Liga MX Previews, Predictions & Betting Tips

The Liga MX is the highest level in the Mexican football league system. It was established in 1943 by six clubs from the Primera Fuerza of Mexico City, two clubs from the Liga Occidental, and two from the Liga Veracruzana.

The league is considered the strongest in North America and one of the strongest in all of Latin America. According to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, the league currently ranks 11th worldwide and was ranked as the 10th strongest league in the first decade of the 21st century.

Liga MX attracts a large amount of people to the stadiums and is the fourth most attended football league in the world behind the Bundesliga, English Premier League and La Liga.

Liga MX comprises 18 clubs, with one being relegated every year based on its league performances over the previous three years. The top eight teams in the table at the end of the regular phase of the tournament qualify to the liguilla (mini-league, or playoff). If one of those teams is in last place in the league's relegation table, that team is replaced by the team that finished ninth in the tournament.

Liga MX is divided into two annual tournaments resulting in two champions per season. The season begins with the Apertura tournament which runs from July to December and ends with the Clausura from January to May. 

At the end of a season after the conclusion of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments, one team is relegated to the second divison, the Ascenso MX, with one team from that division is promoted to take their place.

Four teams from Liga MX qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League, North America’s elite club competition. The Apertura and Clausura champions and runners-up qualify and are placed in pot three. 

Of the 56 teams to have competed in the Liga MX, Club América and Guadalajara have won the most titles with 12 each, followed by Toluca with 10, Cruz Azul with eight, León and Pumas UNAM each with seven. 

The current league champions are Santos Laguna who defeated Toluca to win the Clausura 2018 tournament.