Schedule confirmed: key dates for the 2026 Clausura, ending in December

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·23 July 2026

Schedule confirmed: key dates for the 2026 Clausura, ending in December

Following the conclusion of the World Cup, Professional Football League action resumes this week with the start of the 2026 Clausura Tournament. The opening matchday will feature three games: Sarmiento vs. Argentinos Juniors and Belgrano vs. Rosario Central will kick off the competition, while the interzonal match between Defensa y Justicia and Aldosivi will close Thursday’s action.

The competition will keep the same structure as the Apertura, with the 30 participating clubs divided into two zones (A and B) of 15 teams each. Each weekend’s schedule will consist of 14 regular matches and one interzonal derby.

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The knockout stage

At the end of the 16 rounds of the regular stage, the top eight teams from each zone will qualify for the round of 16. At that point, cross-zone matchups will begin: the leader of Zone A will face the eighth-placed team from Zone B, the second-placed team will face the seventh, and so on.

The knockout ties will be played as single-leg matches at the stadium of the club that finished higher in the standings. If the score is tied after the 90 regulation minutes, 30 minutes of extra time will be played (divided into two 15-minute periods) and, if the tie remains, qualification will be decided by a penalty shootout. This format will apply in every knockout round except the final, which will be played as a single match at a neutral stadium designated by the Professional League.

Tiebreaker criteria in the group stage

If two or more teams finish level on points in any position during the regular stage, the standings will be determined according to the following order of priority:

Better goal difference across the entire stage.
More goals scored.
Head-to-head results: considering only the matches played in the tournament against the teams tied in the standings, the higher number of points will be evaluated first, followed by goal difference and goals scored in those specific matchups.
2026 Fair Play table: better placement at the end of the group stage.
Draw: conducted by the LPF Executive Committee if the teams remain completely level.

Key dates and tournament schedule

The Professional League has already made the competition schedule for the second half of the year official, establishing that the grand final will be played on Sunday, December 13.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.