The Apertura 2018 Copa MX was the 80th staging of the
Copa MX
Copa MX, also known as Copa Corona MX for sponsorship reasons, was an association football competition in Mexico and the domestic cup tournament for clubs at the highest and second levels of Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Copa ...
, the 52nd staging in the professional era and is the thirteenth tournament played since the
1996–97 edition.
The tournament started on 24 July 2018 and ended on 31 October 2018.
The
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
was held at
Estadio BBVA Bancomer
Estadio BBVA, formerly known as the Estadio BBVA Bancomer, is an association football stadium in Guadalupe, Greater Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. Nicknamed "El Gigante de Acero" in Spanish (), the stadium replaced the Estadio Tecnológico as th ...
in the
Monterrey
Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...
suburb of
Guadalupe with the visiting team
Cruz Azul
Club de Futbol Cruz Azul S.A. de C.V., commonly referred to as Cruz Azul, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football league system, Mexican footba ...
defeating
Monterrey
Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...
2–0 to win their fourth title.
As winners, Cruz Azul earned a spot to face the winners of the
Clausura 2019 edition, in the
2019 Supercopa MX
The 2019 Supercopa MX was a Mexican football match-up played on 14 July 2019, and is the most-recent edition of the Supercopa MX. It was contested by the champions of the Apertura 2018 Copa MX, Cruz Azul, and the champions of the 2018 Supercop ...
.
Participants
The tournament will feature all Liga MX clubs (excluding Lobos BUAP) as well as the first ten Ascenso MX clubs of the
2017–18 Ascenso MX aggregate table.
Due to the new format of the
CONCACAF Champions League
The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...
, Mexican clubs do not begin their participation until February, thus the teams qualified to
2018–19 CONCACAF Champions League (
Monterrey
Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...
,
Santos Laguna
Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V., simply known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club based in Torreón, Coahuila. The club competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football.
Founded in 1983 as Club Santos I ...
,
Toluca
Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the States of Mexico, state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. Toluca has a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the Grea ...
,
UANL) will participate in this season's Copa MX.
Teams
The following 27 teams qualified for the tournament.
''In the following table, the number of appearances, last appearance, and previous best result count only those in the
Copa MX
Copa MX, also known as Copa Corona MX for sponsorship reasons, was an association football competition in Mexico and the domestic cup tournament for clubs at the highest and second levels of Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Copa ...
era starting from
Apertura 2012 (not counting those in the eras from 1907 to 1996).''
Draw
The draw for the tournament took place on 5 June 2018 at the Iberostar Hotel in
Cancún
Cancún is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, located in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat of the municipality of Benito J ...
, Mexico.
27 teams were drawn into nine groups of three with each group, except group 9, containing two teams from Liga MX and one team from Ascenso MX.
Clubs in Pot 1 were drawn to be the seed of each group according to the order of their drawing. That is, the first club that was drawn is seed of Group 1, the second drawn is seed of Group 2 and so on and so on.
The Liga MX teams in Pot 1 are teams who ended 1–4 in the
2017–18 Liga MX Aggregate table.
The champions of the last two editions,
Monterrey
Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...
(who is also first in Aggregate table) and
Necaxa
Impulsora del Deportivo Necaxa S.A. de C.V. (); often simply known as Club Necaxa, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in Aguascalientes (city), Aguascalientes. It competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican ...
are also in Pot 1.
The Ascenso MX teams in Pot 1 are teams who ended 1–4 in the
2017–18 Ascenso MX Aggregate table.
Pot 2 contained Liga MX clubs who ended 5–8 in the
Aggregate table and Ascenso MX clubs who ended 5–9 in the
Aggregate table.
Pot 3 contained Liga MX clubs who ended 10–18 (excluding
Lobos BUAP
Club de Fútbol Lobos de la Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla were a Mexican football club based in Puebla, Mexico. The club represented the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. The club's history goes back to the early 1930s ...
) in the
Aggregate table.
Atlético San Luis
Club Atlético de San Luis is a Mexican professional football club based in San Luis Potosí. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football.
Founded in 2013, replacing the defunct club of the city ( San Luis FC) after its re ...
, who ended tenth in the
Ascenso MX Aggregate table, is the lone Ascenso MX club in Pot 3.
Tiebreakers
If two or more clubs are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings:
# scores of the group matches played among the clubs in question;
# superior
goal difference
Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...
;
# higher number of goals scored;
# higher number of goals scored away in the group matches played among the clubs in question;
# fair play ranking;
# drawing of lots.
Group stage
Every group is composed of three clubs, each group has at least one club from
Liga MX
Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...
and
Ascenso MX
Ascenso MX, also known as Ascenso BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, was a professional association football league in Mexico and the second level of the Mexican football league system.
Formerly known as Primera División A de México (1994–2009 ...
.
''All match times listed are
CDT (
UTC–6), except for matches in Culiacán, Ciudad Juárez (both
UTC–7) and Tijuana (
UTC–8).''
Group 1
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Group 2
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Group 3
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Group 4
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Group 5
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Group 6
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Group 7
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Group 8
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Group 9
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Ranking of second-placed teams
Knockout stage
*The clubs that advance to this stage will be ranked and seeded 1 to 16 based on performance in the group stage. In case of ties, the same tiebreakers used to rank the runners-up will be used.
*All rounds are played in a single game. If a game ends in a draw, it will proceed directly to a
penalty shoot-out
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
. The highest seeded club will host each match, regardless of which division each club belongs.
*The winners of the groups and the seven best second place teams of each group will advance to the Knockout stage.
Qualified teams
The nine group winners and the seven best runners-up from the
group stage
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...
qualify for the final stage.
Seeding
Bracket
Round of 16
''All match times listed are
CDT (
UTC–6), except for matches in Tijuana (
UTC–8).''
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Quarterfinals
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Semifinals
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Final
Top goalscorers
Players sorted first by goals scored, then by last name.
Source
Copa MX
Notes
References
External links
Official site
{{2018–19 in North and Central America, and Caribbean football (CONCACAF)
2018, 2
2018, 2
Copa Mx, 2
Copa Mx, 2