| Country: | Argentina |
| Sport: | Association football |
| Pr: | Yes |
| Federation: | Argentine Football Association |
| Confederation: | CONMEBOL |
| Top: | Primera División |
| Second: | Primera Nacional |
The Argentine football league system include tournaments organised by the Argentine Football Association. Clubs affiliated to the body compete in the tournaments, which are split into categories or divisions.
Rules establish a system of promotion and relegation, a process where teams are transferred between two divisions based on their performance for the completed season. The best-ranked team or teams in the lower division are promoted to the higher division for the next season, and the worst-ranked team or teams in the higher division are relegated to the lower division for the next season.[1]
Below the second division championship (Primera Nacional), tournaments leagues are split between two groups, the first of them include the promotion/relegation system for clubs directly affiliated to AFA playing in Primera B, Primera C and Torneo Promocional Amateur. Those are usually called "zona metropolitana" (metropolitan zone) due to the fact that those tournaments have been historically played by teams from the city of Buenos Aires and the Greater Buenos Aires, plus the addition of twenty one clubs from the cities of Rosario, Santa Fe, La Plata, Zarate, Campana, Luján, Junín, General Rodríguez, Cañuelas, Pilar and Mercedes. The second group is formed for clubs indirectly affiliated to AFA that play in regional leagues, under the supervision of Consejo Federal (es), dependent on the AFA. Competitions reserved for those clubs are Torneo Federal A and Torneo Regional Federal.
| Argentine football league system (2024) | |||
| Level | Divisions | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Clubs directly affiliated to AFA | Clubs indirectly affiliated to AFA | ||
| 1 | Primera División 28 clubs | ||
| 2 | Primera Nacional 38 clubs | ||
| 3 | Primera B 22 clubs | Torneo Federal A 38 clubs | |
| 4 | Primera C 25 clubs | Torneo Regional Federal Amateur 376 clubs | |
| 5 | Torneo Promocional Amateur 14 clubs | Regional Leagues | |
Tournaments organised by the Association and its predecessors have been held since 1893 (the year when the current AFA was established). Nevertheless, the first championship was organised by the Argentine Association Football League (the first organised body in the country) in 1891.[2] [3] Although the AAFL was dissolved that same year, AFA has recognised that championship as the first Primera División competition, adding it to its continuity.[4]
Until the creation of Campeonato Nacional in 1967, only clubs directly affiliated to AFA had taken part in tournaments organised by the body. From 1986, with the creation of Campeonato Nacional B, teams from regional leagues (clubs indirectly affiliated to AFA) added to the regular competition.
The following charts detail all league competitions organised by the Argentine Association (National cups are not included):
Defunct competitions indicated in
| Argentine football league system historical table (1891–present) | |||||||||||||
| width=250px | Division | width=120px | Level 1 | width=120px | Level 2 | width=120px | Level 3 | width=120px | Level 4 | width=120px | Level 5 | width=120px | Level 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1891–present | |||||||||||||
| style=background:#dddddd | 1911–1926 | 1927–1932 | |||||||||||
| Primera B | 1899–1910 1927–1985 | 1911–1926 1986–present | |||||||||||
| style=background:#dddddd | 1967–1985 | ||||||||||||
| style=background:#dddddd | 1986–present | ||||||||||||
| 1900–1910 1927–1985 | 1911–1926 1986–present | ||||||||||||
| 1950–1985 | 1986–2023 | ||||||||||||
| Torneo del Interior (es) | 1986–1995 | ||||||||||||
| 1995–2014 | |||||||||||||
| 2014–present | |||||||||||||
| 1995–2014 | |||||||||||||
| 2014–2017 | |||||||||||||
| 2005–2014 | |||||||||||||
| Torneo Federal C (es) | 2015–2018 | ||||||||||||
| 2018–present | |||||||||||||
| 1967–1985 | 1986–1995 | 1995–2005 2018–present | 2005–2018 | ||||||||||
| Torneo Promocional Amateur | 2024–present | ||||||||||||