Clásico Capitalino

Other names	Derbi de la Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico City derby)[1][2]
Location	Mexico City
Teams	América UNAM
First meeting	1 July 1962 UNAM 0–2 América Liga MX
Latest meeting	22 February 2025 América 2-0 UNAM Liga MX
Next meeting	TBD
Statistics
Most wins	América (59)
Largest victory	América 6–1 UNAM 9 December 2018 Liga MX Quarter-final
Azteca Olímpico Universitario Coapa Cantera Location of the teams' stadia and training bases inMexico City

América

UNAM

ElClasico Capitalino (Capital derby), refers tofootball matches betweenAmérica andUNAM, both fromMexico City. América play at theEstadio Azteca, while UNAM play at theEstadio Olímpico Universitario, with the two grounds separated by approximately 1.1 miles (1.8 km).^[3][1]

In México the match is often perceived as the representation of a struggle between two antagonistic powers and institutions: Club América has always been regarded as the club of the establishment and the wealthy. The fact that the club is owned by the multimedia mass media companyTelevisa has further intensified this image. UNAM, representing theUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de México, identifies itself as the club of the intellectuals and middle-class.

Indeed, both are clubs with very contrasting identities and policy, Club Universidad Nacional was originally an amateur club of college students from the University's several schools and then developed into a professional team competing in the Mexican football league, the nicknamePumas "Cougars" was inspired by Roberto 'Tapatio' Mendez, who coached the team from 1946–64 and whose motivational speeches often compared his players to pumas. The nickname stayed with the public, and all the athletic teams representing the University have been called Pumas; Club América self-proclaimedLas Águilas "The Eagles" wanted to have a representation of an animal that would show pride and domination of its environment. However, they are also calledLos millonetas, a derogatory reference or version of the word millionaire, started when businessman Emilio Azcarraga Milmo, owner ofTelesistema Mexicano, bought América from Isaac Bessudo in 1959. Following the acquisition, Azcárraga told his players,"I do not know much about football, but I do know a lot about business, and this, gentlemen, will be a business".^[4]Azcarraga hired the successful president of theClub Zacatepec,Guillermo Cañedo de la Bárcena, and started to hire other notable national and foreigner figures, focusing on money, to form a powerful team, Universidad Nacional instead have employed"Lacantera universitaria", ayouth development system withfootball academies andfarm teams to success through its history.

The rivalry is particularly fierce from UNAM's side: according to surveys the majority of their supporters consider América as their main rival, however, most of América's fans see it as an important match but deem the match against Chivas as more important.^[5]

During the 1961–62 season in theSegunda División de México, UNAM were able to get promotion into top flight football, the Primera División de México. The first match for the team "benjamín" (newbie) of that season wasAmérica meeting on 1 July 1962 where América won 2–0 with goals byFrancisco Moacyr andAntonio Jasso.^[6]

For the 1966–67 season, América,Atlante andNecaxa moved to a new stadium, theEstadio Azteca, and the first meeting between América and UNAM on 19 August 1966, América won 5–1. This defeat really hurt the pride of the fans "Universitarios" and playing at home on 1 December 1966, UNAM defeated América 4–1 in theEstadio Olímpico.^[7]

Years later, in the 1969–70 season, América were able to get international forwardEnrique Borja, news which caused a lot of controversy and shocked the football world due to the strong rivalry between the teams. This transaction caused such an outrage that when the player found out of the transfer he opted not to play because he did not agree. However, the directors of the club were able to convince him and would play and later become an idol for América .^[8]

The rivalry increased with the years and came at a high point during the 1980s when these clubs disputed three finals during that decade. The first final was during the season 1984–85 which after 2 games tied, they had to play a third match on 28 May 1985 which caused great controversy of the performance of the refereeJoaquín Urrea, the final score was 3–1 in favor oflas Águilas with two goals byDaniel Brailovsky and one byCarlos Hermosillo, with this victory América was able to obtain their 5th title. They again met each other in the final during the season 1987–88 where once again América was victorious witch a favorable score of 4–1 during the second leg on 3 July 1988 and an aggregate score of 4–2.^[6] The last final disputed among the clubs was during the season 1990–91 in which UNAM was finally able to break its losing streak against América. The first game was won by América at home 3–2 on 19 July 1991 and the second leg on 22 July 1991 the game was decided by a free kick which was taken by BrazilianRicardo "Tuca" Ferretti, this signified the third title in the history for the club "auriazul".

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Luís Roberto Alves	América	14
2	Jesús Olalde	UNAM	8
3	Manuel Negrete	UNAM	6
4	Alberto García Aspe	UNAM/América	5
	Evanivaldo Castro	UNAM
	Ricardo Ferretti	UNAM
	Carlos Hermosillo	América
	Luis García	UNAM/América
	Darío Verón	UNAM

Rank	Player	Club	Appearances	Years	Position
1	Sergio Bernal	UNAM	50	1989–2010	Goalkeeper

As of 20 April 2024

• Sitio web oficial Club AméricaArchived 2009-05-26 at theWayback Machine
• Sitio web oficial Club Universidad Nacional

• Football rivalries in Mexico
• Club América
• Pumas UNAM
• 1962 establishments in Mexico

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Webarchive template wayback links