Liga MX Liguilla 2026 Dates, Tickets and TV

MEXICO · SPORTS

Mexico’s top-flight play-offs decide the Apertura 2026 champion in two-legged knockout rounds from late November. Here is how the Liguilla works, who is in the race and how to watch from the United States.

The Liga MX Liguilla, the play-off stage of Mexico’s top football league, starts on Wednesday, 25 November. The final is scheduled over two legs on Thursday, 10 December, and Sunday, 13 December.

The top eight of the league’s 18 clubs after 17 rounds qualify, and there is no play-in round this season. In the United States, most clubs’ home games air in Spanish on Univision, TUDN or ViX.

What the Liguilla Is and Why It Matters

Liga MX, Mexico’s first division, splits each season into two short tournaments, the Apertura (opening) and the Clausura (closing). Each crowns its own champion through the Liguilla, a knockout bracket similar to Major League Soccer’s play-offs.

For US viewers, Liga MX is a staple of Spanish-language sports television, carried by TelevisaUnivision and NBCUniversal’s Telemundo. The play-offs are when the biggest clubs, including América and Chivas, can meet with a title at stake.

Cruz Azul, a Mexico City club, won the Clausura 2026 title in May, the Mexican news channel ADN40 reported. Toluca, from the city of Toluca west of the capital, is due to play FIFA’s Intercontinental Cup from 9 December.

How the Liga MX Liguilla Works

The league’s 2026-27 competition rules send the top eight clubs in the general table after 17 rounds straight into the quarter-finals. The bracket pairs first against eighth, second against seventh, third against sixth and fourth against fifth.

The rules list only quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final, so there is no play-in round, as TUDN also reported in July. Ties on points in the table are broken by goal difference, then goals scored, then goals scored away from home.

Every round is played over two legs, home and away, and the aggregate score decides who advances. In the quarter-finals and semi-finals, a level aggregate sends the club with the better table position through, without extra time or penalties.

The semi-finals reseed the four survivors, so the best-placed remaining club meets the lowest-placed one. The final also runs over two legs, and a level aggregate goes to two 15-minute periods of extra time, then penalties.

In the quarter-finals and semi-finals, higher seeds choose match days and times; in the final, the better-placed club picks its home leg. Excélsior, a Mexico City daily, notes that the better-placed club hosts the second leg of each quarter-final.

Who Is in Contention

After Matchday 10, Toluca leads the official Liga MX table with 20 points, ahead of América on goals scored. Only six points separate first place from eighth, with seven rounds left before the Liga MX Liguilla bracket is set.

These are the eight clubs in the play-off places as of 8 October. Each line gives points, games played and home stadium.

• Toluca, 20 points from 10 games: club from Toluca, State of Mexico, at Estadio Nemesio Díez.
• América, 20 points from 9 games: Mexico City club at Estadio Banorte, the former Estadio Azteca.
• Guadalajara (Chivas), 18 points from 10 games: Guadalajara club at Estadio Akron in suburban Zapopan.
• Querétaro, 17 points from 9 games: the Gallos Blancos, at Estadio La Corregidora in central Mexico.
• León, 17 points from 10 games: Guanajuato state club at Estadio León, known as Nou Camp.
• Atlas, 17 points from 10 games: Chivas’ city rival, at Estadio Jalisco in Guadalajara.
• Cruz Azul, 16 points from 10 games: Mexico City club and reigning champion, using Estadio Banorte this season.
• Tijuana (Xolos), 14 points from 9 games: border club at Estadio Caliente, across from San Diego.

Puebla also has 14 points but sits ninth on goal difference, with Monterrey one point further back. Pachuca, Pumas and Atlético de San Luis follow on 12 points, while Tigres, a club from the Monterrey area, has 10.

Four clubs have played only nine games because Matchday 7 fixtures were postponed. América hosts Tijuana on Wednesday, 28 October, and Querétaro hosts Monterrey on Saturday, 14 November, according to the league.

Liguilla Schedule and Kick-Off Times

The regular season resumes with Matchday 11 from Friday, 9 October, and ends with Matchday 17 from 20 to 22 November. The league calendar also includes an international break from 9 to 17 November, before the final round.

