Copa MX

Copa MX

Founded	1942; 82 years ago (1942) (as Copa México)
Abolished	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

The Copa MX, formerly known as Copa México and Copa Corona MX (for sponsorship reasons),^[8] was a Mexican football cup tournament. 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.

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

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.

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 then-Liga Mayor, the present-day Primera División de México. 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.

Upon its return in 2012, the newly rebranded Copa MX was played twice a year, concurrent with the two league tournaments. In the Fall 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, 1st division teams were placed in Pot A, while 2nd division 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 Spring 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 Fall 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, 1st division teams' top 4 point-earners and 2nd division teams' top 4 point-earners will be placed in Pot A, while 1st division teams' mid 4 point-earners and 2nd division teams' mid 4 point-earners will be placed in Pot B and 1st division teams' last 4 point-earners and 2nd division 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 of Liga MX and 12 of 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 in two tournaments per year. The group stage will be played between July and December, and the final stage will be 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.

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, Real 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 Real España winning in four times in all, the best performance of the competition.

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

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

Year	Champions	Results	Runners-up	Manager
Copa México / Professional era
1942–43	Moctezuma	5–3 (a.e.t.)	Atlante	Eduardo Morilla
1943–44	Real España	6–2	Atlante	Rodolfo Muñoz
1944–45	Puebla	6–4	América	Eduardo Morilla
1945-46	Atlas	5–4 (a.e.t.)	Atlante	Eduardo Valdatti
1946–47	Moctezuma	4–3	Oro	Julio Kaiser
1947–48	Veracruz	3–1	Guadalajara	Joaquin Urquiaga
1948–49	León	3–0	Atlante	Jose Maria Casullo
1949–50	Atlas	3–1	Veracruz	Eduardo Valdatti
1950–51	Atlante	1–0	Guadalajara	Octavio Vial
1951–52	Atlante	Final group	Guadalajara	Gregorio Blasco
1952–53	Puebla	4–1	León	Isidro Langara
1953–54	América	1-1 (3-2 p)	Guadalajara	Octavio Vial
1954-55	América	1–0	Guadalajara	Octavio Vial
1955–56	Toluca	2–1	Irapuato	Fernando Marcos
1956–57	Zacatepec	1-0	León	Ignacio Trellez
1957–58	León	1-1 5–2 (a.e.t.)	Zacatepec	Antonio López Herranz
1958–59	Zacatepec	2–1	León	Ignacio Trellez
1959–60	Necaxa	4–1	Tampico	Donald Ross
1960–61	Tampico	1–0	Toluca	Nicolas Palma
1961–62	Atlas	3–3 1–0	Tampico	Jose Carlos Bauer
1962–63	Guadalajara	2–1	Atlante	Javier De la Torre
1963–64	América	0-0 1-1 (5-4 p)	Monterrey	Alejandro Scopelli
1964–65	América	4–0	Morelia	Alejandro Scopelli
1965–66	Necaxa	3–3 1–0	León	Miguel Marin
1966–67	León	2–1	Guadalajara	Luis Grill
1967–68	Atlas	2–1	Veracruz	Javier Novello
1968–69	Cruz Azul	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Monterrey	Raúl Cardenas
1969–70	Guadalajara	3–2 2–1	Torreón	Javier de la Torre
1970–71	León	0-0 (10-9 p)	Zacatepec	Antonio Carbajal
1971–72	León	Final group	Puebla	Antonio Carbajal
1972–73	The tournament was not held
1973–74	América	2–1 1–1	Cruz Azul	José Antonio Roca
1974–75	Pumas UNAM	Final group	Leones Negros UdeG	Árpád Fekete
1975–76	Tigres UANL	2–0 1–2	América	Claudio Lostanau
1976–87	The tournament was not held
1987–88	Puebla	0–0 1–1 (away goals)	Cruz Azul	Hugo Fernández
1988–89	Toluca	1–1 2-1 (a.e.t.)	Leones Negros UdeG	Héctor Sanabria
1989–90	Puebla	4–1 0–2	Tigres UANL	Manuel Lapuente
1990–91	Leones Negros UdeG	1–0 0–0	América	Alberto Guerra
1991–92	Monterrey	4–2	Cobras	Miguel Mejía Barón
1992–94	The tournament was not held
1994–95	Necaxa	2–0	Veracruz	Manuel Lapuente
1995–96	Tigres UANL	1–1 1–0	Atlas	Victor Manuel Vucetich
1996–97	Cruz Azul	2–0	Toros Neza	Victor Manuel Vucetich
1997–2012	The tournament was not held
Copa MX
Apertura 2012	Sinaloa	2-2 (3-2 p)	Correcaminos UAT	Francisco Javier Ramírez
Clausura 2013	Cruz Azul	0-0 (4-2 p)	Atlante	Guillermo Vázquez
Apertura 2013	Morelia	3-3 (3-1 p)	Atlas	Carlos Bustos
Clausura 2014	Tigres UANL	3-0	Oaxaca	Ricardo Ferretti
Apertura 2014	Santos Laguna	2-2 (4-2 p)	Puebla	Pedro Caixinha
Clausura 2015	Puebla	4-2	Guadalajara	José Guadalupe Cruz
Apertura 2015	Guadalajara	1-0	León	Matías Almeyda
Clausura 2016	Veracruz	4-1	Necaxa	Carlos Reinoso
Apertura 2016	Querétaro	0-0 (3-2 p)	Guadalajara	Víctor Manuel Vucetich
Clausura 2017	Guadalajara	0-0 (3-1 p)	Morelia	Matías Almeyda
Apertura 2017	Monterrey	1-0	Pachuca	Antonio Mohamed
Clausura 2018	Necaxa	1-0	Toluca	Ignacio Ambríz
Apertura 2018	Cruz Azul	2-0	Monterrey	Pedro Caixinha
Clausura 2019	América	1-0	Juárez	Miguel Herrera
2019–20	Monterrey	1-0 1-1	Tijuana	Antonio Mohamed

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

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