univision. The network then held the rights of 17 of the 18 clubs, only missing recently promoted Lobos BUAP. In September 2017, Univision began airing Lobos BUAP's home matches, thus holding the rights to all 18 Liga MX teams through the end of the Clausura 2018 season.

In July 2017, Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN) announced it would show Liga MX matches involving Chilean players in Chile.^[38]

In Japan, Liga MX will be broadcast on Fuji TV.^[39] León and Pachuca's home matches will be broadcast on Fox Sports Asia

In October 2017, Fox Sports announced that it acquired the long-term exclusive Spanish-language rights to Tijuana and Santos Laguna home matches in the United States, Mexico, and the rest of Latin America starting in the Apertura 2018 and Apertura 2019 respectively, thus ending Univision's monopoly.^[40] The matches air on Fox Deportes in the United States and Fox Sports Latin America in Mexico and the rest of Latin America.^[40]

On May 26, 2018, Fox Sports announced it acquired the rights of C.F. Monterrey's home matches in the United States and Latin America.^[41] The network announced the matches would be shown in the United States on Fox Deportes in Spanish as well as the Fox Sports family of networks in English.^[41]

As of the Clausura 2019 season, ESPN Deportes airs select América, Cruz Azul, León, Necaxa, Pachuca, Querétaro, Toluca, UANL, and UNAM regular season home matches.

Television home matches broadcast rights

Team	Mexico Broadcaster	U.S. Broadcaster	Day	Time[1]
América	Televisa	ESPN Deportes / Univision	Saturday	7:00 PM
Atlas	TV Azteca / ESPN	Univision	Friday	9:00 PM
BUAP	Televisa	Univision[ESPN]	Sunday	4:00 PM
Cruz Azul	Televisa	ESPN Deportes / Univision	Saturday	5:00 PM
Guadalajara	Chivas TV[Note 1] Multimedios[Note 2] Televisa TV Azteca	Univision[ESPN]	Saturday	9:06 PM
León	Fox Sports / Claro	ESPN Deportes / Univision	Saturday	7:06 PM
Monterrey	Fox Sports	Fox Sports (English and Spanish)[Note 3]	Saturday	9:00 PM
Morelia	TV Azteca / ESPN[Note 4]	Univision	Friday	7:00 PM
Necaxa	Televisa	ESPN Deportes / Univision	Saturday	9:00 PM
Pachuca	Fox Sports / Claro	ESPN Deportes / Univision	Saturday	7:06 PM
Puebla	TV Azteca / ESPN[Note 4]	Univision	Friday	9:00 PM
Querétaro	Fox Sports / Grupo Imagen	ESPN Deportes / Univision	Saturday	5:00 PM
Santos Laguna	TV Azteca / ESPN	Univision	Sunday	6:00 PM
Tijuana	Fox Sports	Fox Sports (English and Spanish)[Note 3]	Saturday	7:00 PM[1]
Toluca	Televisa	Univision[ESPN]	Sunday	12:00 PM
UANL	Televisa	ESPN Deportes / Univision	Saturday	7:00 PM
UNAM	Televisa	ESPN Deportes / Univision	Sunday	12:00 PM
Veracruz	TV Azteca / ESPN[Note 4]	Univision	Friday	7:00 PM

1. 
   ^ For the Apertura 2016 and the majority of the Clausura 2017, Guadalajara home matches in Mexico were not shown on over-the-air television or cable and satellite operators, instead they exclusively were shown on an internet streaming service called Chivas TV. As of April 8, 2017, the matches are shown on both Televisa's Televisa Deportes Network (TDN) and Chivas TV.


2. 
   ^ Matches only air in Guadalajara (XHTDJA-TDT), Monterrey, Saltillo (both XHAW-TDT) and Torreón (XHOAH-TDT)^[42]
   


3. 
   ^ Matches are shown on Fox Deportes in Spanish as well as FS1 and FS2 in English. Matches are also shown on Fox Sports Arizona, Fox Sports San Diego, and Fox Sports West/Prime Ticket.


4. 
   ^ Games are shown on ESPN but only on tape delay


5. 
   ^ All match times are UTC−06:00 except for matches in Tijuana (UTC−08:00).


6. 
   ^ ESPN Deportes will show at least one home match

Sponsorship

BBVA Bancomer was named the league's official sponsor in 2013.

