Liga MX Sends Record Nine Clubs to Next Concacaf Champions Cup

Nine. That's the number that will go down in the history of the next Concacaf Champions Cup, and every single ticket carries the same last name: Liga MX. No league had ever placed that many clubs in a single edition of the tournament, and that alone says plenty about how Mexican soccer closed out the 2025-2026 cycle.

The count already has eight confirmed names and one final spot still to be decided in the coming weeks, once the 2026 Leagues Cup wraps up. America, Leon, Monterrey and Toluca are all still alive there, having reached the semifinals, so the outcome of that tournament will also help paint the 2027 Champions Cup map in green, white and red.

Six Tickets Came Straight Out of Liga MX

The bulk of the representation arrived through the domestic route. Toluca earned its spot as champion of the 2025 Apertura, and Tigres got in as runner-up of that same tournament. On the other side of the calendar, Cruz Azul and Pumas secured their tickets after finishing champion and runner-up, respectively, of the 2026 Clausura. Two more spots remained, and that's where the season's overall standings came into play: Guadalajara claimed the spot reserved for the best-placed club that didn't reach a final, and America took the next spot under that same criterion. With that, six of the nine tickets were already sealed before the Leagues Cup even kicked off.

The Leagues Cup, a Tournament With a Double Prize

The top three finishers in the 2026 Leagues Cup also earn tickets to the Champions Cup, and this is where Mexican dominance becomes almost total: with America, Leon, Monterrey and Toluca in the semifinals, those three spots are guaranteed to land in Liga MX hands no matter what. The catch is that Toluca and America already had their spots locked up through Liga MX, so if either of them finishes among the top three in the Leagues Cup, that extra ticket doesn't go to waste: it passes to the next Mexican club without a berth that has the most points in the overall standings.

Pachuca has already secured its place, as the best-placed team in the overall standings among clubs that didn't yet have a ticket. And Monterrey will also be in the field no matter what happens: if it finishes among the top three in the Leagues Cup it gets in through that door, and if it settles for fourth place, it still qualifies through the additional slots tied to the overall standings.

With eight teams already confirmed, the ninth representative will remain up in the air until the final whistle blows on the Leagues Cup. What is already settled is the prize for whoever wins it: the champion will advance straight to the Round of 16 of the Concacaf Champions Cup, while the runner-up and third-place finisher will have to start from the First Round.