Copa MX

Copa MX, also known as Copa Corona MX for sponsorship reasons,^[8] was an association football competition in Mexico and the domestic cup tournament for clubs at the highest and second levels of Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Copa México (1942–1963, 1970–1997) and also as Copa Presidente (1963–1970), the first season of the professional era was held in 1942–43. The cup tournament was not held in several years (1976–1988, 1992–1994, 1997–2012) and currently the competition has been paused since the 2019–20 edition. It was the first tournament that included teams from different parts of Mexico and was considered a prestigious competition, especially during its earlier years of existence. The purpose of the competition was to determine a national cup champion, thus distinguishing it from the national league championship. Its format was different from the local leagues as well, as it employed direct elimination and culminated in a final match.

Copa MX

Organising body	Federación Mexicana de Fútbol (FMF)
Founded	1942; 83 years ago (1942), as Copa México
Abolished	2020; 5 years ago (2020)
Region	Mexico
Number of teams	24
Domestic cup(s)	Supercopa MX
Last champions	Monterrey (3rd title)
Most successful club(s)	América (6 titles)
Television broadcasters	Claro[1] ESPN[2] Fox Sports[3] Grupo Imagen[4] Televisa[5] TV Azteca[6] TVC Deportes[7]
Website	Copa MX

In May 2012, Liga MX president Decio de María announced the return and rebranding of the tournament as Copa MX.^[9]

History

Amateur era

Copa México (1932–1942)

After the foundation of the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol in 1927, a new trophy named the Copa México was donated in 1932 and the first cup tournament organized by the FMF was contested during the 1932-33 season. This time, the competition also received official support of President Lázaro Cárdenas. The first Copa México was won by Necaxa in a tournament of historical importance due to the adoption of new rules. This marked the beginning of an 11-year period that is referred to in retrospect as the Amateur era. Once again, Asturias dominated the championship, winning it a record five times during this period.

Professional era (1942–2020)

Copa México (1942–1997)

In the 1942–43 edition the professional era of the Copa México began, a period that would last until the competition's termination in 1997. At first, it was played among teams from the Liga Mayor, which is currently Liga MX. Beginning in 1950 the teams 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.

Copa MX (2012–2020)

Upon its return in 2012, the newly rebranded Copa MX was played twice a year (Apertura and Clausura tournaments), concurrent with the two league tournaments. In the Apertura tournament, 14 of the Liga MX teams not involved in the CONCACAF Champions League, play alongside 14 of the Ascenso MX teams. The 14 Ascenso MX teams were the 13 top point-earners from the season prior, plus the newly relegated team. The teams were placed into seven groups of 4. The seven group winners, plus the group runner-up with the highest point total, moved on to the quarterfinals.

Teams played 6 games in the group stage. Groups and home field advantage were determined by a blind draw. For the group draw, Liga MX teams were placed in Pot A, while Ascenso MX teams were placed in Pot B. In the home field advantage draw, no team can have more than two home games in the group stage. A blind draw determined home field advantage in the knockout rounds.

In the Clausura tournament, the 11 Liga MX teams not involved in international tournaments, played alongside the 13 Ascenso MX teams with the highest point total from the previous short tournament. Both tournaments will have the same draw format and number of group games, KO rounds for both tournaments will be single-elimination.

The new format was played twice a year, concurrent with the two league tournaments. In the Apertura tournament, all Liga MX clubs will play alongside 12 of the Ascenso MX teams. The 12 Ascenso MX teams will be the 11 top point-earners from the season prior, plus the newly relegated team. The teams will be placed into 8 groups of 3. The 8 group winners, plus the 8 group runners-up, move on to the new round (round of 16).

Teams will play four games 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 teams' top 4 point-earners and Ascenso MX teams' top 4 point-earners will be placed in Pot A, while Liga MX teams' mid 4 point-earners and Ascenso MX teams' mid 4 point-earners will be placed in Pot B and Liga MX teams' last 4 point-earners and Ascenso MX teams' 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 KO rounds.

From the 2019–20 season, the Copa MX will be played as a single tournament throughout the season. It will have the participation of 27 teams (15 from Liga MX and 12 from Ascenso MX) placed into nine groups of three. Respect to the development of the tournament, this maintains most of the 2016 format, except the division into two short tournaments. The group stage played between July and December, and the final phase played between January and April.

However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 final was postponed until November, and beforehand, it suspended play due to busy calendar issues, with the Mexican Football Federation giving preference to matches of the Mexico national football team in preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, resulting in the cancellation of the 2020–21 season and the competition entering a new indefinite hiatus.

Precursor tournaments

Copa Tower

The tournament began in 1907 with the donation of the trophy by Reginald Tower, who was at the time the British ambassador to Mexico. For this reason, it was called the Copa Tower. At first, the tournament only included clubs from Mexico City and surrounding areas. Pachuca won the inaugural tournament, in 1908, by defeating Reforma in the final. In 1919, RC España won the cup for the third year straight and were allowed to keep the trophy permanently. In all, the Copa Tower was contested 15 times with RC España winning in four times in all, the best performance of the competition.

