Armando Candía Yegros

Liga Profesional de Fútbol
Season	2026
Dates	22 January – 12 December 2026
Champions	Apertura: Belgrano (1st title); Campeón de Liga: Boca Juniors (36th title)
Relegated	Aldosivi; Estudiantes (RC)
Copa Libertadores	Argentinos Juniors; Belgrano; Boca Juniors; Rosario Central
Matches	495
Goals	1,082 (2.19 per match)
Top goalscorer	Apertura: Gabriel Ávalos (10 goals); Clausura: Ronaldo Martínez and Agustín Módica (10 goals each)
Biggest home win	Lanús 5–0 Newell's Old Boys; (17 March 2026); Estudiantes (LP) 5–0 Central Córdoba (SdE); (23 March 2026); Rosario Central 5–0 Independiente Rivadavia; (11 October 2026)
Biggest away win	Central Córdoba (SdE) 0–5 Vélez Sarsfield; (25 October 2026)
Highest scoring	Independiente 4–4 Unión; (10 March 2026)
Longest winning run	Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) (T. Apertura); River Plate (T. Apertura); Rosario Central (T. Clausura); 5 games
Longest unbeaten run	Boca Juniors (T. Clausura); 15 games
Longest winless run	Aldosivi (16 T. Apertura, 7 T. Clausura); 23 games
Longest losing run	Defensa y Justicia (T. Apertura); River Plate (1 T. Apertura, 4 T. Clausura); Estudiantes (RC) (T. Clausura); Tigre (T. Clausura); 5 games
	← 2025 2027 → All statistics correct as of 8 November 2026.

The 2026 Liga Profesional de Fútbol (officially the Torneo Mercado Libre 2026 for sponsorship reasons) is the 136th season of top-flight professional football in Argentina. The league season began on 22 January and will end on 12 December 2026.

Thirty teams compete in the league: 28 returning from the 2025 season as well as two promoted teams from the 2025 Primera Nacional (Gimnasia y Esgrima (M) and Estudiantes (RC), who were promoted after an absence of 41 and 40 years respectively). Estudiantes (LP) entered the season as the defending champions after winning the 2025 Torneo Clausura.

While the Torneo Apertura was taking place, the executive committee of the Liga Profesional de Fútbol unanimously decided on 23 February 2026 to postpone the ninth round of the tournament, which was scheduled to take place between 5 and 8 March 2026. This was in response to the legal investigation by ARCA (Agencia de Recaudación y Control Aduanero) against AFA regarding the nonpayment of social security contributions in 2024 and 2025. The round was rescheduled for between 2 and 4 May 2026.

Belgrano won their first national league championship on 24 May 2026, after defeating River Plate 3–2 in the Torneo Apertura Final. Boca Juniors earned the title of "Campeón de Liga" for having been the team with the most points in the aggregate table.

Competition format

The competition format for this season consists of two tournaments: Torneo Apertura and Torneo Clausura, each with five stages. In the first stage, the 30 teams were divided into two groups of 15 teams each and play in a single round-robin format. Additionally, each team plays two inter-zone matches: against its rival from the other zone, and the second against a second team, determined by a draw. The top eight teams in each group advance to the round of 16. The final stages (round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final) are played on a single-leg basis.

The winners of the Torneo Apertura and Torneo Clausura will qualify for the 2027 Copa Libertadores as Argentina 1 and Argentina 2, respectively. Qualification for international tournaments will be determined by the overall standings of the 2026 Primera División.

A new league title, "Campeón de Liga", was created for the team with the most points in the aggregate table. Although the title was established at the end of 2025, it was awarded retroactively to Rosario Central that same year.

This season, two teams were relegated to the Primera Nacional. One team was relegated based on coefficients, and the team that finishes last in the 2026 aggregate table was also relegated.

Club information

Stadia and locations

GBA

Aldosivi

Atlético Tucumán

Belgrano

Central Córdoba (SdE)

Estudiantes (LP)

Estudiantes (RC)

Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)

Gimnasia y Esgrima (M)

Independiente Rivadavia

Locations of the 2026 Argentine Primera División teams outside Greater Buenos Aires.

Locations of the 2026 Argentine Primera División teams within Greater Buenos Aires.

Club	City	Stadium	Capacity
Aldosivi	Mar del Plata	José María Minella	35,180
Argentinos Juniors	Buenos Aires	Diego Armando Maradona	25,000
Atlético Tucumán	Tucumán	Monumental José Fierro	32,700
Banfield	Banfield	Florencio Sola	21,820
Barracas Central	Buenos Aires	Claudio "Chiqui" Tapia	4,400
Belgrano	Córdoba	Julio César Villagra	38,500
Boca Juniors	Buenos Aires	La Bombonera	54,000
Central Córdoba (SdE)	Santiago del Estero	Único Madre de Ciudades	34,000
Central Córdoba (SdE)	Santiago del Estero	Alfredo Terrera	16,000
Defensa y Justicia	Florencio Varela	Norberto "Tito" Tomaghello	12,000
Deportivo Riestra	Buenos Aires	Guillermo Laza	3,000
Estudiantes (LP)	La Plata	Jorge Luis Hirschi	30,000
Estudiantes (RC)	Río Cuarto	Ciudad de Río Cuarto Antonio Candini	12,000
Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	La Plata	Juan Carmelo Zerillo	26,544
Gimnasia y Esgrima (M)	Mendoza	Víctor Legrotaglie	11,000
Huracán	Buenos Aires	Tomás Adolfo Ducó	48,314
Independiente	Avellaneda	Libertadores de América - Ricardo Enrique Bochini	52,853
Independiente Rivadavia	Mendoza	Bautista Gargantini	24,000
Instituto	Córdoba	Juan Domingo Perón	26,535
Lanús	Lanús	Ciudad de Lanús - Néstor Díaz Pérez	47,090
Newell's Old Boys	Rosario	Marcelo Bielsa	38,095
Platense	Florida Este	Ciudad de Vicente López	22,530
Racing	Avellaneda	El Cilindro	55,880
River Plate	Buenos Aires	Monumental	83,196
Rosario Central	Rosario	Gigante de Arroyito	41,654
San Lorenzo	Buenos Aires	Pedro Bidegain	39,494
Sarmiento (J)	Junín	Eva Perón	19,000
Talleres (C)	Córdoba	Mario Alberto Kempes	57,000
Tigre	Victoria	José Dellagiovanna	26,282
Unión	Santa Fe	15 de Abril	22,852
Vélez Sarsfield	Buenos Aires	José Amalfitani	49,540

