Chivas vs Cruz Azul (El Clásico de los Colores)

Lore & Background

Cruz Azul was founded in the late 1920s in Jasso, Hidalgo, where cement company Cooperativa La Cruz Azul fostered a connection with football. Carlos Garcés López, a footballer, athlete and dentist employed by the cooperative, advocated for football to become the company's official sport. After a referendum on 22 March 1927, football was selected, and the team was formally established on 22 May 1927, with Garcés López as its first manager. The club was originally composed exclusively of company workers.

In 1931, the cooperative faced financial difficulties during the Great Depression and was acquired by La Tolteca, but workers unionized and eventually assumed control of the plant in 1932. The club won 15 consecutive league titles in a local amateur league in Hidalgo between 1932 and 1943. Cruz Azul was officially registered as a professional club after being invited to compete in the 1960–61 Copa de la Segunda División de México. The club earned promotion to the Primera División by finishing first in the 1963–64 Segunda División season.

Reader's Guide

Cruz Azul plays its home matches at Estadio Azteca. The club competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Cruz Azul maintains a long-standing rivalry with América, a fixture commonly known as the Clásico Joven. According to several polls, Cruz Azul is the third-most popular team in Mexico, behind only América and Guadalajara. Within the Mexico City metropolitan area, it is generally regarded as the second-most supported club, behind América and ahead of Pumas UNAM. Together, these clubs are considered the Big Four of Mexican football.

Did You Know?

• The club holds the joint-record for the most successful club in the history of the CONCACAF Champions Cup/Champions League with seven titles.
• Cruz Azul is the first team from CONCACAF to reach the final of the Copa Libertadores.