Copa MX

Copa MX

Organiser(s)	Federación Mexicana de Fútbol
Founded	1942 (1942) (Professional era) as Copa México
Abolished	2020 (2020)
Region	Mexico
Teams	24
Last champions	Monterrey (3rd title)
Most championships	América (6 titles)
Broadcaster(s)	Claro ESPN Fox Sports Grupo Imagen Televisa TV Azteca TVC Deportes
Website	www.lacopamx.net

Copa MX was a professional association football competition in Mexico and a domestic cup tournament for clubs in the Liga MX and Ascenso MX. Formerly as Copa México (1942–1963, 1970–1976, 1987–1992, 1994–1997) and Copa Presidente (1963–1970), it was the first competition that included clubs from different regions of Mexico.

The tournament was held 56 editions. The inaugural edition as a professional competition was the 1942–43 Copa México, with Moctezuma crowned as the first champions.

In 2012, it was rebranded as Copa MX. The cup was not contested during several periods (1976–1987, 1992–1994, 1997–2012), and it has been on hiatus from 2020 to the present.

Twenty-two clubs won the title at least once. América is the most successful club with six titles, León and Puebla with five titles each, Guadalajara, Atlas, Cruz Azul and Necaxa with four titles each.

History

Amateur era (1932–1942)

After the foundation of the current and official Federación Mexicana de Fútbol in 1927, a new national competition was created as the Mexican cup tournament, it was named Copa México, the trophy was donate by the Presidency of Mexico and also received official support of President Lázaro Cárdenas. The inaugural edition as an amateur competition was the 1932–33 Copa México, with Necaxa finishing as the first champions in history. This marked the beginning of an 11-year period that is referred to in retrospect as the Cup's Amateur era. Asturias dominated the tournament, winning five titles during this period. The final edition was the 1941–42 Copa México, with Atlante finishing as the last champions of the amateur era.

Copa México (1942–1963, 1970–1976, 1987–1992, 1994–1997)

The professional era of the Copa México began in 1942. At first, it was played among clubs from the Liga Mayor (currently Liga MX). Beginning in 1950 the clubs of the Segunda División de México were also included into the competition with the exception of the 1956–57, 1963–64, 1994–95 and 1995–96 editions. The tournament was not held in several years (1976–1987, 1992–1994, 1997–2012), the Copa México champions also competed for the Campeón de Campeones until 1995.

Copa Presidente (1963–1970)

From 1963 to 1970, the competition was renamed as Copa Presidente, in honor of the fact that the trophy was donate by the Presidency of Mexico, Adolfo López Mateos (1963–64) and Gustavo Díaz Ordaz (1964–1970).

An unofficial and extraordinary cup tournament was held in 1963, known as Copa Presidencial Adolfo López Mateos. The tournament was played alongside the three official FMF competitions during that period (Liga Mayor, Copa México and Campeón de Campeones).

Copa MX (2012–2020)

In 2012, the competition returned with a rebranding as Copa MX, two short tournaments were played per year until 2019 (Apertura and Clausura), similar to Liga MX, except the 2019–20 Copa MX, which was played during the annual season. From 2014 to 2019, the two Copa MX champions of the year qualified for the Supercopa MX.

However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 final was postponed until November. After the 2019–20 edition, the competition was abolished due to busy calendar issues with the FMF giving preference to matches of the Mexico national football team in preparation to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Competition format

From 2012 to 2016, in the Apertura tournament, the four Liga MX clubs qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League were not participating in the Copa MX; the remaining 14 clubs participated alongside 14 clubs from Ascenso MX. The 14 Ascenso MX clubs were the 13 top point-earners from the previous season, plus the newly relegated club. The 28 participating clubs were divided into seven groups of four clubs each. The seven group winners and the best runner-up with the highest point total qualified for the quarterfinals.

Each club played 6 matches in the group stage. Groups and home field advantage were determined by a blind draw. For the group draw, Liga MX clubs were placed in Pot A, while Ascenso MX clubs were placed in Pot B. In the home field advantage draw, no club can have more than two home games in the group stage. A blind draw determined home field advantage in the final knockout phase.

In the Clausura tournament, the 11 Liga MX clubs that did not qualify for international competitions (CONCACAF Champions League and Copa Libertadores) participated alongside the 13 Ascenso MX clubs with the highest point total from the previous short tournament. The 24 participating clubs were divided into six groups of four clubs each. The six group winners and the two best runners-up with the highest point total qualified for the quarter-finals. Both tournaments will have the same draw format and number of group matches, and the final knockout phase for both tournaments will be single-elimination.

