Your guide to understanding the Argentine football competition system | OneFootball

Eight titles up for grabs starting in 2026, a first division championship with 30 teams, and formats that would make Albert Einstein scratch his head. And, above all, the possibility that everything could change along the way. Welcome to Argentine football.

Not even the compatriots of Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi clearly understand how their national football works, the shared passion of a polarized country with deep economic problems.

And who can blame them, since from one week to the next their clubs might go from playing the semiannual tournament (equivalent to a league) to the Cup or the Supercup, and then, perhaps, to another Supercup? Yes, there are two Supercups.

“I don’t understand anything, it’s changing all the time. The only logic is the power-building of the directors,” journalist Andrés Burgo, author of several books about football in Argentina, told AFP.

The most recent change surprised a population already used to the whims of their leaders, who justified the changes with commercial and sporting strategies to increase the sale of players.

Last week, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) declared Rosario Central, the team of star Ángel Di María, as League Champion. The title was awarded because the team had the most points in the overall table, which counts the points from both semiannual competitions.

The decision was not included in the regulations and led to a protest from Estudiantes, the Rosário team’s opponent last Sunday in the round of 16 of one of these competitions, the Clausura.

The players from the La Plata team, who won 1-0, turned their backs during the traditional “pasillo,” a corridor to receive and applaud the champion.

The complexities of “Frankenstein” football

After receiving the trophy last week, Rosario Central president Gonzalo Belloso considered that the explosion of competitions is due to the existence of a “very supportive” football, which gives opportunities to both big and small teams.

With the recognition of the League Champion, Argentine football will distribute at least eight titles in 2026, the year in which Messi’s current world champion team will try to win a fourth World Cup.

To the League Champion are added the Apertura, Clausura, Copa Argentina, International Supercup, Argentine Supercup, Champions Trophy, and Champions Recopa. “For now,” Burgo quips.

The creation of the Recopa was announced on the same day Rosario Central obtained the unexpected title, Di María’s first since returning to Argentine football in May this year.

Who will compete? The winners of the Copa Argentina, the Argentine Supercup, and the International Supercup.

But who plays in the Cup and the Supercups?

For the first, there’s no mystery, as it follows the global format: the 30 elite clubs—a number far from the 18 or 20 that compete in the world’s main leagues—and teams from other divisions.

With the Supercups, the complexities of what some call “Frankenstein” football begin.

In the Argentine Supercup, the champions of the Cup and the Champions Trophy face off in a single match, while in the International Supercup, the team with the most points in the annual table—which since last Thursday is called the League Champion—faces the winner of the Champions Trophy.

Criticism of the level of the competitions

How do you win the Champions Trophy? By winning the Apertura or Clausura and then prevailing in a final against the champion of the other semiannual tournament.

The system of two semiannual tournaments is known in South America, although the Argentine one certainly has its own characteristics, including relegation by points average.

The 30 first division clubs, a number established in 2014, are divided into two groups of 15. After a first phase with 16 games, the top eight from each group advance to the playoffs, up to the final.

“It’s a mess. Before, there were two [tournaments, Clausura and Apertura], 20 teams. It was clear,” 33-year-old River Plate fan Tomás Menconi told AFP. Now “it’s impossible to follow. Local titles are worth less and less.”

The proliferation of tournaments and teams is considered by many to be the cause of the supposedly weak level of football in Argentina, whose clubs have not won the Copa Libertadores since 2018.

“Our local tournament is not a league for the few: it’s popular, competitive, and developmental,” Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia, AFA president since 2017, wrote on social network X last week.

In April, however, the official acknowledged possible communication failures in explaining the reason for the increase in the number of teams in the competitions, an initiative that has already been applied in the World Cup and the UEFA Champions League.

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