Personnel and sponsoring

Club	Manager	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsors (front)	Other sponsors
Aldosivi	Javier Sanguinetti	Kappa	Rapicuotas	List Front: None Back: Plusmar, Grupo Moscuzza Sleeves: SPI Astilleros Shorts: Uthgra Sasso Hotel Socks: None Number: None
Argentinos Juniors	Nicolás Diez	Umbro	Mr. Bet	List Front: Emas S.A. Autoelevadores Back: Angiocor, Vitta, Gelay Pastas Sleeves: Gráfica Led, Nubax Shorts: Angiocor, Pinturerías Megapint, Grupo a2 Socks: None Number: None
Atlético Tucumán	Julio César Falcioni	Kappa	Caja Popular de Ahorros	List Front: Rapicuotas, Sporting Back: Red De Seguro Médico, Seguridad OMEGA Sleeves: Casino Parque, Sheraton Tucumán Hotel Shorts: Agua Palau, Boss Recovery, Supermercado El Marqués Socks: None Number: None
Banfield	Pedro Troglio	Macron	Rapicuotas	List Front: None Back: Flecha Carga, Multiled Sleeves: Lomas de Zamora Partido, Radio Sapienza Shorts: Radio Sapienza, UP Seguridad, Blokium 25 Socks: None Number: None
Barracas Central	Damián Ayude	Retiel	None	List Front: None Back: Turbodisel Sleeves: Gentech Suplementos Deportivos Shorts: None Socks: None Number: None
Belgrano	Ricardo Zielinski	Umbro	Banco Macro	List Front: Sanos Salud Back: Sedilé Sleeves: Nexo Turismo Shorts: Cabify, Tadicor Socks: None Number: Rio Uruguay Seguros
Boca Juniors	Rodolfo Arruabarrena	Adidas	Betsson	List Front: None Back: DirecTV Sleeves: Cetrogar Shorts: PAX Assistance Socks: None Number: None
Central Córdoba (SdE)	Juan Carlos Roldán (caretaker)	Adhoc	Banco Santiago del Estero	List Front: Santiago del Estero, Santiago del Estero Ciudad, Mc Center Deportes Back: Tarjeta Sol, Qualitá Colchones Sleeves: None Shorts: None Socks: None Number: None
Defensa y Justicia	Julio Vaccari	KDY	Rapicuotas	List Front: Tiper Back: Volkswagen Autotag, Flecha Bus Sleeves: Pago 24 Shorts: None Socks: None Number: Rio Uruguay Seguros
Deportivo Riestra	Gustavo Benítez	Adidas	Speed Unlimited	List Front: None Back: Speed Unlimited Sleeves: None Shorts: Speed Unlimited Socks: None Number: None
Estudiantes (LP)	Alexander Medina	RUGE	Banco Supervielle	List Front: None Back: Mateu Sports, Mejor Crédito Sleeves: Bricks M2V Shorts: Placo Saint-Gobain Socks: None Number: None
Estudiantes (RC)	Gerardo Acuña (caretaker)	IFK Sports	Nobis Medical	List Front: Vittal Back: Deportes Río Cuarto, YPF Marijo Sleeves: Gioda Automotores Shorts: Municipalidad de Las Higueras, Tate Sport Socks: None Number: None
Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	Ariel Pereyra	Givova	Correo OCA	List Front: None Back: Flybondi, Plusmar Sleeves: Prina Pantallas LED Shorts: Boss Recovery, Aukot Socks: None Number: Rio Uruguay Seguros
Gimnasia y Esgrima (M)	Darío Franco	Mitre	Banco Macro	List Front: CEOSA Back: Nobis Medical, Mendoza Sleeves: Montemar Compañía Financiera Shorts: None Socks: None Number: None
Huracán	Diego Martínez	Kappa	Mr. Bet	List Front: None Back: Casablanca Pinturas Sleeves: Flecha Bus Shorts: Laboratorio IMAT, RoyalDoor Socks: None Number: Rio Uruguay Seguros
Independiente	Jadson Viera	Puma	Sports.bet.ar	List Front: LealMedica Back: Kanji, IOL Inversiones Sleeves: Scienza Argentina Shorts: None Socks: None Number: Multiled, Rio Uruguay Seguros
Independiente Rivadavia	Alfredo Berti	AIFIT	Sports.bet.ar	List Front: None Back: Zanella, Edelcos Sleeves: Diario UNO Mendoza Shorts: None Socks: None Number: None
Instituto	Diego Flores	Givova	Banco Macro	List Front: Befol Back: GS BIO, Nobis Medical Sleeves: Nobis Medical Shorts: SOS Red de Asistencia, GEA Cobertura de Salud, Ecoclean Córdoba Socks: None Number: None
Lanús	Mauricio Pellegrino	Umbro	Mapei	List Front: None Back: Ciudad Moto Sleeves: None Shorts: Nueva Chevallier, Pinturas Andina Socks: None Number: None
Newell's Old Boys	Frank Kudelka	AIFIT	City Center Online	List Front: Nueva Cotar Back: Hospital Italiano Rosario, Multiled Sleeves: Celta Home Shorts: Italmédica, DR Química Socks: None Number: Rio Uruguay Seguros
Platense	Martín Palermo	Puma	Planes ESCO	List Front: PAX Assistance, Alprestamo Back: Civile Propiedades, Multiled, Tienda Enova Sleeves: Toshify Shorts: Transfarmaco, Emergencias Salud, ¡appa! Socks: None Number: None
Racing	Sebastián Romero (caretaker)	Nike	Betsson	List Front: None Back: Cetrogar, American Vial Sleeves: Rio Uruguay Seguros Shorts: None Socks: PAX Assistance Number: None
River Plate	Leonardo Ponzio (caretaker)	Adidas	Betano	List Front: None Back: DirecTV Sleeves: Assist Card Shorts: None Socks: None Number: None
Rosario Central	Jorge Almirón	Le Coq Sportif	City Center Online	List Front: Techaarg Back: Kanji, Transelec Sleeves: None Shorts: PAX Assistance Socks: None Number: Rio Uruguay Seguros
San Lorenzo	Rubén Darío Insúa	Atomik	Casino Buenos Aires Online	List Front: None Back: Multitravel.com, Flecha Bus Sleeves: Flecha Carga Shorts: Perozzi e Hijo Socks: None Number: None
Sarmiento (J)	Facundo Sava	KION	Naldo Digital	List Front: Clínica La Pequeña Familia, Nufarm Back: Laboratorio Quimeco, Alra sur Volkswagen, Aceros Perkusic, Multiled Sleeves: Sigma Agro Shorts: Farmchem SA, Grupo Eduardo Beraza, LP Vidrios, FD Agro, Zayka Vecchio, NuproAgro, Sistemas Junín Socks: MAN-TER Group Number: None
Talleres (C)	Omar De Felippe	Le Coq Sportif	Holcim	List Front: bplay Back: IEB+ Sleeves: None Shorts: MSC Cruceros, Nobis Medical Socks: None Number: None
Tigre	Juan Carlos Blengio (caretaker)	Kappa	Banco Macro	List Front: None Back: Banco Macro Sleeves: None Shorts: None Socks: None Number: None
Unión	Leonardo Madelón	Givova	OSPAT	List Front: Vidalac, bplay, Red Mutual Back: Flecha Bus, Gigared Sleeves: Transporte Pedrito, Servicios Viales Shorts: Flecha Bus, Sanatorio Santa Fe, bplay, Duracril, Vino Tinto Toro Socks: Vidalac Number: Sanatorio Santa Fe
Vélez Sarsfield	Guillermo Barros Schelotto	Macron	Saphirus	List Front: Bajaj Auto Back: Dioxaflex, Banco Supervielle Sleeves: None Shorts: Turbodisel, GO! Assistance Socks: None Number: Rio Uruguay Seguros

