Editing InterLiga

{{more citations needed|date=July 2008}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{infobox football tournament
| logo                 = [[Image:Interliga.png|250px]]
| founded              = {{Start date and age|2004}}
| abolished            = {{End date and age|2010}}
| region               = [[Mexico]]
| number of teams      = 8   
| broadcasters         = [[Fox Sports en Español]]
| motto                = Rumbo a la Libertadores
| current              = 
}}

'''InterLiga''' was an [[association football]] competition and the qualification method between eight Mexican clubs to determine two clubs qualified for the [[Copa Libertadores]], it was held from 2004 to 2010.

==History==
From 1998 to 2003, the Mexican clubs competed in the [[Pre-Libertadores tournament]] as its qualification method, which consisted in two rounds. The first round called '''Selectivo Pre Pre-Libertadores''' was played between Mexican clubs, two clubs advanced to the next round called '''Liguilla Pre-Libertadores''' against two clubs from [[Venezuela]], the four clubs faced each other to determine the last two spots for the Copa Libertadores. 

In 2004, Mexico and Venezuela were granted automatic entries to the Copa Libertadores for the first time. The [[Mexican Football Federation|FMF]] decided to create a national qualifying tournament for its last two spots, and the first InterLiga was held that January in the United States, during the off-season of the Primera División.

==Competition format==
The eight qualifying clubs were selected based on the accumulated points in the ''Apertura'' and ''Clausura'' tournaments of the Primera División, and divided into two groups of four, with even-numbered seeds in one group and odd-numbered seeds in the other.
In order to assure a more neutral environment, and to take advantage of a large and relatively well-off pool of Mexican football fans, all matches were held in the United States in [[California]] and [[Texas]], two states with large Mexican populations. 

'''2004'''
* ''Mexico-1'': The winner of the final 1 played between the winner of each group.

* ''Mexico-2'': The winner of the reclassification match between the loser of final 1 and the winner of final 2 (played between the second place of each group).

The two clubs qualified directly to the group stage of the [[2004 Copa Libertadores]].

'''2005-2010''' 
* ''Mexico-1'': The winner of the "Serie Mexico-1" played from 2005 to 2007, in round-trip matches between the champions of Clausura and Apertura tournaments from two previous years. From 2008 to 2010, the club with the most points in the regular season of the Apertura tournament qualified as "Mexico-1" (only clubs not participating in the CONCACAF Champions League).

* ''Mexico-2 and 3'': The group winner with the most points faced the second place from the other group in final 1, the group winner with the fewest points faced the second place of the other group in final 2.  If the winner of final 1 was the club with the most points, then it qualified as "Mexico-2", and the winner of final 2 qualified as "Mexico-3". If the winner of final 1 was the club with the fewest points, then it qualified as "Mexico-3" and the winner of final 2 qualified as "Mexico-2".

Mexico-1 and 2 qualified directly to the group stage of the Copa Libertadores, while Mexico-3 played the first stage.

The current league champions were excluded from the InterLiga as they qualify for the [[CONCACAF Champions League]], which is contested during the same time period as the Libertadores, and whose prize is a spot in the [[FIFA Club World Cup]]. Mexican teams would not be eligible for the latter competition if they won the Libertadores because Mexico belongs to CONCACAF.

==Results==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" 
|-
!Ed.
!Year
!Venue
!colspan=2|Qualified to Copa Libertadores (Mexico-2 / Mexico-3)
|- 
|1||[[2004 InterLiga|2004]]||{{flagicon|California}} [[Carson, California|Carson]]||[[Santos Laguna]]<sup>'''1'''</sup>||[[Club América|América]]<sup>'''1'''</sup> 
|-
|2||[[2005 InterLiga|2005]]||{{flagicon|Texas}} [[Houston]]||[[Tigres UANL|UANL]]||[[C.D. Guadalajara|Guadalajara]]
|-
|3||[[2006 InterLiga|2006]]||{{flagicon|California}} [[Carson, California|Carson]]||[[Tigres UANL|UANL]]||[[C.D. Guadalajara|Guadalajara]]
|-
|4||[[2007 InterLiga|2007]]||{{flagicon|California}} [[Carson, California|Carson]]||[[Club Necaxa|Necaxa]]||[[Club América|América]]
|-
|5||[[2008 InterLiga|2008]]||{{flagicon|California}} [[Carson, California|Carson]]||[[Club América|América]]||[[Atlas F.C.|Atlas]]
|-
|6||[[2009 InterLiga|2009]]||{{flagicon|California}} [[Carson, California|Carson]]||[[C.D. Guadalajara|Guadalajara]]||[[C.F. Pachuca|Pachuca]]
|-
|7||[[2010 InterLiga|2010]]||{{flagicon|California}} [[Carson, California|Carson]]||[[C.F. Monterrey|Monterrey]]||[[Tecos F.C.|Tecos]] 
|}
;Notes:
# Mexico has two spots to the [[2004 Copa Libertadores]], Santos Laguna qualified as "Mexico-1" and Club América qualified as "Mexico-2".

