North American SuperLiga

The SuperLiga was an official North American association football competition between teams from the Liga MX of Mexico and Major League Soccer of the United States and Canada, the top divisions in each country. The competition was sanctioned by CONCACAF, U.S. Soccer, the Canadian Soccer Association and Federación Mexicana de Fútbol and served as the sub-regional championship for the North American section of CONCACAF, much like its Central American and Caribbean counterparts, the Copa Interclubes UNCAF and CFU Club Championship respectively.[1] The tournament was first held in 2007 and was cancelled in March 2011.

SuperLiga
Founded2007
Abolished2010
RegionCONCACAF (North America)
Number of teams8
Most successful club(s)Mexico Pachuca
United States New England Revolution
Mexico UANL
Mexico Morelia
(1 time each)

Format

The format consisted of a group stage, followed by playoffs or "knockout" rounds, with all games held at MLS sites. The tournament had an invitational format for its 2007 debut,[2] with four teams invited from both MLS and the Primera División. For successive tournaments, MLS announced that "the four MLS teams with the best regular season records in 2007 will qualify for SuperLiga 2008".[3] However, after problems of fixture congestion during the 2008 season, Major League Soccer announced that starting with SuperLiga 2009 it would no longer allow teams to compete in both the CONCACAF Champions League and the SuperLiga, so the criteria for MLS teams was amended to the top four teams not already qualified for the Champions League. For the Primera División, the champions of the last 4 semi-annual tournaments earned berths to SuperLiga.

The tournament was discontinued after the 2010 edition, with MLS commissioner Don Garber stating that “SuperLiga was a great tournament which served its purpose during its time. CONCACAF got more and more committed to a continental tournament with the Champions League, which we’re very supportive of. It has delivered the value we intended in SuperLiga to put our teams against the best competition in this region.”[4]

A new inter-league competition, the Leagues Cup, was established by MLS and Liga MX in 2019.[5]

Television

The tournament was telecast live by Univision's TeleFutura network in the United States and by Televisa and TV Azteca in Mexico. It could also be seen in English on Fox Sports World Canada, MLS Soccer, and SuperLiga2010.com, which all shared the same feed. The tournament was also streamed live at UnivisionFutbol.com.

Finals
Year Winner Score Runner-up
2007 Pachuca Mexico 1–1
(4–3 p)		 United States Los Angeles Galaxy
2008 New England Revolution United States 2–2
(6–5 p)		 United States Houston Dynamo
2009 UANL Mexico 1–1
(4–3 p)		 United States Chicago Fire
2010 Morelia Mexico 2–1 United States New England Revolution

Performances

By club
Team Winners Runners-Up Years Won Years Runner-Up
United States New England Revolution1120082010
Mexico Pachuca102007
Mexico UANL102009
Mexico Morelia102010
United States Houston Dynamo012008
United States Los Angeles Galaxy012007
United States Chicago Fire012009

By country
Nation Winners Runners-up
 Mexico30
 USA14

See also

References
  1. "SuperLiga Rules and Regulations" (PDF). MLSnet. Soccer United Marketing. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-10-03.
  2. "Answers to 20 Questions for Don Garber". American Soccer Blog. Blogspot. October 6, 2006. Retrieved February 9, 2007.
  3. "'Game First' initiatives enhance on-field product". Archived from the original on 2007-04-06. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
  4. Borg, Simon (March 29, 2011). "World Football Challenge builds upon SuperLiga". mlssoccer.com. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
  5. Santaromita, Dan (May 29, 2019). "MLS, Liga MX announce Leagues Cup 8-team tournament". Pro Soccer USA. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
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