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Replaced by	Date of appointment
Newell's Old Boys	Lucas Bernardi	End of caretaker spell	16 November 2025	Pre-season	Favio Orsi and Sergio Gómez	19 December 2025
Platense	Hernán Lamberti and Guillermo Báez	End of caretaker spell	17 November 2025		Walter Zunino	24 November 2025
Huracán	Frank Kudelka	End of contract	18 November 2025		Diego Martínez	3 December 2025
Central Córdoba (SdE)	Omar De Felippe		1 December 2025		Lucas Pusineri	5 December 2025
Rosario Central	Ariel Holan		11 December 2025		Jorge Almirón	15 December 2025
Torneo Apertura changes
Instituto	Daniel Oldrá	Mutual agreement	26 January 2026	15th Zone A	Diego Flores ¹	12 February 2026
Estudiantes (LP)	Eduardo Domínguez	Signed by Atlético Mineiro	20 February 2026	1st Zone A	Alexander Medina	23 February 2026
Newell's Old Boys	Favio Orsi and Sergio Gómez	Sacked	21 February 2026	15th Zone A	Frank Kudelka ²	26 February 2026
Atlético Tucumán	Hugo Colace	Sacked	25 February 2026	12th Zone B	Julio César Falcioni ³	4 March 2026
River Plate	Marcelo Gallardo	Resigned	26 February 2026	5th Zone B	Eduardo Coudet ⁴	4 March 2026
Estudiantes (RC)	Iván Delfino	Sacked	13 March 2026	15th Zone B	Gerardo Acuña ⁵	14 March 2026
San Lorenzo	Damián Ayude		17 March 2026	9th Zone A	Gustavo Álvarez ⁶	22 March 2026
Aldosivi	Guillermo Farré		17 March 2026	14th Zone B	Israel Damonte ⁷	26 March 2026
Gimnasia y Esgrima (M)	Ariel Broggi	Mutual agreement	23 March 2026	13th Zone A	Darío Franco	28 March 2026
Deportivo Riestra	Gustavo Benítez	Mutual agreement	4 April 2026	14th Zone A	Guillermo Duró	5 April 2026
Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	Fernando Zaniratto	Sacked	6 April 2026	11th Zone B	Ariel Pereyra ⁸	7 April 2026
Inter-tournament changes
Estudiantes (RC)	Gerardo Acuña	End of caretaker spell	6 May 2026	N/A	Rubén Forestello	22 May 2026
Defensa y Justicia	Mariano Soso	Resigned	11 May 2026		Julio Vaccari	24 May 2026
Talleres (C)	Carlos Tevez	End of contract	13 May 2026		Jorge Sampaoli ⁹	10 June 2026
Racing	Gustavo Costas	Sacked	23 May 2026		Juan Pablo Vojvoda ¹⁰	22 June 2026
Boca Juniors	Claudio Úbeda	End of contract	28 May 2026		Rodolfo Arruabarrena	18 June 2026
Barracas Central	Rubén Darío Insúa	Mutual agreement	13 June 2026		Damián Ayude	20 June 2026
San Lorenzo	Gustavo Álvarez	Resigned	22 June 2026		Néstor Gorosito	3 July 2026
Central Córdoba (SdE)	Lucas Pusineri	Resigned	16 July 2026		Sebastián Domínguez ¹¹	26 July 2026
Torneo Clausura changes
Platense	Walter Zunino	Mutual agreement	4 August 2026	15th Zone A	Martín Palermo	5 August 2026
Independiente	Gustavo Quinteros	Sacked	13 August 2026	7th Zone A	Jadson Viera ¹²	15 August 2026
River Plate	Eduardo Coudet	Resigned	27 August 2026	14th Zone B	Leonardo Ponzio ¹³	27 August 2026
Aldosivi	Israel Damonte		27 August 2026	15th Zone B	Javier Sanguinetti ¹⁴	3 September 2026
Talleres (C)	Jorge Sampaoli		30 August 2026	15th Zone A	Omar De Felippe	1 September 2026
San Lorenzo	Néstor Gorosito	Mutual agreement	1 September 2026	14th Zone A	Rubén Darío Insúa ¹⁵	7 September 2026
Racing	Juan Pablo Vojvoda	Mutual agreement	28 September 2026	14th Zone B	Sebastián Romero ¹³	29 September 2026
Tigre	Diego Dabove	Resigned	23 October 2026	11th Zone B	Juan Carlos Blengio ¹³	25 October 2026
Deportivo Riestra	Guillermo Duró	Resigned	27 October 2026	13th Zone A	Gustavo Benítez	28 October 2026
Estudiantes (RC)	Rubén Forestello	Mutual agreement	4 November 2026	15th Zone B	Gerardo Acuña ¹³	5 November 2026
Central Córdoba (SdE)	Sebastián Domínguez	Mutual agreement	5 November 2026	15th Zone A	Juan Carlos Roldán ¹³	6 November 2026

