The Apertura 2018 Copa MX Final was the final of the

Apertura 2018 Copa MX The Apertura 2018 Copa MX was the 80th staging of the Copa MX, 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. Th ...

, the thirteenth edition of the

Copa MX The Copa MX (formerly called Copa Tower Monterrey, Copa Eliminatoria, Copa México and Copa Corona MX (for sponsorship reasons)) was a Mexican football cup competition that was established in 1907. After a lengthy hiatus that began in 1997, it wa ...

under its current format and 80th overall organized by the

Mexican Football Federation The Mexican Football Federation (; abbreviated as Femexfut or FMF) is the governing body of association football in Mexico. It adm the Mexico national team, the Liga MX and all affiliated amateur sectors, and controls promoting, organizing, direc ...

, the governing body of association football in Mexico. The final was contested in a single leg format between

Liga MX The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...

clubs

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

and

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul or simply Cruz Azul () is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Because "azul" means "blue" in Spanish, the club has traditionally ...

. The match was hosted by Monterrey at

Estadio BBVA Bancomer The Estadio BBVA, nicknamed "El Gigante de Acero" (Spanish for "The Steel Giant"), formerly known as the Estadio BBVA Bancomer, is a stadium developed by FEMSA and C.F. Monterrey in Guadalupe, Greater Monterrey. The stadium replaced the Estadio Te ...

in the

suburb of Guadalupe on 31 October 2018. The winners earned a spot to face the winners of the Clausura 2019 in the 2019 Supercopa MX.

Qualified teams

Venue

Due to the tournament's regulations, the higher seed among both finalists during the group stage will host the final, thus

hosted the final. The venue which opened on 2 August 2015 is the newest venue in Liga MX and has been home to Monterrey since the Apertura 2015 season. The venue has previously hosted two

finals ( Clausura 2016 and Apertura 2017) and one Copa MX final ( Apertura 2017).

Background

Monterrey has won the tournament twice while Cruz Azul has won it three times. Before reaching this final, the last time Monterrey reached a reached a final of any kind was the previous December when they defeated

Pachuca Pachuca (; ote, Nju̱nthe), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Hidalgo. It is located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca de Soto is also the name of the municipality of whic ...

1–0 to capture the

Apertura 2017 Copa MX The Apertura 2017 Copa MX (officially the Apertura 2017 Copa Corona (beer), Corona MX for sponsorship reasons) was the 78th staging of the Copa MX, the 50th staging in the professional era and is the eleventh tournament played since the 1996–97 ...

. Cruz Azul last reached a final back in 2014 where they defeated

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. With a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census, Toluca is the fifth most populous city in M ...

1–1 (on

away goals The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

) in the

2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League The 2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League was the 6th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 49th edition of the premier football club competition organized by CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North ...

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. These two clubs last faced each other in a final back in 2009 when Monterrey won 6–4 on aggregate to capture the Apertura 2009

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

title. The clubs also faced each other in the 1969 Copa México Final where Cruz Azul came out victorious. Monterrey won three, drew once, lost none and scored nine goals during group stage, as they were seeded third. They eliminated Zacatepec in the Round of 16,

Querétaro Querétaro (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro, links=no; Otomi language, Otomi: ''Hyodi Ndämxei''), is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. I ...

in the quarterfinals, and

in the semifinals. Cruz Azul won two, drew one, lost one and scored seven goals during group stage, as they were seeded ninth. They defeated

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

in the Round of 16, Juárez in the quarterfinals, and León on penalty kicks in the semifinals.

Road to the finals

''Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first.''

Match

Broadcasters

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Apertura 2018 Copa MX Final Copa MX Finals 2018–19 in Mexican football 2018 in Mexican sports October 2018 sports events in Mexico