What is the ‘best’ club in Liga MX?

It’s often said that soccer is a game of opinions. Who is the best player in the world? The best of all time? The best club? The best goal in history? The best World Cup?

The chances are that none of us would give the same answer to each of the above questions. How can we go about trying to find the ‘best’ of anything?

Let’s use some cold, hard facts in an attempt to find the ‘best’ club in Liga MX, following different metrics.

Clubs with most Liga MX titles

This is theoretically simple but the somewhat complex history of the way the Mexican top flight has been structured since it became professional in 1943 could potentially muddy the waters a little. Chivas, for instance, had to prove they were the best team in Mexico over the course of a 30-game season in 1969-70, whereas the current Apertura-Clausura system is a shorter affair.

For the purposes of this exercise, we’ll be considering ‘official’ titles won under the various different guises of Liga MX.

América lead the way with 13 titles, followed closely by Chivas on 12 and Toluca on nine. Interestingly, however, none of the three have won any of the last six disputed titles, allowing the likes of Cruz Azul (nine) and León (eight) to close the gap at the top. Indeed, only two of Chivas’ victories have come in the 21st century, while Toluca’s last triumph came in 2010.

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Defending champions Atlas have won two of their three titles in the last 12 months. However, they will not be repeating the feat in this year’s Clausura after a disastrous campaign, which sees them languishing in penultimate place in the table.

Clubs with most seasons in Liga MX

América and Chivas have both featured in every Liga MX season, a total of 108. The only other club to have reached triple figures is Atlas, who in their history have also spent three campaigns in the Mexican second-tier.

At the other end of the spectrum, Mazatlán are currently featuring in Liga MX for just the fifth time, having been voted into the league in 2020.

Average attendances in Liga MX

When it comes to attendances, Tigres have been the best supported team in Liga MX in the 2022 Apertura competition, as shown by statistics on the official Liga MX website.

The club from San Nicolás has pulled in an average 40,649 of fans since the start of the competition, only marginally ahead of Monterrey (37,624) and América (36,299).

It could be argued, however, that on this occasion the numbers do not tell the full story. Monterrey have only filled the Estadio BBVA once this season – incidentally against Tigres – while there have been swathes of empty seats at the - admittedly huge - Estadio Azteca for América’s home matches this term, even though they currently sit top of the table.

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Tigres, on the other hand, can boast near full-houses in each of the eight fixtures they have played at the Estadio Universitario, known as El Volcán due to the atmosphere generated by the passionate fans in attendance.

It would, of course, be far too simplistic to suggest that the number of match-going fans indicates the best-supported clubs. A recent survey carried out by YouGov Sport, who polled Mexicans on which clubs they follow, found that 24% of Liga MX fans support Chivas, followed by América (22%), Tigres (18%) and Cruz Azul (17%).

Clubs with best celebrity fans!

Does any of the above prove what Liga MX’s ‘best’ club is? The definition of ‘best’ can often be subjective. But perhaps it will have gone some way to helping you decide.

And if the cold, hard facts have not convinced you what the ‘best’ Liga MX club is, perhaps their celebrity fans will sway you one way or another. Soccer. It’s all about opinions, after all.