The 1980s Transition

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. Between 1932 and 1943, Cruz Azul won 15 consecutive league titles in a local amateur league in the state of Hidalgo. The club gained official registration as a professional club after competing in the 1960–61 Copa de la Segunda División de México, a competition sanctioned by the Mexican Football Federation. The club's performance prompted the federation to grant Cruz Azul official registration as a professional club.

Reader's Guide

Cruz Azul plays its home matches at Estadio Azteca. The club 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?

• Cruz Azul holds the joint-record for the most successful club in the history of the CONCACAF Champions Cup/Champions League with seven titles.
• Cruz Azul achieved a continental treble in the 1968–69 season, becoming the first CONCACAF club and third worldwide to accomplish this feat.
• In 2026, Cruz Azul was named by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics as the 71st-best club in the world and the highest-ranked club in CONCACAF for the 2025 calendar year.