In Mexican football, the Big Four (Spanish: Los Cuatro Grandes) refers to a group of four clubs, Club América, Guadalajara (popularly known by their nickname Chivas), Cruz Azul and Pumas UNAM, which are considered by the local press to be the most popular and successful sides in the country.
[1][2] Mexico City is home to three members of the "Big Four"; Club América (15), Cruz Azul (9), and Pumas UNAM (7) have 31 Liga MX titles among them.
Their meetings, which have become known as El Súper Clásico (Spanish for "The Super Classic"), are played at least twice a year and signal a national derby.
The first match between the two clubs took place on 1 July 1962, where América hosted UNAM, who had recently been promoted from the second division.
Pumas UNAM representing the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, identifies itself as the club of the intellectuals and middle-class.
[8] The rivalry is particularly fierce from UNAM's side: according to surveys the majority of their supporters consider América as their main rival.
[9] Club América's other capital-based rival, and the most important, is Cruz Azul, with whom they compete in the derby known as the "Clásico Joven" (Spanish for "Young Classic").