Liga MX Champions by Year: 2022-2026 Winners and Final Results

How to read Liga MX winner and final-result records correctly

Read the aggregate first, then check whether extra time or a shootout decided a tied series. Keep the regular-season seeding rule and the separate Campeón de Campeones trophy out of the league-final score: those details explain advancement or a later competition, but they do not rewrite who won the Apertura or Clausura.

Aggregate score, extra time, penalties, and seeding

Format details can change from one tournament to another, so use the live Liguilla page for the current bracket rather than assuming every archived qualification rule still applies.

League champions are not the same as Campeón de Campeones winners

Winning Apertura or Clausura makes a club a Liga MX league champion. Campeón de Campeones is an additional domestic super cup that normally matches the two champions from the same football season. It does not erase either league title or turn its winner into the only “real” champion of that season.

The 2025-26 cycle provides a clean example. Toluca qualified for Campeón de Campeones by winning Apertura 2025, and Cruz Azul qualified by winning Clausura 2026. Cruz Azul then won the separate July match 3-1. The historical league record still lists Toluca and Cruz Azul as the two Liga MX champions. For upcoming fixtures after this archive's cutoff, return to the current Liga MX schedule.

Cruz Azul closed Clausura 2026 with its tenth league title

Cruz Azul is the most recent completed Liga MX champion, beating Pumas 2-1 on aggregate after a scoreless first leg. La Máquina's tenth league title arrived with almost no time to spare: Rodolfo Rotondi scored the championship winner in the 95th minute of the return.

The Pumas final was decided in the second leg

Neither side scored at Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes, so the final moved to Estadio Olímpico Universitario as a one-match contest in practice. Pumas struck first through Robert Morales in the 31st minute. Cruz Azul equalized after halftime when Rotondi's low service led to a Rubén Duarte own goal, but a 1-1 finish would have sent the match to extra time because final series do not use the higher-seed tiebreaker.

Rotondi prevented that extension. Deep into stoppage time, he collected the rebound from Jorge Rodarte's attempt, turned, and finished left-footed for 2-1. Cruz Azul's official title review identifies it as the latest goal to win a Liga MX final within regulation time. The trophy made La Máquina the fourth club to reach ten league championships, following América, Guadalajara, and Toluca.

The complete knockout route contained more than the final: Cruz Azul eliminated Atlas and Guadalajara, while Pumas advanced past América and Pachuca. Those aggregates and seeding decisions are mapped in our Clausura 2026 playoff bracket.

What the 2022-2026 roll of honor says about Liga MX

This period combined concentrated dominance with rapid turnover. América owned three consecutive tournaments; Toluca immediately followed with two; Atlas also completed a two-title sequence that began in 2021. Yet six clubs appear among the nine winners, and the latest champion is neither América nor Toluca.

That is the central tension of the short format. A powerful squad can build a dynasty, but it must requalify and survive a new Liguilla every six months. A historical winners list therefore records both long-term institutional strength and a series of distinct knockout stories—not one continuous table stretching from 2022 to 2026.

Toluca answered with a 2025 bicampeonato

Toluca ended América's three-title reign in the Clausura 2025 final, then defended the crown against Tigres in December. The Diablos Rojos did not simply inherit the top spot: they beat the reigning champion directly, overcame a two-goal aggregate deficit in their next final, and survived a 24-kick shootout to complete the bicampeonato.

Toluca stopped América's four-title bid in the Clausura final

Antonio Mohamed's Toluca entered the Liguilla as regular-season leader after collecting 37 points and scoring a league-best 41 goals. América still represented the decisive test: the Águilas were pursuing an unprecedented fourth consecutive short-tournament championship and had reached the final after eliminating Cruz Azul.

The first leg in Mexico City ended 0-0, so the entire title came down to the return at Estadio Nemesio Diez. Luan Garcia broke the deadlock from a corner, and former Chivas forward Alexis Vega converted a penalty to make it 2-0. Toluca's defense held, the same score became the aggregate, and a 15-year wait since Bicentenario 2010 was over.

