Liga MX

What is Liga MX?

Liga MX is the top division of Mexican men’s football, 18 clubs organised by the professional league body of the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol; the FMF Executive Committee sets its competition rules. The competition is sold as Liga BBVA MX after its title sponsor. Its clubs take the largest share of places in the Concacaf Champions Cup and, since 2023, play every summer in the Leagues Cup against Major League Soccer.^{[1] [7] [9] [10]}

How does it work?

Two tournaments a year, Apertura (July–December) and Clausura (January–May), each with a 17-round regular phase and a liguilla of two-leg ties; the Clausura 2026 dropped the Play-In used in 2023–25, and the Apertura 2026 kept the direct format, sending the top eight straight to the quarter-finals with the final in mid-December. There is no relegation: promotion and relegation with the Liga de Expansión MX were suspended in 2020 for six seasons; the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2025 rejected an appeal by Expansión clubs for earlier reinstatement while confirming a return for 2026–27; and on 15 July 2026 the FMF instead amended Article 35 of its competition regulations so that, from 2026–27, Liga MX clubs do not go down and Expansión clubs do not come up.^{[2] [3] [5]}

Since when does it exist?

Mexico’s professional championship began in 1943–44; the short-tournament calendar produces two champions a year. Club América took three consecutive titles from the Apertura 2023, Toluca won both 2025 tournaments, and Cruz Azul’s Clausura 2026 championship was the club’s tenth.^{[2] [4] [11]}

Champions of the last ten tournaments.

Why does it matter?

On Concacaf’s club ranking of 21 May 2026 five Liga MX clubs stood in the top ten — Tigres first, Toluca second, Cruz Azul third — and the 2026 Champions Cup final was an all-Mexican affair. The league reported 81.7 million television viewers in Mexico and the United States for the Clausura 2026 and 3.91 million in the stadiums, an average of 23,417 a match. The FA’s Governing Body Endorsement criteria place Liga MX in Band 3, alongside MLS, the Brasileirão and the Argentine Primera.^{[6] [7] [8]}