Quarter-final first legs are set for Wednesday, 25 November, and Thursday, 26 November, which is Thanksgiving in the US. The return legs follow on Saturday, 28 November, and Sunday, 29 November.

The semi-finals open on Wednesday, 2 December, and Thursday, 3 December, with return legs that weekend. The final is set for Thursday, 10 December, and Sunday, 13 December.

There is one exception: if Toluca reaches the final, it moves to Thursday, 24 December, and Sunday, 27 December. The league calendar ties that change to Toluca’s place in the Intercontinental Cup, which starts on Wednesday, 9 December.

Kick-off times for each round are agreed at a league videoconference on the Monday before it. For quarter-final first legs, the rules allow only 7 p.m. or 9 p.m. central Mexico time.

Mexico City no longer uses daylight saving time, while US clocks fall back on Sunday, 1 November. That puts central Mexico one hour behind US Eastern time, so those first legs start at 8 p.m. or 10 p.m. ET.

Tijuana runs on Pacific time, three hours behind the East Coast, and its club gets priority for the late weeknight slot. Final legs may not start before 6 p.m. central Mexico time, which is 7 p.m. ET.

Tickets and Stadium Entry

Liguilla tickets are sold by the home club, not by the league, so each leg has its own seller. Club websites point to Fanki for América and Atlas, Boletomóvil for Chivas, Toluca, Puebla and Tigres, and Ticketmaster México for Pumas.

Buy only through the links on a club’s official website. América’s Fanki listing bans resale and says misused tickets are cancelled without any claim.

Fan ID, the league’s free digital fan registration, is compulsory for every spectator under the 2026-27 rules. América’s ticket page says adults must register at fanliga.mx, once per tournament, and cannot enter without it.

When the league introduced Fan ID, Xataka México reported in 2022 that passports and official ID from any country were accepted. Register at home before travelling, because the process asks for an ID scan and a selfie.

Tickets on Fanki are digital only, and screenshots or printed tickets are not accepted at Estadio Banorte. The QR code appears in the Fanki app two days before the match, and there is no re-entry after leaving.

Estadio Banorte admits only clear bags up to 12 by 6 by 12 inches and small clutch bags. Check the bag rules of other stadiums on the home club’s ticket page before match day.

How to Watch in the US

US television rights in Liga MX are sold club by club, so the home team decides where each leg airs. A two-legged tie can therefore move from one network to another between the first and second games.

TelevisaUnivision’s press releases list home games of América, Cruz Azul, Toluca, Pumas, Atlas, León and Querétaro on its networks. Home games of Puebla, Pachuca, San Luis, Tijuana, Santos and Atlante also appear on Univision, UniMás, TUDN or ViX.

Univision and UniMás are free broadcast networks, TUDN is the company’s cable sports channel and ViX is its streaming service. Some games stream only on ViX, as Querétaro against Atlante does on Saturday, 10 October.

Telemundo, NBCUniversal’s Spanish-language network, says it is the US home of Chivas, Tigres and Juárez. Its Chivas games air on Telemundo or its cable channel Universo and stream on Peacock.

The FS2 cable channel also lists Tigres and Juárez home games in its schedule this weekend. US rights for Monterrey and Necaxa home games could not be confirmed with a broadcaster.

Getting There

Based on the current top eight, likely venues are in Mexico City, Toluca, Guadalajara, Querétaro, León and Tijuana. Book flights only after the bracket is set, because the venue for each leg depends on the final table.

For Estadio Banorte, América’s ticket page recommends public transport, namely the Tren Ligero light rail to its Estadio Azteca stop. That line runs from Tasqueña, a southern terminus of the Mexico City Metro, towards Xochimilco.

Guadalajara has two candidates, Chivas at Estadio Akron in Zapopan and Atlas at Estadio Jalisco. Tijuana’s Estadio Caliente is in a border city across from San Diego, within easy reach of Southern California.

US citizens need a valid passport book to fly to Mexico, because the passport card is not accepted for air travel. Mexican immigration issues a digital entry permit on arrival by air and decides how long you may stay.