That victory delivered Toluca's 11th league title and prevented América from turning its three-peat into four. It also validated the Diablos' regular-season excellence: Paulinho led the attack, Vega created and finished decisive plays, and a side that had produced the tournament's best scoring record shut out América over both final legs.

The Apertura comeback and shootout completed the double

Tigres won the Apertura final's first leg 1-0 at the Volcán, then struck first in Toluca to lead 2-0 on aggregate. The champion was suddenly one goal from losing its title without having scored in the series. Helinho supplied the first response and Paulinho the second, giving Toluca a 2-1 win on the night and a 2-2 aggregate after 180 minutes.

Extra time could not separate the teams, and the shootout expanded far beyond the usual five kicks. Each side took 12—24 penalties in all—before Toluca prevailed 9-8. Vega, already central to the Clausura final, converted Toluca's 12th attempt to seal championship number 12 and the first short-era bicampeonato in the club's history.

The double changed the all-time picture as well as the current one. Toluca drew level with Guadalajara on 12 league titles, behind América's 16 at that moment. For fans tracking which contender might alter that order next, the live Liga MX standings matter because seeding determines the knockout route even though it cannot guarantee the trophy.

América's 2024 sweep created a short-tournament dynasty

América won both 2024 tournaments and completed three consecutive Liga MX championships, the first such run of the short-tournament era. The sweep was not built on two easy finals: Cruz Azul pushed the Clausura series to one decisive penalty, and Monterrey stayed within one goal until the final whistle of the Apertura return.

The Clausura final against Cruz Azul delivered the repeat

The Clásico Joven final opened with a 1-1 draw at Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes. Uriel Antuna gave Cruz Azul the lead from the spot, and Julián Quiñones answered before halftime. That left América and La Máquina level for the Estadio Azteca return, with neither side able to lean on a first-leg cushion.

Cruz Azul created chances, but América goalkeeper Luis Ángel Malagón kept the visitors out. In the 78th minute, Henry Martín converted the penalty that produced a 1-0 second-leg win and 2-1 aggregate. América's 15th league title made the Águilas back-to-back champions and confirmed that the Apertura 2023 breakthrough was the start of a sustained run, not a single strong semester.

The opponent sharpened the meaning. Cruz Azul and América are major Mexico City rivals, and their long final history makes a one-goal decision feel heavier than the bare score suggests. Jardine's team did not dominate the return; it managed the difficult stretches, trusted Malagón, and converted the moment that separated the clubs.

Beating Monterrey made América the first short-era tricampeón

The third title demanded a different route. América finished eighth in the Apertura 2024 regular season and had to survive the Play-In before eliminating Toluca and Cruz Azul. It then beat Monterrey 2-1 in the final's first leg, taking a slender advantage to Estadio BBVA rather than closing the series in Mexico City.

Richard Sánchez struck from outside the area in the 23rd minute of the return, forcing Rayados to find two goals to level the aggregate. Johan Rojas eventually equalized on the night at 84 minutes, but the 1-1 draw left América ahead 3-2 across both legs. Title number 16 made the club the first tricampeón—three-time consecutive champion—since Liga MX adopted short tournaments.

The three crowns moved América further ahead in the all-time race and form the central case in our broader ranking of the best Liga MX teams. More importantly for this five-year record, they created the standard that the next champion had to break.

Tigres and América claimed the two 2023 titles

Tigres won Clausura 2023 with a remarkable extra-time comeback at Guadalajara, while América took Apertura 2023 by overpowering Tigres in extra time at the Azteca. Both finals were level after the scheduled 180 minutes; the difference was how the eventual champions responded when the decisive match stretched beyond regulation.

