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The football league system in Mexico consists of 4 levels.

Primera División de México- The Primera División de México, composed of 18 teams, competes in two tournaments annually: the Apertura in the fall and the Clausura in the spring. Following each regular season, playoffs are contested to determine the champion.

Champions participate in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup for the Champions of North American football leagues. In addition, certain Primera clubs participate in South America's Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana.

Each year, one team is relegated on the basis of fewest points earned per match played over three seasons. This system generally assures that well-supported clubs will not be relegated on the basis of one poor season. The relegated team is replaced by the playoff winner from Primera A.

Primera A- In Primera A the team that wins a playoff between the Apertura and Clausura championships is promoted; whereas, the worst team (again based on points earned per matches played) is relegated.

Segunda and Tercera Division- In segunda division and tercera the teams participate in huge apertura and clausura knock-out tournaments. the winner of a champion vs champion game goes on to a higher division, relegation is for the worst team. No one from tercera gets relegated as it is the lowest tier of soccer in Mexico.

For the upcoming season Primera A will be split into two groups and the league has expanded from 20 to 24 teams.

The Mexican Football Federation has wanted to tinker with the system that is in place, the Federation has mentioned that that Primera Division de Mexico could see a single table with one whole season instead of two seasons in the near future.

• The Mexican Federation website's Division section