The SuperLiga was a 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.
 | |
| Founded | 2007 |
|---|---|
| Abolished | 2010 |
| Region | CONCACAF (North America) |
| Number of teams | 8 |
| Most successful club(s) |  Pachuca New England Revolution UANL Morelia(1 time each) |
Format
editThe 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
editThe 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
edit| Year | Winner | Score | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Pachuca | 1–1 (4–3 p) |
Los Angeles Galaxy |
| 2008 | New England Revolution | 2–2 (6–5 p) |
Houston Dynamo |
| 2009 | UANL | 1–1 (4–3 p) |
Chicago Fire |
| 2010 | Morelia | 2–1 | New England Revolution |
Performances
editBy club
edit| Team | Winners | Runners-Up | Years Won | Years Runner-Up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New England Revolution | 1 | 1 | 2008 | 2010 |
| Pachuca | 1 | 0 | 2007 | |
| UANL | 1 | 0 | 2009 | |
| Morelia | 1 | 0 | 2010 | |
| Houston Dynamo | 0 | 1 | 2008 | |
| Los Angeles Galaxy | 0 | 1 | 2007 | |
| Chicago Fire | 0 | 1 | 2009 |
By country
edit| Nation | Winners | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| Mexico | 3 | 0 |
| USA | 1 | 4 |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "SuperLiga Rules and Regulations" (PDF). MLSnet. Soccer United Marketing. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-10-03.
- ^ "Answers to 20 Questions for Don Garber". American Soccer Blog. Blogspot. October 6, 2006. Retrieved February 9, 2007.
- ^ "'Game First' initiatives enhance on-field product". Archived from the original on 2007-04-06. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
- ^ Borg, Simon (March 29, 2011). "World Football Challenge builds upon SuperLiga". mlssoccer.com. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
- ^ Santaromita, Dan (May 29, 2019). "MLS, Liga MX announce Leagues Cup 8-team tournament". Pro Soccer USA. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