Up until its rebranding in 2012, the Liga MX did not have a title sponsor. In July 2013, league president Decio de María announced BBVA Bancomer as the official sponsor, with the goal of modernizing the league's image. De María also 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.^[43] On 18 September 2015, the sponsorship deal was extended until 2019.^[44]

Since 1986, Voit has been the official match ball manufacturer. In 2014, the contract was extended for four years.^[45]

Managers

The current managers in the Liga MX are:

Nat.	Name	Team	Appointed	Time as manager
	Ricardo Ferretti	UANL	20 May 2010	7003317700000000000♠8 years, 255 days
	Hernán Cristante	Toluca	31 May 2016	7002974000000000000♠2 years, 244 days
	Roberto Hernández	Morelia	7 February 2017	7002722000000000000♠1 year, 357 days
	Miguel Herrera	América	26 May 2017	7002614000000000000♠1 year, 249 days
	Enrique Meza	Puebla	3 October 2017	7002484000000000000♠1 year, 119 days
	David Patiño	UNAM	3 October 2017	7002484000000000000♠1 year, 119 days
	Pedro Caixinha	Cruz Azul	5 December 2017	7002421000000000000♠1 year, 56 days
	Rafael Puente Jr.	Querétaro	7 May 2018	7002268000000000000♠268 days
	Diego Alonso	Monterrey	18 May 2018	7002257000000000000♠257 days
	Pako Ayestarán	Pachuca	28 May 2018	7002247000000000000♠247 days
	Francisco Palencia	BUAP	1 June 2018	7002243000000000000♠243 days
	José Cardozo	Guadalajara	12 June 2018	7002232000000000000♠232 days
	Salvador Luis Reyes	Santos Laguna	8 August 2018	7002175000000000000♠175 days
	Ángel Guillermo Hoyos	Atlas	11 September 2018	7002141000000000000♠141 days
	Ignacio Ambríz	León	18 September 2018	7002134000000000000♠134 days
	Óscar Pareja	Tijuana	27 November 2018	7001640000000000000♠64 days
	Guillermo Vázquez	Necaxa	29 November 2018	7001620000000000000♠62 days
	Robert Siboldi	Veracruz	5 December 2018	7001560000000000000♠56 days

Player records

Most appearances

Rank	Player	Appearances
1	Óscar Pérez	735
2	Oswaldo Sanchez	725
3	Benjamín Galindo	700
4	Rodrigo Ruiz	638
5	Adolfo Ríos	635
6	Juan Pablo Rodríguez	634
7	Miguel España	631
8	Alfonso Sosa	610
9	Cristóbal Ortega	608
10	Israel López	604
Italics denotes players still playing professional football. Bold denotes players still playing in the Liga MX.

Most goals

Rank	Nat	Name	Years	Goals	Apps	Ratio
1		Evanivaldo Castro	1974–1987	312	427	0.73
2		Carlos Hermosillo	1984–2001	294	539	0.55
3		Jared Borgetti	1994–2010	252	475	0.63
4		José Cardozo	1994–2005	249	332	0.75
5		Horacio Casarín	1936–1957	238	326	0.73
6		Osvaldo Castro	1971–1984	214	398	0.54
7		Luis Roberto Alves	1986–2003	209	577	0.36
8		Adalberto López	1942–1955	201	231	0.87
9		Carlos Eloir Perucci	1972–1984	199	398	0.5
10		Sergio Lira	1978–1996	191	564	0.34
Italics denotes players still playing professional football. Bold denotes players still playing in the Liga MX.

Promotion and relegation

Relegation and Promotion by Club

Club	Promotions	Relegations
Zacatepec	5 (1950–51, 1962–63, 1969–70, 1977–78, 1983–84)	5 (1961–62, 1965–66, 1976–77, 1982–83, 1984–85)
Querétaro	4 (México '86, 1989–90, 2005–06, 2009–10)	3 (1993–94, 2006–07, 2012–13*)
Pachuca	4 (1966–67, 1991–92, 1995–96, 1997–98)	3 (1972–73, 1992–93, 1996–97)
Irapuato	4 (1953–54, 1984–85, 1999–00*, 2002–03)	2 (1971–72, 1990–91)
Atlas	3 (1954–55, 1971–72, 1978–79)	3 (1953–54, 1970–71, 1977–78)
San Luis	3 (1970–71, 2001–02, 2004–05)	2 (1973–74, 2002–03)
Puebla	3 (1969–70, 1998–99, 2006–07)	2 (1998–99, 2004–05)
Unión de Curtidores	2 (1982–83, 1998–99*)	2 (1980–81, 1983–84)
Veracruz	2 (1963–64, 2001–02)	4 (1951–52, 1978–79, 1997–98, 2007–08)
Real Zamora	2 (1954–55, 1956–57)	2 (1955–56, 1959–60)
Tampico Madero	2 (1964–65, 1972–73)	2 (1966–67, 1974–75)
Atlante	2 (1976–77, 1990–91)	3 (1975–76, 1989–90, 2013–14)
Monterrey	2 (1955–56,1959–60)	1 (1956–57)
Morelia	2 (1956–57, 1980–81)	1 (1967–68)
UANL	2 (1973–74, 1996–97*)	1 (1995–96)
León	2 (1989–90, 2011–12)	2 (1986–87, 2001–02)
Sinaloa	2 (2004–05, 2014–15)	2 (2005–06, 2015–16)
La Piedad	2 (2000–01, 2012–13*)	-
Necaxa	2 (2009–10*, 2015–16)	2 (2008–09, 2010–11)
UAT	1 (1986–87)	1 (1994–95)
Atlético Potosino	1 (1974–75)	1 (1988–89)
Indios de Ciudad Juárez	1 (2007–08)	1 (2009–10)
Toros Neza	1 (1988–89)	1 (1999–00)
Tecos	1 (1974–75)	1 (2011–12)
Tijuana	1 (2010–11)	-
UdeG	1 (2013–14)	1 (2014–15)
BUAP	1 (2016–17)	1 (2017–18*)
Oro	-	1 (1979–80)
Chiapas	-	1 (2016–17)
Tapachula	1 (2017–18*)	-