From Apertura 2016 to Clausura 2019, the tournaments had 24 or 27 participating clubs, depending on the Liga MX clubs that qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League and also on the qualification criteria based on the clubs' positions in each division in the previous season. The participating clubs were divided into eight or nine groups with three clubs each. With 24 clubs, the eight group winners and the eight runners-up qualified for the round of 16. With 27 clubs, the nine group winners and the best seven runners-up qualified for the round of 16.

Clubs will play four matches in the group stage. Groups and home field advantage will be determined the draw by public at their annual draft. For the group draw, Liga MX clubs' top 4-point-earners and Ascenso MX clubs' top 4-point-earners will be placed in Pot A, while Liga MX clubs' mid 4-point-earners and Ascenso MX clubs' mid 4-point-earners will be placed in Pot B and Liga MX clubs' last 4-point-earners and Ascenso MX clubs' last 4-point-earners will be placed in Pot C. In the home field advantage draw, teams can have two home games in the group stage. A blind draw will determine home field advantage in the final knockout phase.

From 2014 to 2019, the two Copa MX champions qualified directly for the Supercopa MX. The 2019–20 Copa MX consisted of one tournament played during the year, according to FIFA's world footballing calendar. It has 27 participating clubs (15 from Liga MX and 12 from Ascenso MX).

Results

The first domestic cup tournament organized by the current and official FMF was the 1932–33 Copa México in the amateur era.

Amateur era

Ed.	Year	Champions	Results	Runners-up
Copa México
1	1932–33	Necaxa	3–1	Germania
2	1933–34	Asturias	3–0	Necaxa
—	1934–35	The competition was not held
3	1935–36	Necaxa	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Asturias
4	1936–37	Asturias	5–3	América
5	1937–38	América	3–1	Real España
6	1938–39	Asturias	4–1	Real España
7	1939–40	Asturias	1–0	Necaxa
8	1940–41	Asturias	2–2 w/o	Real España
9	1941–42	Atlante	5–3 5–0	Necaxa

Professional era

Ed.	Year	Champions	Results	Runners-up	Manager
Copa México
1	1942–43	Moctezuma	5–3 (a.e.t.)	Atlante	Eduardo Morilla
2	1943–44	Real España	6–2	Atlante	Rodolfo Muñoz
3	1944–45	Puebla	6–4	América	Eduardo Morilla
4	1945–46	Atlas	5–4 (a.e.t.)	Atlante	Eduardo Valdatti
5	1946–47	Moctezuma	4–3	Oro	Julio Kaiser
6	1947–48	Veracruz	3–1	Guadalajara	Joaquin Urquiaga
7	1948–49	León	3–0	Atlante	Jose Maria Casullo
8	1949–50	Atlas	3–1	Veracruz	Eduardo Valdatti
9	1950–51	Atlante	1–0	Guadalajara	Octavio Vial
10	1951–52	Atlante	Final group	Guadalajara	Gregorio Blasco
11	1952–53	Puebla	4–1	León	Isidro Langara
12	1953–54	América	1–1 (3–2 p)	Guadalajara	Octavio Vial
13	1954–55	América	1–0	Guadalajara	Octavio Vial
14	1955–56	Toluca	2–1	Irapuato	Fernando Marcos
15	1956–57	Zacatepec	1–0	León	Ignacio Trellez
16	1957–58	León	1–1 5–2 (a.e.t.)	Zacatepec	Antonio López Herranz
17	1958–59	Zacatepec	2–1	León	Ignacio Trellez
18	1959–60	Necaxa	4–1	Tampico	Donald Ross
19	1960–61	Tampico	1–0	Toluca	Nicolas Palma
20	1961–62	Atlas	3–3 1–0	Tampico	Jose Carlos Bauer
21	1962–63	Guadalajara	2–1	Atlante	Javier De la Torre
Copa Presidente
22	1963–64	América	0–0 1–1 (5–4 p)	Monterrey	Alejandro Scopelli
23	1964–65	América	4–0	Morelia	Alejandro Scopelli
24	1965–66	Necaxa	3–3 1–0	León	Miguel Marin
25	1966–67	León	2–1	Guadalajara	Luis Grill
26	1967–68	Atlas	2–1	Veracruz	Javier Novello
27	1968–69	Cruz Azul	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Monterrey	Raúl Cárdenas
28	1969–70	Guadalajara	3–2 2–1	Torreón	Javier de la Torre
Copa México
29	1970–71	León	0–0 (10–9 p)	Zacatepec	Antonio Carbajal
30	1971–72	León	Final group	Zacatepec	Antonio Carbajal
—	1972–73	The competition was not held
31	1973–74	América	2–1 1–1	Cruz Azul	José Antonio Roca
32	1974–75	Pumas UNAM	Final group	Leones Negros UdeG	Árpád Fekete
33	1975–76	Tigres UANL	2–0 1–2	América	Claudio Lostaunau
—	1976–1987	The competition was not held
34	1987–88	Puebla	0–0 1–1 (a.g.)	Cruz Azul	Hugo Fernández
35	1988–89	Toluca	1–1 2–1 (a.e.t.)	Leones Negros UdeG	Héctor Sanabria
36	1989–90	Puebla	4–1 0–2	Tigres UANL	Manuel Lapuente
37	1990–91	Leones Negros UdeG	1–0 0–0	América	Alberto Guerra
38	1991–92	Monterrey	4–2	Cobras de Juárez	Miguel Mejía Barón
—	1992–1994	The competition was not held
39	1994–95	Necaxa	2–0	Veracruz	Manuel Lapuente
40	1995–96	Tigres UANL	1–1 1–0	Atlas	Victor Manuel Vucetich
41	1996–97	Cruz Azul	2–0	Toros Neza	Victor Manuel Vucetich
—	1997–2012	The competition was not held
Copa MX
42	Ape–2012	Dorados de Sinaloa	2–2 (3–2 p)	Correcaminos UAT	Francisco Javier Ramírez
43	Cla–2013	Cruz Azul	0–0 (4–2 p)	Atlante	Guillermo Vázquez
44	Ape–2013	Morelia	3–3 (3–1 p)	Atlas	Carlos Bustos
45	Cla–2014	Tigres UANL	3–0	Alebrijes de Oaxaca	Ricardo Ferretti
46	Ape–2014	Santos Laguna	2–2 (4–2 p)	Puebla	Pedro Caixinha
47	Cla–2015	Puebla	4–2	Guadalajara	José Guadalupe Cruz
48	Ape–2015	Guadalajara	1–0	León	Matías Almeyda
49	Cla–2016	Veracruz	4–1	Necaxa	Carlos Reinoso
50	Ape–2016	Querétaro	0–0 (3–2 p)	Guadalajara	Víctor Manuel Vucetich
51	Cla–2017	Guadalajara	0–0 (3–1 p)	Morelia	Matías Almeyda
52	Ape–2017	Monterrey	1–0	Pachuca	Antonio Mohamed
53	Cla–2018	Necaxa	1–0	Toluca	Ignacio Ambríz
54	Ape–2018	Cruz Azul	2–0	Monterrey	Pedro Caixinha
55	Cla–2019	América	1–0	Juárez	Miguel Herrera
56	2019–20	Monterrey	1–0 1–1	Tijuana	Antonio Mohamed