==Participations by club==
* [[Club América|América]]: 
6 ('''2004''', 2005, '''2007''', '''2008''', 2009, 2010)
* [[Tigres UANL|UANL]]: 
6 (2004, '''2005''', '''2006''', 2007, 2009, 2010)
* [[Atlético Morelia|Morelia]]: 
5 (2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009)
* [[C.D. Guadalajara|Guadalajara]]: 
4 (2004, '''2005''', '''2006''', '''2009''')
* [[C.F. Monterrey|Monterrey]]: 
4 (2006, 2007, 2008,'''2010''')
* [[Atlante F.C.|Atlante]]: 
3 (2004, 2005, 2010)
* [[Atlas F.C.|Atlas]]: 
3 (2004, '''2008''', 2009)
* [[Chiapas F.C.|Chiapas]]: 
3 (2005, 2007, 2010)
* [[Cruz Azul]]: 
3 (2006, 2007, 2008)
* [[Tecos F.C.|Tecos]]: 
3 (2007, 2009, '''2010''')
* [[Club Necaxa|Necaxa]]: 
3 (2005, 2006, '''2007''')
* [[Santos Laguna]]: 
3 ('''2004''', 2005, 2010)
* [[Deportivo Toluca F.C.|Toluca]]:
3 (2004, 2005, 2009)
* [[C.F. Pachuca|Pachuca]]: 
2 (2006, '''2009''')
* [[Club Puebla|Puebla]]: 
1 (2010)
* [[Club Universidad Nacional|UNAM]]: 
1 (2007)
* [[C.D. Veracruz|Veracruz]]: 
1 (2006)
;Notes: 
'''Bold''' — Qualified for the Copa Libertadores.

==Top goalscorers==
{|class="wikitable"
!Pos!!Player!!Goals
|-
|1||{{flagicon|CHI}} [[Reinaldo Navia]] ||9
|-
|1||{{flagicon|PAR}} [[Salvador Cabañas]]||9
|-
|2||{{flagicon|ARG}} [[Bruno Marioni]]||7
|-
|3||{{flagicon|MEX}} [[Cuauhtémoc Blanco]] ||6
|-
|3||{{flagicon|MEX}} [[Aldo de Nigris]] ||6
|-
|4||{{flagicon|MEX}} [[Omar Bravo]]||5
|-
|4||{{flagicon|ARG}} [[Walter Gaitán]]||5
|-
|4||{{flagicon|BRA}} [[Kléber Boas]]||5
|-
|4||{{flagicon|MEX}} [[Alfredo Moreno]]||5
|-
|5||{{flagicon|MEX}} [[Manuel Pérez (footballer, born 1980)|Manuel Perez]]||4
|-
|5||{{flagicon|MEX}} [[Jared Borgetti]]||4
|-
|5||{{flagicon|CHI}} [[Sebastian Gonzalez]]||4
|-
|5||{{flagicon|MEX}} [[Carlos Ochoa (footballer)|Carlos Ochoa]]||4
|-
|5||{{flagicon|MEX}} [[Ramón Morales]]||4
|-
|5||{{flagicon|PAR}} [[Edgar Benitez]]||4
|-
|5||{{flagicon|MEX}} [[Adolfo Bautista]]||4
|-
|5||{{flagicon|PAR}} [[Jorge Achucarro]]||4
|}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051123191854/http://www.interliga.com/ Official site] (in Spanish and English)

{{Futbol Mexicano}}
{{InterLiga}}

[[Category:Defunct football competitions in Mexico]]
[[Category:International club association football competitions hosted by the United States]]