The Liga MX curse that has now been well and truly banished
In recent short tournaments, a previously rare Liga MX feat has become something of a regular occurrence.
The so‑called “super‑leader curse” in Liga MX appears to be a thing of the past. In recent tournaments, the team that finishes atop the regular‑season standings has regularly managed to confirm its dominance by lifting the trophy - something that for years was considered a rarity in Mexican soccer.
After the Clausura 2020 was canceled due to the covid‑19 pandemic, the trend began to shift. Since then, several clubs have managed to turn their first‑place finish into a championship, breaking the long‑standing narrative that leading the table in the regular season was a disadvantage heading into the playoffs.
Champions who backed up their No. 1 finish
This new cycle includes León in the Guardianes 2020, Cruz Azul in the Guardianes 2021, América in both the Apertura 2023 and Clausura 2024, as well as Toluca in the Clausura 2025 and Apertura 2025. All of them finished the regular season as the top seed and went on to win the title.
Clear dominance over the last five years
In the past five years, nine tournaments have been contested, and in six of them the regular‑season leader went on to win the championship - a figure that stands in sharp contrast to what had happened in previous decades of Mexican soccer.
From the Invierno 1996, the first short tournament, through the Apertura 2019, the No. 1 seed lifted the trophy only seven times, reinforcing for years the belief in a supposed postseason curse.
The rare historical cases of the champion super‑leader
During that earlier era, the examples were few and far between: Toluca in the Verano 1998, 1999, and 2000; Pachuca in the Clausura 2006 and 2007; Santos in the Clausura 2012; and América in the Apertura 2014. Those isolated cases now stand in stark contrast to the clear pattern emerging today.
Toluca, the benchmark for champion super‑leaders
Toluca has firmly established itself as the club with the most titles after finishing as the Liga MX regular‑season leader, achieving this feat five times - more than any other team in the league.
Los Diablos Rojos won the championship as the top seed in the Verano 1998, Verano 1999, and Verano 2000, a golden era for the club, and recently replicated that winning formula in the Clausura 2025 and Apertura 2025.
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