Cruz Azul and Pumas starting lineups for the Clausura 2026 final

On Thursday, Cruz Azul and Pumas will play the first chapter of the Clausura 2026 final at Estadio de la Ciudad de los Deportes.

Head coaches Efraín Juárez and Joel Huiqui have each named their starting XI for the first leg of the Liga MX final, held at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. Here’s a look at the lineups...

For Pumas, Efraín Juárez starts with: Keylor Navas; Nathan Silva, Rubén Duarte, Álvaro Angulo; Rodrigo López, Uriel Antuna, Santiago Trigos, Jordan Carrillo, Pedro Vite; Robert Morales, Juninho. This is Efraín Juárez’s starting lineup.

On the Cruz Azul side, Joel Huiqui fields: Kevin Mier; Omar Campos, Willer Ditta, Gonzalo Piovi; Carlos Rodolfo Rotondi, Carlos Rodríguez, Agustín Palavecino, Amaury García, Jeremy Márquez, José Paradela, and Christian Ebere.

Heading into the first leg, the Cruz Azul - Pumas clash is almost too close to call. Pumas topped the Clausura table with ten wins from their 17 regular season games, losing only once to finish top of the table.

Cruz Azul fared slightly worse but lost only twice, finishing three points behind Pumas at the end of the regular season. La Máquina are looking to win a first title since the Guard1anes 2021, their only championship victory this century.

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