River's bid to be Argentina's top club again: win Apertura, one off Boca

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·17 Mei 2026

River's bid to be Argentina's top club again: win Apertura, one off Boca

River’s 1-0 victory over Rosario Central earned it a ticket to the Torneo Apertura final, where it will face the winner of the match between Argentinos Juniors and Belgrano. If crowned champion, the Millonario would reach 73 official titles and move within one of Boca, with another final still to play and several other fronts still open.

With 38 league titles, River has led the standings in that category for several decades. However, its lifelong rival surpasses it in the combined total of cups and international tournaments. Counting all official trophies, Boca currently stands above every other team in Argentine football with 74 titles.

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However, lifting the Apertura next Sunday at the Mario Alberto Kempes in Córdoba would bring River within one and give it the chance to draw level by the end of the year, when the Trofeo de Campeones will be played against the winner of the Torneo Clausura. Winning that competition, in turn, would open the door to playing in next year’s Supercopa Argentina.

All this if we do not take into account that Eduardo Coudet’s side could win another title before then, since the Copa Sudamericana, the Annual League, the Copa Argentina, and the Clausura itself will all be decided beforehand. What is the problem? That the Xeneize also has those same fronts open and therefore the same chances of becoming champion, except for the Sudamericana, which is replaced by the Libertadores.

On Sunday, starting at 3:30 p.m., River will seek its 55th title at the local level and its 39th league title — although the Apertura has a cup format, it counts as a league title. Internationally, it is third with 18, behind Boca (22) and Independiente (20).

The timeline of the most successful champions of the First Division

1891 – The first official First Division championship was played in Argentina.
1893 to 1903 – In that decade, Lomas Athletic was the club with the most official titles.
1903 to 1932 – During the first three decades of the 20th century, Alumni won six official championships and no one could match it until the professionalization of the sport.
1932 to 1946 – Racing moved past Alumni’s mark and remained the country’s most successful club for 14 years.
1946 to 1949 – For a brief period, Boca surpassed the Academia and became the most successful club with 25 titles.
1949 to 1976 – Racing regained the throne and for two and a half decades was Argentina’s most successful team — from 1970 onward sharing that distinction with the Xeneize.
1976 to 1996 – With Boca de Lorenzo’s 1976 back-to-back title, the team from La Ribera once again led the ranking until the second half of the 1990s.
1996 to 2003 – River appears for the first time, surpassing the mark of 43 titles and reaching the early years of the new century as the country’s most successful team.
2003 to the present – The three titles won by Carlos Bianchi’s Boca in 2003 once again made it Argentina’s most successful team, a position it still holds today.

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