Cruz Azul will face Pumas on Sunday, May 24, 2026, at Estadio Olímpico Universitario with the chance to cap a season that has carried the club to the edge of its tenth Liga MX title. The final comes after a Clausura 2026 campaign that mixed sharp results with hard setbacks and left Nicolás Larcamón’s team one match from the championship it has chased for years.
The scale of Cruz Azul’s run is clear in the numbers. The team went 29 matches unbeaten at Estadio Olímpico Universitario, with 21 wins and eight draws, and used that kind of consistency to stay alive through the tournament. It also survived a rocky start, losing 2-1 to León in the opening match before rebounding with a 2-0 win over Atlas at Estadio Cuauhtémoc, a 1-0 victory over Puebla, a 4-3 win over Juárez and a 1-1 draw with Toluca.
From there, Cruz Azul kept stacking results. It beat Tigres 2-1, Chivas 2-1, Monterrey 2-0, Santos Laguna 2-1 and San Luis 3-0 in Matchday 10, enough to underline a team that found a way to keep moving even when the path was not clean. For Larcamón, who coached the side through Clausura 2026, the stretch offered proof that his squad could still produce in the biggest moments.
The final also puts pressure on a roster that was never built with depth to spare. Kevin Mier suffered an injury, and Andrés Gudiño played in goal for most of the regular season. Jorge Sánchez left after being signed by PAOK Salonica in Greece, while Cruz Azul’s only reinforcements were Agustín Palavecino, Nico Ibáñez and Osinachi Ebere. Erik Lira was unavailable at the start of the Liguilla because of Mexico national team concentration, adding another hole at a critical point.
That is part of why the matchup matters beyond one night in Mexico City. Cruz Azul spent more than 20 years without becoming league champion despite reaching many finals, and the club has had to adapt to not being able to keep playing in Ciudad Universitaria, using Estadio Cuauhtémoc as home instead. The team’s form also changed as the tournament and the CONCACAF Champions Cup moved forward, with Larcamón’s strong start fading along the way.
Now the season narrows to one final test at the same stadium where Cruz Azul built so much of its unbeaten run. Pumas will stand in the way on Sunday, and for Cruz Azul the result will decide whether the long wait ends with a tenth title or stretches on again.