Interim managers

1.^

Daniel Jiménez and

Bruno Martelotto were interim managers in the Torneo Apertura 3rd–4th rounds.

2.^

Lucas Bernardi was interim manager in the Torneo Apertura 7th round.

3.^

Ramiro González was interim manager in the Torneo Apertura 8th round.

4.^

Marcelo Escudero was interim manager in the Torneo Apertura 8th round.

5.^ Interim manager until the end of the Torneo Apertura.

6.^

Alan Capobianco was interim manager in the 2026 Copa Argentina round of 64.

7.^

Facundo Oreja was interim manager in the Torneo Apertura 12th round.

8.^ Interim manager, but later promoted to manager.

9.^

Ezequiel Carboni was interim manager in the 2026 Copa Argentina round of 32.

10.^

Sebastián Romero was interim manager in the 2026 Copa Sudamericana Group E 6th round.

11.^

Matías Villavicencio was interim manager in the Torneo Clausura 1st round.

12.^

Carlos Matheu was interim manager in the Torneo Clausura 5th round.

13.^ Interim manager until the end of the Torneo Clausura.

14.^

Mariano Felices was interim manager in the Torneo Clausura 7th round.

15.^

Walter Perazzo was interim manager in the Torneo Clausura 8th round.

Foreign players

Players marked in bold joined the club during the inter-tournament period and only played with the respective team in the Torneo Clausura.
Players who participated in the Torneo Apertura but left the team during the inter-tournament period are listed in the last column.