Notes:

• 1976–77: Tampico Madero bought San Luis's spot in first division.


• 1977–78: Deportivo Neza bought San Isidro Laguna and took its spot.


• 1981–82: Tampico Madero bought Atletas Campesinos and took over its spot.


• 1983–84: Ángeles de Puebla bought Oaxtepec and took over its spot.


• 1988–89: Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz bought Potros Neza and took over its spot.


• 1992–93: U.T. Neza changes its name to Toros Neza.


• 1996–97: UANL gained automatic promotion as they won both tournaments.


• 1998–99: Puebla bought Unión de Curtidores and took over its spot.


• 1999–00: Irapuato gained automatic promotion as they won both tournaments.


• 2009–10: Necaxa gained automatic promotion as they won both tournaments.


• 2012–13: Chiapas relocated to Querétaro rebranding to Querétaro.


• 2012–13: Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz bought Reboceros de La Piedad's spot in first division.


• 2017–18: Tapachula won promotion to Liga MX, but were not certified to be promoted to Liga MX.

See also

• Primera Fuerza


• Liga Occidental De Jalisco


• Liga Amateur de Veracruz


• Ascenso MX


• Liga Premier


• Tercera División de México


• Campeón de Campeones


• Copa MX


• Liga MX Femenil


• Football in Mexico


• Mexican Football Federation


• List of foreign Liga MX players

References

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2. 
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3. 
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External links

• 
  Official website (in Spanish)
  


• MEDIOTIEMPO.COM


• 
  Mexico - List of Champions, RSSSF.com (in English)
  

v t e Liga MX
2018–19 teams	América Atlas BUAP Cruz Azul Guadalajara León Monterrey Morelia Necaxa Pachuca Puebla Querétaro Santos Laguna Tijuana Toluca UANL UNAM Veracruz
Seasons	1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 Winter 1998 Summer 1999 Winter 1999 Summer 2000 Winter 2000 Summer 2001 Winter 2001 Summer 2002 Apertura 2002 Clausura 2003 Apertura 2003 Clausura 2004 Apertura 2004 Clausura 2005 Apertura 2005 Clausura 2006 Apertura 2006 Clausura 2007 Apertura 2007 Clausura 2008 Apertura 2008 Clausura 2009 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19

v t e Football in Mexico
Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación League system Venues Champions Clubs International competitions
National teams	Men National team Olympic (U-23) U-21 U-20 U-17 U-15 Futsal Beach soccer Women National team U-20 U-17
League system	Men Liga MX Ascenso MX Liga Premier Tercera División Women Liga MX Femenil Liga Mexicana de Fútbol Femenil
Domestic cups	Men Copa MX Supercopa MX Campeón de Campeones Pre Libertadores Cup (defunct) InterLiga (defunct) International 1985 Ciudad de México Cup Tournament 1985 Azteca 2000 Tournament
Awards	Balón de Oro Top scorers
Lists	El Clásico Clásico Regiomontano
Men's players Women's players Expatriate players Managers Referees Seasons

v t e Top level association football leagues of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean (CONCACAF)
Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Bahamas Barbados Belize Bermuda Bonaire† British Virgin Islands Canada Cayman Islands Costa Rica Cuba Curaçao Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador French Guiana† Grenada Guadeloupe† Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Martinique† Mexico Montserrat Nicaragua Panama Puerto Rico Saint Kitts and Nevis (Saint Kitts, Nevis) Saint Lucia Saint Martin† Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Sint Maarten† Suriname Trinidad and Tobago Turks and Caicos Islands United States U.S. Virgin Islands
† Associated members

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