Tigres turned a two-goal deficit into the Clausura crown

A 0-0 first leg at Estadio Universitario sent Tigres and Chivas to Guadalajara with everything open. The return appeared to swing decisively toward the home side when Roberto Alvarado and Víctor Guzmán put Chivas 2-0 ahead inside 20 minutes. Tigres needed two goals merely to force extra time, and it found them through the experience that defined its era.

André-Pierre Gignac converted from the penalty spot, Sebastián Córdova headed the equalizer, and captain Guido Pizarro supplied the extra-time winner. The 3-2 score was both the result on the night and the aggregate because the first leg had been scoreless. Tigres lifted its eighth league trophy after entering the Liguilla in seventh place and eliminating Toluca 5-4, city rival Monterrey 2-1, and Guadalajara 3-2 across the three two-leg rounds.

América ended its wait with a dominant Apertura final

The year's second final matched the Clausura champion against the regular season's strongest side. Tigres and América drew 1-1 at the Volcán, with Henry Martín and Ozziel Herrera scoring. The return at Estadio Azteca remained 0-0 through 90 minutes, leaving the aggregate level and forcing another championship into extra time.

This time Tigres could not produce the late answer. Julián Quiñones scored seconds into the first extra period, following up his own saved attempt. Richard Sánchez added a long-range second, and Jonathan Rodríguez completed the 3-0 return victory. América won the final 4-1 on aggregate and collected league title number 14, ending a five-year wait since Apertura 2018.

That December night also became the starting point for the period's defining title streak. André Jardine had taken charge only shortly before the tournament, yet his side finished first in the table and converted that consistency into the trophy. Readers looking for the full calendar, Play-In, and playoff path can use our dedicated Liga MX 2023 schedule and results archive once available; this roll of honor stays focused on the two finals.

Atlas and Pachuca split the 2022 championships

Atlas won the tight, pressure-heavy Clausura 2022 final; Pachuca answered by blowing open the Apertura 2022 final. Together, the two tournaments show how different a two-leg Liga MX title series can look: one was protected by a single aggregate goal, while the other was effectively settled before the return match began.

Atlas completed a rare bicampeonato in Clausura 2022

The Zorros carried a 2-0 advantage from Estadio Jalisco to Pachuca after goals by Luis Reyes and Julián Quiñones in the first leg. That cushion mattered immediately in the return. Romario Ibarra put the Tuzos ahead early, Julio Furch restored Atlas's two-goal aggregate margin before halftime, and Nicolás Ibáñez made the second-leg score 2-1. Pachuca won the night, but Atlas won the series 3-2.

It was more than one successful final. Atlas had already ended a 70-year league-title drought in Apertura 2021, so the Clausura victory made Diego Cocca's side a back-to-back champion—bicampeón in the language of Mexican football. Because the same club won both short tournaments in the 2021-22 season, Atlas also took that season's Campeón de Campeones recognition without needing the usual meeting between two different league winners.

Pachuca overwhelmed Toluca in the Apertura 2022 final

Five months later, Pachuca returned to the final and removed almost all suspense in the opening leg. The Tuzos won 5-1 at Toluca's Estadio Nemesio Diez, a margin that forced the Diablos Rojos to chase an improbable comeback at altitude in Hidalgo. Pachuca then won the return 3-1 as Víctor Guzmán, Nicolás Ibáñez, and Gustavo Cabral scored, completing an 8-2 aggregate rout.

The response said something important about Guillermo Almada's group. Pachuca had lost the Clausura final despite leading that tournament's regular-season table, then entered the Apertura Liguilla from fourth place with 32 points. Instead of carrying the disappointment forward, the Tuzos produced one of the widest final margins of the short-tournament era and secured the club's seventh league championship.

For a wider comparison of how those trophies fit into each club's historical standing, see our guide to the best Liga MX teams. The 2022 evidence is a useful warning against judging a champion only by regular-season position: the Liguilla rewards the side that handles three knockout rounds and the final, not simply the side that tops the 17-game table.