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Player 5	Player 6	Torneo Apertura
Aldosivi	Federico Gino						List Junior Arias Mauro Da Luz Fernando Román Alejandro Villarreal
Argentinos Juniors	Brayan Cortés	Ryōga Kida	Alan Núñez				List Joaquín Ardaiz Leandro Lozano Iván Morales
Atlético Tucumán	Clever Ferreira	Franco Nicola	Maximiliano Villa				List Javier Domínguez Lucas Román (dn)
Banfield	Manuel Arteaga	Adrián Balboa	Alexander Machado	Neyder Moreno			List Danilo Arboleda Mauro Méndez
Barracas Central	Rodrigo Bogarín	Jhonatan Candia	Juan Espínola	Yeison Gordillo	Yonatthan Rak	Wilfredo Rivera
Belgrano	Alcides Benítez	Thiago Cardozo	Federico Ricca
Boca Juniors	Leandro Lozano	Álvaro Montero	Carlos Palacios	Ángel Romero	Enner Valencia	Sebastián Villa	List Edinson Cavani Ander Herrera
Central Córdoba (SdE)	Felipe Aguilar	Darío Cáceres	Michael Santos
Defensa y Justicia	Ezequiel Burdín	Juan Manuel Gutiérrez	César Pérez	Fernando Román			List Emiliano Amor (dn) Darío Cáceres David Fernández Cristopher Fiermarin Luciano González
Deportivo Riestra	Marino Arzamendia	Yeison Murillo					List Johnson Nsumoh
Estudiantes (LP)	Edwuin Cetré	Miguel Monsalve	Gabriel Neves
Estudiantes (RC)	Juan Chalá	Yeison Moreno					List Renzo Bacchia
Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	Harlen Castillo	Enzo Martínez	Juan José Pérez
Gimnasia y Esgrima (M)	Blas Armoa	Juan José Franco					List Tobías Cervera (dn)
Huracán	Jordy Caicedo	Óscar Cortés	Rodrigo Fernández	Óscar Romero	Facundo Waller
Independiente	Matías Abaldo	Santiago Arias	Santiago Mele	Iván Morales			List Gabriel Ávalos Rodrigo Fernández Maximiliano Gutiérrez
Independiente Rivadavia	Álex Arce	Leonard Costa	Luis Díaz	José Florentín	Iván Villalba		List Sebastián Villa
Instituto	Jhon Córdoba	Matias Fonseca	Nicolás Guerra	Manuel Romero	Lucas Sanseviero	Wilder Viera
Lanús	José Canale	Ronaldo Dejesús	Raúl Loaiza	Matías Sepúlveda	Yoshan Valois	Allan Wlk
Newell's Old Boys	Matías Cóccaro	Ignacio Ramírez	Saúl Salcedo				List Thiago Gigena (dn) Armando Méndez (dn)
Platense	Martín Barrios	Héctor Bobadilla	Nicolás López				List Agustín Ocampo
Racing	Alberto Campo	Alfonso Espino	Duván Vergara				List Gastón Martirena Damián Pizarro
River Plate	Mauro Arambarri	Rafael Santos Borré	Giovanni González				List Kevin Castaño Paulo Díaz (dn) Kendry Páez Juan Fernando Quintero Matías Viña
Rosario Central	Jaminton Campaz	Facundo Mallo	Vicente Pizarro	Alan Rodríguez	Sebastián Zaracho		List Enzo Giménez
San Lorenzo	Danilo Arboleda	Guzmán Corujo	Mathías De Ritis	Diego Herazo			List Orlando Gill Jhohan Romaña
Sarmiento (J)	Iván Arboleda	Osmar Giménez	Junior Marabel	Agustín Nadruz	Renzo Orihuela	Jhon Rentería	List Javier Burrai (dn) Ulises Delgado
Talleres (C)	Agustín Álvarez	Alexandro Maidana	Rick	Diego Valoyes			List Bruno Barticciotto (dn) Ronaldo Martínez Ulises Ortegoza (dn) Rodrigo Guth
Tigre	Ramón Arias	Mauro Méndez	Alfio Oviedo	Guillermo Soto			List Jalil Elías (dn)
Unión	Juan Pintado	Matías Rocha					List Emiliano Álvarez Maizon Rodríguez
Vélez Sarsfield	Claudio Baeza	Ronaldo Martínez	Diego Valdés				List Imanol Machuca ^a (dn) Álvaro Montero Rodrigo Piñeiro

Players holding Argentinian dual nationality

They do not take up a foreign slot.

Andrés Vombergar (Aldosivi)
Ezequiel Ham (Atlético Tucumán)
Ignacio Abraham (Banfield)
Tomás Adoryán (Banfield)
Thomas Rodríguez (Banfield)
Norberto Briasco (Barracas Central)
Lucas Zelarayán (Belgrano)
Williams Alarcón (Boca Juniors)
Adam Bareiro (Boca Juniors) ^b
Miguel Merentiel (Boca Juniors)
Juan José Cardozo (Central Córdoba (SdE))
Emiliano Cantero (Defensa y Justicia)
David Martínez (Defensa y Justicia)
Antony Alonso (Deportivo Riestra)
Santiago Arzamendia (Estudiantes (LP))
Jalil Elías (Estudiantes (LP))
Fernando Muslera (Estudiantes (LP))
Tiago Palacios (Estudiantes (LP))
Benjamín Sagüés Barreiro (Estudiantes (LP))
Javier Ferreira (Estudiantes (RC))
Ibrahim Hesar (Estudiantes (RC))
Pablo Aguiar (Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP))
Agustín Módica (Gimnasia y Esgrima (M))
Bruno Barticciotto (Huracán)
Lucas Blondel (Huracán)
Hernán Galíndez (Huracán)
Leonardo Gil (Huracán)
Luciano Cabral (Independiente)
Imanol Machuca (Independiente) ^a
Lautaro Millán (Independiente)
Gonzalo Pérez (Lanús) ^b
Gabriel Arias (Newell's Old Boys)
Alan Soñora (Newell's Old Boys)
Matko Miljevic (Racing)
Ulises Ortegoza (Racing)
Alexis Yegros (Racing)
Agustín Sández (Rosario Central)
Leonardo Sosa (Rosario Central)
Emiliano Amor (San Lorenzo)
Matías Catalán (Talleres (C))
Marco Rivas (Tigre)
Leo Cristaldo (Vélez Sarsfield)

