List of Argentine Primera División champions
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The Argentina football champion is the winner of the highest league in Argentine football, the Primera División. The league season have had different formats, since the original double round-robin until the Liga Profesional. The champion is the team with the most points at the end of the competition.
The first Argentine football champions, St. Andrew's and Old Caledonians, were crowned in 1891 in the first official championship. Alumni was the most successful club with 10 titles until its dissolution in 1911. River Plate is the most successful club, having won 38 titles to date.
Primera División champions (1891–present)
The following is a list including all the Primera División champions since the first edition held in 1891.[1][2][3] For the first time since 1892, no league championship was held in 2020 after the schedule for a regular league season had been repeatedly delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the National Government allowed football competitions to return in October,[4] AFA organised the 2020 Copa de la Liga Profesional, a domestic cup conceived as a contingency competition.
- (In bracket, title count):
- Keys
- H = Copa de Honor
- C = Copa Campeonato
- O = Copa de Oro
- Met = Metropolitano (1967–1984)
- Nac = Nacional (1967–1985)
- Ap = Apertura (1991–2012)
- Cl = Clausura (1991–2012)
- In = Inicial (2012–2014)
- Fi = Final (2012–2014)
- Tr = Transition (2014)
- Notes
- Championship organised by The Argentine Association Football League, predecessor of current Argentine Football Association (established in 1893). That association was the oldest outside Great Britain,[5] being dissolved that same year.[6]
- This was not the club founded by the Hogg brothers but another football club that only participated in this championship. The team's jersey was red and white in vertical stripes while its venue was located in Flores, Buenos Aires.
- Not related to Club Atlético Lanús
- When Alumni won the 1900 title the club still named "English High School AC". In 1901 it was renamed due to the Football Association did not allow teams to use the same name as the school they represented to avoid advertising purposes.
- The Federación Argentina de Football (FAF) was a rival association that organized its own championships from 1912 to 1914.
- The Asociación Amateurs de Football (AAmF) was a rival association that organized its own championships from 1919 to 1926.
- The Liga Argentina de Football (LAF) was a dissident association that organized the first four professional championships between 1931 and 1934. In 1935 it merged with the amateur association Asociación Argentina de Football (AAF) whose teams were relegated to second division.
- The 1936 season was divided into two single round-robin tournaments, "Copa Campeonato" (won by River Plate) and "Copa de Honor" (won by San Lorenzo). At the end of the season, both teams played the "Copa de Oro", a single match won by River. In its Memoria y Balance (Annual Report) published by the AFA that year, River Plate is mentioned as "1936 Champion" while San Lorenzo is only mentioned as "Copa de honor winning team".[8] In its 100th anniversary book published in 1993, the AFA listed River Plate as the only 1936 champion.[9] In 2013, the AFA included three 1936 championships on its website, mentioning River Plate as Copa de Oro and Copa Campeonato winner and San Lorenzo as Copa de Honor winner, therefore both clubs were added one league title to their honours.[10][11] Moreover, some historians consider Copa de Oro a national cup instead of a league championship, stating that it was only contested to qualify an Argentine representative to play the Copa Aldao against the Uruguayan champion.[12]
- No third team recorded so the championship was played in a two zones format, where both teams qualified first played a final.
- Although there was an Apertura (Newell's Old Boys) and Clausura champion (Boca Juniors) this season, the half-year champions played in a two-legged final to determine the season champion, which finally was Newell's.
- Since 1991–92 season both Apertura and Clausura were official titles as individuals.
- Only to indicate that Vélez Sársfield was proclaimed as champion of the entire season after winning the "Superfinal" v Newell's.
- Vélez was recognized as the champion of the entire season (2013-14) and awarded its 10th. Primera División title.
- Although River defeated San Lorenzo in the "Superfinal", this did not count as a new Primera División honour.
Titles by club
The list include all the titles won by each club since the first Primera División championship held in 1891. Clubs in italic no longer exist or are currently disaffiliated from the AFA.
- Notes
- The AFA awarded Rosario Central a league title due to having earned the most points in the entire season (2025 aggregate table).[14] The decision to award the “Campeón de Liga” title to Rosario Central caused wide controversy as the trophy was not announced before the end of the Clausura regular season.[15][16][17] As the 2025 Tournament Rules stated that changes could be made (prior approval by the Executive Committee) with the season in progress[18] president Claudio Tapia presented an initiative to award a league title to Rosario Central, which was approved and carried out by the committee in November.[19] The title was established with retroactivity since this 2025 season and will also be disputed in the future seasons.[20]
- The Association awarded River Plate both titles, Copa Campeonato and Copa de Oro, as individual titles.
- Under the name "English High School AC"
Championships defined by tiebreaker matches
Although most of Primera División championships were decided by points in single and double round-robin tournaments, some tiebreaker matches were played when two (or more) teams ended tied on points at the end of the season in order to define a champion. The following is a list of those cases:[22]
Notes:
- The 1936 "Copa de Oro" is not listed because it did not define a Primera División champion but which team would participate in the 1936 Copa Aldao.[note3 1]
- Nacional championship finals are listed on their respective articles and not included here. It is due to finals included in the list below were played in exceptional cases (mostly when both teams finished tied on points).
- Copa Campeonato matches are not included because they had the format of national cup.
Titles won by club (%)
- River Plate - 38 (19.6%)
- Boca Juniors - 35 (18.0%)
- Racing – 18 (9.30%)
- Independiente – 16 (8.20%)
- San Lorenzo – 15 (7.70%)
- Vélez Sarsfield – 11 (5.70%)
- Alumni – 10 (5.20%)
- Estudiantes (LP) - 6 (3.10%)
- Newell's Old Boys - 6 (3.10%)
- Huracán - 5 (2.60%)
- Lomas Athletic - 5 (2.60%)
- Rosario Central - 5 (2.60%)
- Belgrano Athletic - 3 (1.60%)
- Argentino Juniors - 3 (1.60%)
- Other Teams - 19 (9.70%)
- Notes
- This point is still under discussion and has caused controversies among football historians, as River Plate was mentioned as "Argentine champion" on the AFA Annual Report of that year.[8] Nevertheless, some historians argue that the "Copa de Oro" was not a league title but a national cup that determined which team would play the Copa Aldao v the Uruguayan representative.[12]
- This match did not decide the champion so both teams had been awarded the title after they finished tied on points. The match was held only to define which team would be awarded the medals.
- Porteño was croned champion after Independiente left the field in protest.
- Only the last match is included so both clubs had played three games before (in a two legged series, one win for each, then a playoff that drew after extra time)
- The association crowned Huracán as champion after players of Nueva Chicago refused to play the extra time.
- Played in a two-legged tie
- Both finals played in the same venue.
- Played in a two-legged tie, Newell's won by penalty shoot-out after both teams won a match each and tied 1–1 on aggregate.
- Boca Juniors, San Lorenzo, and Tigre equalled on points so the three clubs played each other in a single round-robin tie breaker. Boca Juniors won the championship by goal difference.