In August 1916, Alfonso and Juan José "Lico" Cortina, Pedro "Perico" and Carlos Fernández del Valle, the three Orendain brothers and Federico Collignon (who had studied in Berlin) finally decided to set up a football team.

The following year, in the 1950–51 Mexican Primera División season, Atlas won its first league title, with twelve wins in 22 matches.

Atlas had a golden age in the late 1990s under the management of Ricardo La Volpe, with promising players such as Rafael Márquez, Daniel Osorno, Juan Pablo Rodriguez, Pavel Pardo, Mario Méndez, Omar Briceño, and Miguel Zepeda, but even though they had a team with enormous talent and reached the Verano 1999 final, they couldn't conquer the title and lost against Deportivo Toluca in a match defined by penalties after a 5–5 draw on aggregate and with extra time.

As a result, Atlas gained entry into the proper competition in group 4 alongside River Plate, U. de Chile and Atletico Nacional.

At the end of the InterLiga they were tied on points and goal difference with Toluca, so a coin toss decided who would advance to the next round.

Atlas won the coin toss and advanced to the first stage, where they defeated Bolivian club La Paz 2–1 on aggregate.

The team was led by Tomás Boy and was matched up in the group stage with Independiente Santa Fe, Atletico Mineiro, and Colo-Colo.

Atlas later beat Atletico again at home, but exited the competition with a last-placed finish in the group and a loss to Santa Fe in Bogotá.

[6] Videos posted on social media showed groups of men beating, kicking, dragging and stripping victims.

[8] The Liga MX sanctioned Queretaro by banning Queretaro-affiliated barras from attending home matches for up to six months in response to the riots.

Although Atlas has only won the league championship three times, their academy has been famous for developing players for the Mexico national football team in the past few decades like Jared Borgetti, Daniel Osorno, José de Jesús Corona, Pável Pardo, Oswaldo Sánchez, Rafael Márquez, Juan Carlos Medina, Jorge Hernández, Mario Méndez, Miguel Zepeda, Juan Pablo Rodriguez, Juan Pablo Garcia, Joel Herrera, Jorge Torres Nilo, Edgar Ivan Pacheco, Andrés Guardado, Jeremy Márquez, Diego Barbosa and many more.

Subsequently, the stadium was again host for 9 games in the 1986 FIFA World Cup, 6 of which were group stage matches, 1 was round of sixteen and the last 2 were quarter and semi-finals.

Atlas also has notable supporters such as Guadalajara natives Canelo Álvarez,[11] Peso Pluma,[12] and Alejandro Fernández.

Source: Liga MX Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.