Source: AFA

a.^ Following an investigation by FIFA into document falsification by the Football Association of Malaysia, Machuca was suspended from professional football for one year on 26 September 2025. However, on 26 January 2026, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) provisionally lifted the ban, enabling Machuca to play for Vélez Sarsfield until 5 March 2026, when the CAS confirmed the one-year suspension. He remained a Vélez Sarsfield player until the club decided to end his loan from Fortaleza prematurely in June 2026. In July 2026, Independiente signed Machuca from Fortaleza, even though his suspension was set to end on 1 November 2026. He finally made his debut with Independiente on the penultimate round of the group stage of the Torneo Clausura on 2 November 2026.

b.^ During the Torneo Apertura, Bareiro and Pérez were listed as foreign players. They obtained Argentine citizenship between the Torneo Apertura and Torneo Clausura.

Draw

The draw for the group stages was held on 10 December 2025, 12:00, at the AFA Futsal Stadium in Ezeiza. The 30 teams were divided into two groups of fifteen, with one team from each of the interzonal matches.

Interzonal matches
Team 1	Team 2
Newell's Old Boys Huracán Aldosivi Independiente Belgrano Argentinos Juniors Sarmiento (J) Barracas Central Banfield Boca Juniors Estudiantes (RC) Tigre Estudiantes (LP) Atlético Tucumán Gimnasia y Esgrima (M)	Rosario Central San Lorenzo Defensa y Justicia Racing Talleres (C) Platense Unión Deportivo Riestra Lanús River Plate Instituto Vélez Sarsfield Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) Central Córdoba (SdE) Independiente Rivadavia

Torneo Apertura

The 2026 Torneo Apertura (officially the Torneo Apertura Mercado Libre 2026 for sponsorship reasons) was the first tournament of the 2026 season. It began on 22 January and ended on 24 May 2026.

Group stage

In the group stage, each group was played on a single round-robin basis. In addition, each team played two inter-zone matches: the first against its rival from the other zone, and the second, in the sixth round, against a second team determined by a draw. Teams were ranked according to the following criteria: 1. Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss); 2. Goal difference; 3. Goals scored; 4. Head-to-head results; 5. Fair play ranking; 6. Draw.

The top eight teams of each group advanced to the round of 16.

Standings

Zone A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Estudiantes (LP)	16	9	4	3	19	7	+12	31	Advance to round of 16
2	Boca Juniors	16	8	6	2	22	9	+13	30
3	Vélez Sarsfield	16	7	7	2	18	12	+6	28
4	Talleres (C)	16	7	5	4	17	13	+4	26
5	Independiente	16	6	6	4	24	20	+4	24
6	Lanús	16	6	6	4	18	15	+3	24
7	San Lorenzo	16	5	7	4	14	14	0	22
8	Unión	16	5	6	5	24	20	+4	21
9	Instituto	16	6	3	7	17	17	0	21
10	Defensa y Justicia	16	4	7	5	18	21	−3	19
11	Gimnasia y Esgrima (M)	16	5	4	7	14	22	−8	19
12	Platense	16	3	7	6	10	15	−5	16
13	Central Córdoba (SdE)	16	4	4	8	11	21	−10	16
14	Newell's Old Boys	16	3	6	7	15	27	−12	15
15	Deportivo Riestra	16	1	8	7	5	12	−7	11

Source: AFA Soccerway

Zone B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Independiente Rivadavia	16	10	4	2	29	15	+14	34	Advance to round of 16
2	River Plate	16	9	2	5	22	12	+10	29
3	Argentinos Juniors	16	8	5	3	17	13	+4	29
4	Rosario Central	16	8	4	4	20	16	+4	28
5	Belgrano	16	7	5	4	17	13	+4	26
6	Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	16	8	2	6	19	19	0	26
7	Huracán	16	5	7	4	17	13	+4	22
8	Racing	16	5	6	5	17	15	+2	21
9	Barracas Central	16	5	6	5	15	15	0	21
10	Tigre	16	4	8	4	18	15	+3	20
11	Sarmiento (J)	16	6	1	9	13	20	−7	19
12	Banfield	16	5	3	8	17	19	−2	18
13	Atlético Tucumán	16	3	5	8	15	20	−5	14
14	Aldosivi	16	0	8	8	6	19	−13	8
15	Estudiantes (RC)	16	1	2	13	5	24	−19	5

Source: AFA Soccerway

Results

In the group stage, teams played every other team in their group once (either home or away), plus two interzonal games, for a total of 16 rounds.

