Liga MX founders, history, and everything you need to know about the league

Many consider Liga MX to be one of the most prestigious leagues on the planet. Its long history and ongoing intrigue solidify the league's status as a top American league. With only 24 championships in the nearly 80-year history of the league, just 24 teams have ever competed at the top level. Who are Liga MX founders?

The Liga MX was founded in 1943. Its establishment marked a pivotal moment in Mexican football, providing a structured platform for professional clubs to compete at the highest level. The founding clubs included prominent teams such as Club América, Club Deportivo Guadalajara (commonly known as Chivas), Atlas, Necaxa, and Atlante, among others.

Facts about Liga MX

For sponsorship purposes, the Liga MX is sometimes known as the Liga BBVA MX, and it is the highest level of professional football in Mexico. A full synopsis of its origins, development, and salient features is presented here:

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History of Liga MX

Established in 1943 by the Mexican Football Federation (Federacion Mexicana de Futbol Asociacion) with ten founding members, the Liga MX is Mexico's top-tier football competition. Originally called the Liga Mayor, it was formed when six clubs from Mexico City's Primera Fuerza, two from Jalisco's Liga Occidental, and two from Veracruz's Amateur League came together to create the first professional club football league in Mexico.

On both the North and South American continents, the Liga MX is among the most popular leagues and draws the most extraordinary crowds of spectators. The other Liga MX season spans July through May and features 18 teams.

There are two tournaments in a single campaign: the Apertura (beginning) and the Clausura (ending). The Apertura runs from July through December, and the Clausura, following a brief mid-season break, runs from January through May.

Liga MX founders

Among the first division's founding teams in Mexico, only Club America and Chivas have managed to avoid relegation on more than one occasion. The founders' names are:

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

Liga Occidental de Jalisco: Atlas and Guadalajara.

Liga Amateur de Veracruz: ADO and Moctezuma.

When was Liga MX founded?

With its headquarters at La Casa del Fútbol, a sports and office complex in Toluca, Mexico, Liga MX is the top tier of Mexican soccer and comprises 18 clubs nationwide. In 2012, it was established to provide a fresh perspective on the Primera División format and the organization of the lower divisions.

Liga MX’s most successful sides

Fans of Chivas cheer for their team during the quarter-finals first leg match against America as part of the Clausura 2016, Liga MX at Chivas Stadium. Photo: Refugio Ruiz

• Guadalajara (Club Deportivo Guadalajara, also known as Chivas) has 12 league titles, whereas Club America has 13—making them the most successful team in history.
• There are ten titles held by Toluca (Club Deportivo Toluca), nine by Cruz Azul, eight by Club Leon, and seven by Tigres UANL and UNAM/Pumas.
• Six times apiece for Pachuca and Santos Laguna, five for Monterrey, and three for the quartet of Atlas (current champions), Atlante, and Necaxa.
• While Tijuana, Asturias, Marte, Real Espana, Tecos, Tampico Madero, Morelia, and Oro have one title, Puebla, Zacatepec, and Veracruz have two.

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Liga MX's most valuable players

Following the lead of the expert site Transfermarkt, we present a list of the ten most expensive players in Mexico's first level of soccer. Here is the ranking of the most valuable Liga MX players by 2024.

Famous players in Liga MX

Gilberto Alves, Guillermo Ochoa, Florian Thauvin, Andre-Pierre Gignac, Joel Campbell, and Vincent Janssen are well-known players now competing in the Liga MX. Hirving Lozano, Keisuke Honda, Ravel Morrison, Pep Guardiola, Rafael Marquez, Javier Hernandez, aka Chicharito, Hugo Sanchez, and Oswaldo Sanchez were once league members.

Liga MX's richest teams

At €24,795,140 per annum, Tigres UANL is the football club with the biggest payroll in Liga MX. On average, each player earns €885,541 per year. Compared to Cruz Azul (the team with the second-highest salary) and Monterrey (the team with the third-highest)

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With a market value of almost 96.9 million euros as of February 2024, the soccer club CF América was the most valued team in Mexico's premier level, Liga MX. Second place went to CF Monterrey, with a value of around 91.5 million euros.22

Who is the highest-paid player in the Liga MX?

Cruz Azul's Ángel Romero now earns €10,885,760 every season, making him the highest-paid footballer in Liga MX. Florian Thauvin is second with a salary of €5,187,520 each season, while Efraín Velarde Calvillo is paid €5,000,656 every season, making him the third highest-paid footballer.

Liga MX format

During the Apertura and Clausura regular seasons, each of the 18 clubs that make up Liga MX plays each other once. The tournaments follow the same round-robin format as most football leagues worldwide, with each team playing each other once at home and once away.

The top four teams from the regular tournament phase automatically qualify for the quarterfinals. In contrast, the top 12 clubs in the league standings advance to the Liguilla (play-offs) at the end of each tournament.

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To decide who gets the remaining four spaces in the Liguilla (minor league in English), the play-off round is contested by the following eight teams, ranked fifth through twelfth. In a mini-tournament, the teams ranked fifth through twelfth face off against each other once; the top four teams advance to the quarterfinals, while the bottom four face off against each other.

The first stage of the Liguilla consists of home and away matches for the quarterfinals. The winners of these matches advance to the semifinals, where they also play home and away. The first two teams in each semifinal play each other, while the last two in the semifinals also square off.

In the event of a tie in the quarterfinals or semifinals, the higher-seeded team would advance to the next round, and away goals would serve as the first tiebreaker. If the finals reach a deadlock after regulation time, the victor will be determined by extra time or penalty kicks; however, tiebreakers are not used in the finals. Since Liguilla's inception in 1996, no Liga MX club has managed to win back-to-back championships.

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Current Liga MX teams

The Liga MX is comprised of 18 teams as of 2024. The following clubs compete in the league currently.

International Competitions

In international competitions like the CONCACAF Champions League, Liga MX teams often face off against teams from different nations. The Mexican clubs have a lengthy history of success in this event, and these teams usually dominate in the later stages.

Final word

Liga MX, Mexico's top professional football (soccer) competition, was established in 1943. At one stage, it was known as Primera División de México. Atlas, Necaxa, and Atlante are Liga MX founders in addition to América and Guadalajara (Chivas).

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