Copa Tower results

Ed.	Year	Champions	Results	Runners-up
1	1907–08	Pachuca AC	1–0	British Club
2	1908–09	Reforma AC	2–1	Pachuca AC
3	1909–10	Reforma AC	–	Pachuca AC
4	1910–11	British Club	3–0	Reforma AC
5	1911–12	Pachuca AC	w/o	Reforma AC
6	1912–13	Club México	3–1	Rovers
7	1913–14	Club México	2–0 (a.e.t.)	L'Amicale Française
8	1914–15	RC España	1–0	Rovers
9	1915–16	Rovers	–	Pachuca AC
10	1916–17	RC España	5–1	Club México
11	1917–18	RC España	1–0	Tigres México
12	1918–19	RC España	4–0	Club México
13	1919–20	América	1–0	Asturias
14	1920–21	Club México	1–0	Deportivo Internacional
15	1921–22	Asturias	2–0	Germania

Copa Eliminatoria

The tournament took place for the first time in 1920. The Copa Eliminatoria was contested 7 times between 1920 and 1928. RC España won it three times, the highest total of any club during this period.

Copa Eliminatoria results

Ed.	Year	Champions	Results	Runners-up
1	1920–21	RC España	2–1	Luz y Fuerza
2	1921–22	RC España	3–1	Luz y Fuerza
3	1922–23	Asturias	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Germania
4	1923–24	Asturias	3–0	RC España
5	1924–25	Necaxa	1–0 (a.e.t.)	América
6	1925–26	Necaxa	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Asturias
–	1926–27	The tournament was not held
7	1927–28	RC España	3–1	Asturias

Results

The first national cup tournament organized by the current FMF since its founding was the 1932–33 Copa México, in the cup's amateur era.^[10]

Finals

Ed.	Year	Champions	Results	Runners-up
Copa México (Amateur era)
1	1932–33	Necaxa	3–1	Germania
2	1933–34	Asturias	3–0	Necaxa
–	1934–35	The tournament 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	RC España
6	1938–39	Asturias	4–1	RC España
7	1939–40	Asturias	1–0	Necaxa
8	1940–41	Asturias	2–2 w/o	RC España
9	1941–42	Atlante	5–3 5–0	Necaxa

Ed.	Year	Champions	Results	Runners-up	Manager
Copa México (Professional era)
1	1942–43	Moctezuma	5–3 (a.e.t.)	Atlante	Eduardo Morilla
2	1943–44	RC 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 Madero	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 Cardenas
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
31	1972–73	The tournament was not held
32	1973–74	América	2–1 1–1	Cruz Azul	José Antonio Roca
33	1974–75	UNAM	Final group	UdeG	Árpád Fekete
34	1975–76	UANL	2–0 1–2	América	Claudio Lostanau
–	1976–1987	The tournament was not held
35	1987–88	Puebla	0–0 1–1 (a.g.)	Cruz Azul	Hugo Fernández
36	1988–89	Toluca	1–1 2–1 (a.e.t.)	UdeG	Héctor Sanabria
37	1989–90	Puebla	4–1 0–2	UANL	Manuel Lapuente
38	1990–91	UdeG	1–0 0–0	América	Alberto Guerra
39	1991–92	Monterrey	4–2	Cobras	Miguel Mejía Barón
40	1992–1994	The tournament was not held
41	1994–95	Necaxa	2–0	Veracruz	Manuel Lapuente
42	1995–96	UANL	1–1 1–0	Atlas	Victor Manuel Vucetich
43	1996–97	Cruz Azul	2–0	Toros Neza	Victor Manuel Vucetich
–	1997–2012	The tournament was not held
Copa MX
44	Apertura 2012	Sinaloa	2–2 (3–2 p)	UAT	Francisco Javier Ramírez
45	Clausura 2013	Cruz Azul	0–0 (4–2 p)	Atlante	Guillermo Vázquez
46	Apertura 2013	Morelia	3–3 (3–1 p)	Atlas	Carlos Bustos
47	Clausura 2014	UANL	3–0	Oaxaca	Ricardo Ferretti
48	Apertura 2014	Santos Laguna	2–2 (4–2 p)	Puebla	Pedro Caixinha
49	Clausura 2015	Puebla	4–2	Guadalajara	José Guadalupe Cruz
50	Apertura 2015	Guadalajara	1–0	León	Matías Almeyda
51	Clausura 2016	Veracruz	4–1	Necaxa	Carlos Reinoso
52	Apertura 2016	Querétaro	0–0 (3–2 p)	Guadalajara	Víctor Manuel Vucetich
53	Clausura 2017	Guadalajara	0–0 (3–1 p)	Morelia	Matías Almeyda
54	Apertura 2017	Monterrey	1–0	Pachuca	Antonio Mohamed
55	Clausura 2018	Necaxa	1–0	Toluca	Ignacio Ambríz
56	Apertura 2018	Cruz Azul	2–0	Monterrey	Pedro Caixinha
57	Clausura 2019	América	1–0	Juárez	Miguel Herrera
58	2019–20	Monterrey	1–0 1–1	Tijuana	Antonio Mohamed

Performances

Performance by club

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

See also

• Mexico portal
• Association football portal

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