Performances

Rank	Club	Titles	Runners-up	Winning years
1	América	6	3	1953–54, 1954–55, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1973–74, Cla–2019
2	León	5	5	1948–49, 1957–58, 1966–67, 1970–71, 1971–72
	Puebla	5	1	1944–45, 1952–53, 1987–88, 1989–90, Cla–2015
4	Guadalajara	4	8	1962–63, 1969–70, Ape–2015, Cla–2017
	Atlas	4	2	1945–46, 1949–50, 1961–62, 1967–68
	Cruz Azul	4	2	1968–69, 1996–97, Cla–2013, Ape–2018
	Necaxa	4	1	1959–60, 1965–66, 1994–95, Cla–2018
8	Monterrey	3	3	1991–92, Ape–2017, 2019–20
	Tigres UANL	3	1	1975–76, 1995–96, Cla–2014
10	Atlante	2	6	1950–51, 1951–52
	Veracruz1	2	3	1947–48, Cla–2016
	Zacatepec	2	3	1956–57, 1958–59
	Toluca	2	2	1955–56, 1988–89
	Moctezuma1	2	0	1942–43, 1946–47
15	Tampico1	1	2	1960–61
	Leones Negros UdeG	1	2	1990–91
	Morelia	1	2	Ape–2013
	Real España1	1	0	1943–44
	Pumas UNAM	1	0	1974–75
	Dorados de Sinaloa	1	0	Ape–2012
	Santos Laguna	1	0	Ape–2014
	Querétaro	1	0	Ape–2016
23	Oro	0	1	—
	Irapuato	0	1	—
	Torreón1	0	1	—
	Cobras de Juárez1	0	1	—
	Toros Neza	0	1	—
	Correcaminos UAT	0	1	—
	Alebrijes de Oaxaca	0	1	—
	Pachuca	0	1	—
	Juárez	0	1	—
	Tijuana	0	1	—

Notes

1. Defunct.

See also

• Sport in Mexico
• Football in Mexico
• Mexican Football Federation
• Liga MX
• Supercopa MX
• Campeón de Campeones
• Copa MX Femenil

External links

• Official site