When will the Liga MX start up again and what’s the format for the second phase?

As the curtain comes down on the 2022 Liga MX season with the champions crowned at Pachuca’s Estadio Hidalgo, our focus will switch to the 2022 FIFA World Cup which gets underway in Qatar on 20 November.

Tata Martino’s Mexico side are pitted in Group C and will face Poland, Argentina and Saudi Arabia in the winter competition. The final game will take place on 18 December at the 80,000 Lusail Stadium with the staging of the Qatar World Cup forcing major leagues around the world to modify their calendars to accommodate the competition.

With the 2022 Apertura coming to a close on Sunday, Liga MX fans will have to wait until early January (2023) for their next fix of domestic league action as the 2023 Clausura gets underway.

2023 Clausura dates and format

The new season will commence on 5/6 January with the second leg of the final scheduled for 4 June. 18 sides will compete in the competition with the format retaining that of the Apertura with the top 12 sides advancing to the post-season stage. Teams finishing in first through to fourth place will go straight to the quarter-final stages with fifth through to 12th involved in the repechaje or wild-card round which is played over one game with the higher placed teams getting home advantage.

The eight-team quarter finals and semifinals are then staged on a home and away basis with the final games being played at the end of May and early June.

At present, there is still no relegation from Liga MX to the second tier Liga Expansion MX nor is there promotion from the second division to the top flight which sees the 18 teams who featured in the 2022 Apertura in action for the 2023 Clausura.

2023 Clausura: participants