Zone A

Home \ Away	BOC	CCO	DYJ	DRI	EST	GME	IND	INS	LAN	NOB	PLA	SLO	TAL	UNI	VEL
Boca Juniors				1–0		1–1	1–1	2–0		2–0	0–0	1–1
Central Córdoba (SdE)	1–2			1–0		0–1				1–3	4–3		2–0	1–0
Defensa y Justicia	0–4	1–1			0–0				1–1				1–2	2–0	1–1
Deportivo Riestra			0–1			0–0	2–0	0–1		1–1	0–0	1–1
Estudiantes (LP)	2–1	5–0		1–0					0–1				0–0	2–1	0–1
Gimnasia y Esgrima (M)			2–1		1–2		1–1	1–0	1–0			0–1			3–2
Independiente		2–0	3–1		1–1				2–0				1–2	4–4	1–1
Instituto		2–0	2–0		0–1		2–1		2–2					1–2	0–1
Lanús	0–3	0–0		0–0						5–0	0–0		1–1	2–1
Newell's Old Boys			2–3		0–2	1–0	1–1	1–1			1–1	0–0
Platense			0–0		0–2	1–1	0–1	2–1				0–1			0–2
San Lorenzo		1–0	2–5		1–0		1–2	1–1	2–3						0–0
Talleres (C)	0–1			2–0		2–1		2–0		2–1	1–2	0–0
Unión	1–1			2–0		4–0				2–3	0–0	0–0	1–1
Vélez Sarsfield	2–1	1–0		0–0					0–1	1–1			2–1	2–2

Source: AFA
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Zone B

Home \ Away	ALD	ARG	ATU	BAN	BAR	BEL	ERC	GLP	HUR	IRI	RAC	RIV	ROS	SAR	TIG
Aldosivi		0–2			0–0		0–0		0–0	1–1	1–1		1–1
Argentinos Juniors			1–0	3–2	1–1	0–0						1–0	0–0	1–0
Atlético Tucumán	1–1			1–1			4–0	1–0	1–1		0–3				0–0
Banfield	2–0						2–1	1–2	1–1	0–0	0–2				1–0
Barracas Central			2–1	1–2		0–0		2–0				0–1		1–2	2–1
Belgrano	1–0		3–1	1–0				0–1			1–2			4–0	1–1
Estudiantes (RC)		0–0			1–2	0–1			2–0	0–1		0–2	1–2
Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	3–1	2–0					1–0		0–3	2–3	2–1		1–2
Huracán		1–2			0–0	3–1				1–2		1–2	3–1	1–0
Independiente Rivadavia		3–1	2–1		1–2	0–1						1–1	2–0	2–1
Racing		2–1			1–1		2–0		0–0	1–1		0–2	1–2
River Plate	3–1		0–1	3–1		3–0		2–0						2–0	1–4
Rosario Central			2–1	2–1	2–0	1–2						0–0		2–1	1–1
Sarmiento (J)	2–0		2–1	1–0			1–0	1–2			0–0				1–0
Tigre	1–0	1–1					2–0	2–2	1–1	0–2	3–1

Source: AFA
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Interzonal matches

Home	Score	Away
Aldosivi	0–0	Defensa y Justicia
Atlético Tucumán	0–0	Central Córdoba (SdE)
Barracas Central	1–1	Deportivo Riestra
Huracán	1–0	San Lorenzo
Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	0–0	Estudiantes (LP)
Sarmiento (J)	1–3	Unión
Newell's Old Boys	0–2	Rosario Central
Tigre	1–1	Vélez Sarsfield
Belgrano	0–0	Talleres (C)
Argentinos Juniors	1–0	Platense
Independiente	1–0	Racing
Lanús	1–0	Banfield
River Plate	0–1	Boca Juniors
Independiente Rivadavia	5–1	Gimnasia y Esgrima (M)
Estudiantes (RC)	0–2	Instituto

Home	Score	Away
Defensa y Justicia	1–1	Belgrano
Estudiantes (LP)	1–0	Sarmiento (J)
Boca Juniors	0–0	Racing
Instituto	2–1	Atlético Tucumán
Gimnasia y Esgrima (M)	0–1	Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)
Rosario Central	0–1	Talleres (C)
Independiente Rivadavia	3–2	Independiente
Platense	1–0	Barracas Central
Banfield	3–0	Newell's Old Boys
Deportivo Riestra	0–0	Huracán
Central Córdoba (SdE)	0–0	Tigre
San Lorenzo	2–0	Estudiantes (RC)
Vélez Sarsfield	1–0	River Plate
Unión	1–0	Aldosivi
Argentinos Juniors	2–1	Lanús

Source: AFA
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Final stages

Starting from the round of 16, the teams played a single-elimination tournament on a single-leg basis with the following rules:

In the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals, the higher seed were the host team. However, the final was played at a neutral venue.
- If tied, extra time would be played. If the score was still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winners.

Bracket

Round of 16		Quarter-finals		Semi-finals		Final

River Plate (p)	2 (4)

San Lorenzo	2 (3)
		River Plate	2

		Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	0
Vélez Sarsfield	0

Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	1
				River Plate	1

				Rosario Central	0
Rosario Central	3

Independiente	1
		Rosario Central (a.e.t.)	2

		Racing	1
Estudiantes (LP)	0

Racing	1
						River Plate	2

						Belgrano	3
Argentinos Juniors	2

Lanús	0
		Argentinos Juniors (a.e.t.)	1

		Huracán	0
Boca Juniors	2

Huracán (a.e.t.)	3
				Argentinos Juniors	1 (3)

				Belgrano (p)	1 (4)
Talleres (C)	0

Belgrano	1
		Belgrano	2

		Unión	0
Independiente Rivadavia	1

Unión	2

Round of 16

9 May 2026	Talleres (C)	0–1	Belgrano	Córdoba
16:30		Report	González Metilli 47'	Stadium: Mario Alberto Kempes Referee: Darío Herrera

9 May 2026	Boca Juniors	2–3 (a.e.t.)	Huracán	Buenos Aires
19:00	Giménez 86' Romero 115'	Report	Gil 4' Romero 93' (pen.), 102' (pen.)	Stadium: La Bombonera Referee: Pablo Echavarría