Safety and Costs for Visitors

The State Department rates Mexico overall at Level 2 of 4, exercise increased caution, in its advisory of 29 May 2026. Mexico City, the State of Mexico, Querétaro, Puebla and Nuevo León carry the same Level 2 warning.

Jalisco, home of Chivas and Atlas, Guanajuato, home of León, and Baja California, home of Tijuana, are at Level 3, reconsider travel. The advisory cites terrorism, crime and kidnapping as the risks in those three states.

Under the league’s security rules, organised visiting supporters’ groups, known as barras, are not admitted to matches. Home supporters’ sections are for registered members only, and minors may not enter them.

América’s Fanki listing for its home game against Monterrey on 10 October shows prices from MXN 587 (about US$33). Conversions use the 8 October 2026 rate of MXN 18.01 per US$1.

Liguilla prices and sale dates cannot be set until the pairings are known after Matchday 17. The same listing says there are no cancellations or refunds once tickets are issued.

Pairings are confirmed only three days before the first legs, so refundable flights and hotels reduce the risk. Use official transport or app-based rides after night games rather than hailing cars on the street.

What It Means for You

If you plan to travel, register for Fan ID now and wait for the final table on Sunday, 22 November, before booking. A midweek first leg in Mexico and a weekend return leg fit neatly into a long Thanksgiving trip.

If you watch from home, check which club hosts each leg, because that decides whether TelevisaUnivision or Telemundo has it. Chivas fans may need both ViX and Peacock if their team meets a club whose rights sit with TelevisaUnivision.

Mark the late start times in your calendar, as many weeknight games end close to midnight on the East Coast. If Toluca reaches the final, the deciding legs fall on Christmas Eve and Sunday, 27 December.

What Prediction Markets Say

On Kalshi, a US exchange regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, bets on the Apertura 2026 champion price Toluca at 23%. Chivas and América trade at 22% each and Cruz Azul at 14%, as of 8:09 a.m. ET on 8 October.

About 805,000 contracts have traded across the 18 team markets, and Toluca’s price slipped from 26% a day earlier. Polymarket’s market on the same title, with about US$101,000 traded, also has Toluca as favourite at 23% (8:49 a.m. ET).

Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.

What Is Not Known

The quarter-final pairings, venues and exact kick-off times will not be known until Matchday 17 ends on Sunday, 22 November. Whether the final is played on 10 and 13 December or in Christmas week depends on Toluca.

Liguilla ticket prices and sale dates have not been announced, and Cruz Azul’s seller could not be confirmed on its website. The 2026 Fan ID rules for foreign visitors are not spelled out beyond the passport rule reported in 2022.

The US broadcasters of Monterrey and Necaxa home games could not be confirmed. English-language US coverage of the Liguilla has not been announced by any rights holder found.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does the Liga MX Liguilla 2026 start?

The quarter-final first legs are scheduled for Wednesday, 25 November, and Thursday, 26 November. The final is set for 10 and 13 December, or 24 and 27 December if Toluca reaches it.

How many teams make the Liguilla?

The top eight clubs in the table after 17 rounds qualify directly, with no play-in round. In the quarter-finals and semi-finals, the better-placed club advances if the aggregate score is level.

How can I watch the Liguilla in the US?

It depends on the home club, because US rights are sold club by club. Most home games air on Univision, UniMás, TUDN or ViX, while Chivas, Tigres and Juárez home games are on Telemundo platforms.

Can a tourist buy Liguilla tickets?

Yes, through the home club’s official seller, such as Fanki, Boletomóvil or Ticketmaster México, once sales open. Adult spectators also need a free Fan ID registration under league rules.

Sources: Liga MX, Apertura 2026 calendar; Liga MX, 2026-27 competition rules; Liga MX, general table; TUDN; Excélsior; TelevisaUnivision, 5 October release; TelevisaUnivision, 21 September release; TelevisaUnivision, 27 July release; Telemundo; FS2 Liga MX schedule; Club América ticket listing on Fanki; Club América; Chivas; Toluca; Pumas; Atlas; US State Department, Mexico travel advisory; Mexico, time-zone law; ADN40; Xataka México (all accessed 8 October 2026).