9 May 2026	Independiente Rivadavia	1–2	Unión	Mendoza
21:30	Sartori 69'	Report	Cuello 33' Tarragona 48'	Stadium: Bautista Gargantini Referee: Luis Lobo Medina

9 May 2026	Argentinos Juniors	2–0	Lanús	Buenos Aires
22:15	Álvarez 28' Lescano 90+6'	Report		Stadium: Diego Armando Maradona Referee: Leandro Rey Hilfer

10 May 2026	Rosario Central	3–1	Independiente	Rosario
15:00	Di María 45+1' Cantizano 83' Verón 90+1'	Report	Ávalos 35'	Stadium: Gigante de Arroyito Referee: Yael Falcón Pérez

10 May 2026	Estudiantes (LP)	0–1	Racing	La Plata
17:00		Report	Sosa 89'	Stadium: Jorge Luis Hirschi Referee: Sebastián Martínez

10 May 2026	River Plate	2–2 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p)	San Lorenzo	Buenos Aires
19:00	Acuña 54' Quintero 120+1'	Report	Auzmendi 36' López 93'	Stadium: Mâs Monumental Referee: Sebastián Zunino
	Penalties
	Quintero Galoppo Salas Páez Montiel Freitas		Insaurralde Corujo Herazo Rodríguez Perruzzi De Ritis

10 May 2026	Vélez Sarsfield	0–1	Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	Buenos Aires
21:30		Report	Torres 13' (pen.)	Stadium: José Amalfitani Referee: Andrés Gariano

Notes

^ The match was delayed from 21:30 to 22:15 due to TV scheduling conflicts resulting from the Boca Juniors v Huracán match going into overtime.

Quarter-finals

12 May 2026	Belgrano	2–0	Unión	Córdoba
19:00	Sánchez 65' Hernandes 90+5'	Report		Stadium: El Gigante de Alberdi Referee: Andrés Merlos

12 May 2026	Argentinos Juniors	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Huracán	Buenos Aires
21:30	Molina 94'	Report		Stadium: Diego Armando Maradona Referee: Fernando Echenique

13 May 2026	Rosario Central	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Racing	Rosario
18:45	Ávila 64' Copetti 106'	Report	Zaracho 40'	Stadium: Gigante de Arroyito Referee: Darío Herrera

13 May 2026	River Plate	2–0	Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	Buenos Aires
21:45	Driussi 27' Martínez Quarta 65'	Report		Stadium: Mâs Monumental Referee: Leandro Rey Hilfer

Notes

^ The match was brought forward from 19:00 to 18:45 to avoid scheduling conflicts with the River Plate v Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) match on TV.
^ The match was delayed from 21:30 to 21:45 due to TV scheduling conflicts resulting from the Rosario Central v Racing match going into overtime.

Semi-finals

16 May 2026	River Plate	1–0	Rosario Central	Buenos Aires
19:30	Colidio 61' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Mâs Monumental Referee: Nicolás Ramírez

17 May 2026	Argentinos Juniors	1–1 (a.e.t.) (3–4 p)	Belgrano	Buenos Aires
17:00	Jainikoski 7'	Report	Fernández 90+4'	Stadium: Diego Armando Maradona Referee: Nazareno Arasa
	Penalties
	Verón López Muñoz Álvarez Lozano Florentín Pérez		L. Zelarayán Vázquez Passerini Fernández Rigoni Hernandes

Final

24 May 2026

15:30

River Plate	2–3	Belgrano
Colidio 18' Galván 59'	Report	Morales 26' Fernández 85' (pen.), 88'

Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Córdoba

Referee: Yael Falcón Pérez

Statistics

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Gabriel Ávalos	Independiente	10
2	Jordy Caicedo	Huracán	8
2	Cristian Tarragona	Unión	8
4	Marcelo Torres	Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	7
	Fabrizio Sartori	Independiente Rivadavia
	David Romero	Tigre
7	Mauro Méndez	Banfield	6
	Junior Marabel	Sarmiento (J)
	Florián Monzón	Vélez Sarsfield
10	Leandro Díaz	Atlético Tucumán	5
	Miguel Merentiel	Boca Juniors
	Matías Abaldo	Independiente
	Alex Luna	Instituto
	Dylan Aquino	Lanús
	Facundo Colidio	River Plate
	Sebastián Driussi	River Plate
	Enzo Copetti	Rosario Central
	Ángel Di María	Rosario Central

Source: AFA

Top assists

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Lucas Passerini	Belgrano	6
1	Julián Palacios	Unión	6
3	Facundo Lencioni	Gimnasia y Esgrima (M)	5
	Sebastián Villa	Independiente Rivadavia
	Diego Valdés	Vélez Sarsfield
6	Ignacio Abraham	Banfield	4
	Santiago López	Banfield
	Aarón Molinas	Defensa y Justicia
	Óscar Cortés	Huracán
	Gabriel Ávalos	Independiente
	Rodrigo Atencio	Independiente Rivadavia
	Gabriel Rojas	Racing
	Jaminton Campaz	Rosario Central
	Ángel Di María	Rosario Central

Source: AFA

Torneo Clausura

The 2026 Torneo Clausura (officially the Torneo Clausura Mercado Libre 2026 for sponsorship reasons) is the second tournament of the 2026 season. It began on 23 July and will end on 12 December 2026.