In the last five years, the Argentine Primera División has undergone radical changes to its format, increasingly resembling Major League Soccer’s playoff-based system. This shift has garnered little appeal and raised concerns among fans.
Argentine soccer is famous for its passion, and it’s often considered one of the most fervent leagues in the world. Clubs like River Plate, Boca Juniors, Independiente, San Lorenzo, Newell’s Old Boys, and Rosario Central boast massive and loyal fanbases, with even smaller teams like Atlanta and Temperley enjoying strong local and community-based support.
Some of the most iconic moments in South American and global club football have been defined by Argentine clubs. With a rich tradition of great players and fervent support, Argentina should, by all accounts, have a successful league and impressive TV revenues.
However, like much of South American soccer, the league has been plagued by mismanagement. For 20 years, Argentine fans were accustomed to a league format with both an Apertura and Clausura tournament. This setup included a one-legged, 20-team league competition that crowned two champions each season.
While not perfect, it provided excitement for fans used to the more predictable four-to-five team races in European leagues, allowing for greater investment from fans. Over time, this format became standard in South America, until 2012, when things began to change.
The Shift to 30 Teams
Since which year the 28 Argentinian Primera División teams have been in the top tier
byu/SaBe_18 insoccer
The league expanded dramatically over the next decade, growing from 20 teams to a bewildering 30. This expansion has led to several format changes and raised suspicions of power plays by would-be AFA presidents, who sought to consolidate power by having control over the federation by granting first division status to teams below the required standard in exchange for their votes.
The primary reason for the expansion was power — plain and simple. In 2015, amid an institutional crisis, the AFA expanded the league from 20 to 30 teams almost overnight. The justification for this was vague, with various factions within Argentine soccer vying for control.
Five years ago, a devastated Lionel Messi said he would retire from international football.
Now? He’s a Copa America champion.
What a story 👏 pic.twitter.com/dAxSQV0UZB
— GOAL (@goal) July 11, 2021
At this point, the AFA was on the brink of bankruptcy, and just a year before, Lionel Messi announced his temporary retirement from international soccer after Argentina’s loss to Chile in the 2016 Copa América final — a result attributed not just to sporting disappointment, but to the turmoil within AFA.
The league, now a single table comprising of 20 first division teams and 10 promoted from the second division, became an unorganized mess. Boca Juniors won the league with 64 points, while the last-place Crucero del Norte had just 14. By mid-season, more than half the league had little to play for.
The following season, the league was split into two zones of 15 teams, or “conferences,” in MLS terms, with a championship game between the first-place teams of each. This format was confusing and off-putting to fans, making the competition feel less exciting.
Claudio Tapia Takes Over
Claudio Tapia inherited a broken federation when he became AFA president in 2017. With a disjointed national team program and a league on the brink of financial ruin, Tapia faced a tough challenge. The federation had no significant TV revenue, and sponsorship was limited. Tapia’s predecessor, Luis Segura, had been forced to resign after fraud charges in 2016, leaving the national pastime in a complete mess.
After a few years of rebuilding, Tapia’s reign brought success on the national team side. The AFA hired Lionel Scaloni to helm the Albiceleste, and the nation won back-to-back Copa América titles in 2021 and 2024, while also claiming the 2022 FIFA World Cup. With the resurgence of Messi and other international stars, Tapia managed to secure more lucrative global sponsorships for the national team, increasing revenues.
While Tapia made significant progress on the international stage, he also made controversial moves at the local level. In an attempt to rebuild the league, Tapia initially reduced the number of teams, bringing the count down to 26. However, he’d soon push for a return to 30, a move to increase what he called “federalism” — a broader representation of Argentina’s regions in top-tier soccer.
This move, some critics argue, was largely motivated by a desire to maintain favor with AFA’s “voters” (professional clubs) across the country, with online gambling revenue now pouring in thanks to Argentina’s regulated betting policies. Tapia has consolidated his power by making everyone draw from the well, and he will be AFA president until 2028, an election he won by being the only executive on the ballot.
While there have been many dissenting voices over the way Tapia has governed Argentine club soccer, he has been able to win by “majority” at the board room.
Today, Tapia and the AFA can boast that they are the federation with most global sponsorships in the world, 64, as reported by Uruguayan outlet El Observador. According to the article, AFA’s sponsorships span 21 countries, with Argentine brands making up 30% of their sponsor portfolio. The rest of their sponsors are led by U.S. companies, which account for 80% of the new agreements made in 2024.
The AFA has also built complexes in the United States in an effort to cement its global presence well past the days of Messi.
The MLS Influence
With the addition of so many teams, the Argentine league now looks more like Major League Soccer than the English Premier League. The new format mirrors MLS in some capacity but maintains the Argentine aura of doing things “their way,” with two major tournaments (Apertura and Clausura), each with playoffs and a single-elimination final.
In the first stage, the 30 teams are divided into two groups of 15, with each team playing every other team in their group once. In addition, each club plays two inter-group matches — one against a rival from the other group, and another drawn at random. The top eight teams from each group advance to the knockout stage, where each round is decided by a single match.
The winners of the Torneo Apertura and Torneo Clausura will qualify for the 2026 Copa Libertadores, securing the two top spots for Argentine teams. Teams’ chances of qualifying for international tournaments will depend on their overall performance in the 2025 league standings.
This season, two teams will be relegated to the Primera Nacional: one based on coefficients and the other as the lowest-ranked team in the aggregate standings.
The Current State of the League
Unfortunately, despite the ambitious format, the quality of play in the league has been disappointing. Outside of a few exciting matches, mostly Clasicos, many games have been dull, tactical, and heavy on fouls, with little incentive to win. Teams are more focused on “stealing points” than pushing for victories.
In the first seven matchdays, an average of three draws per team in the table has become the norm. Central Córdoba and Estudiantes, the teams with the most goals, has only scored 15 in eight games, while River Plate — despite having four World Cup winners and spending millions on players like former Austin FC star Sebastián Driussi — have managed just seven goals through eight games.
Although Argentine teams are tactically superior to many MLS teams, the league has lost much of its flair. In the 1990s, the league was full of intensity, even amidst financial struggles and violence. Now, with the league stretched thin across so many teams, it feels more like a series of opportunities for clubs to secure playoff spots rather than an exciting contest for supremacy.
A Troubling Future
By adopting elements of MLS, Argentine soccer risks facing similar criticisms. The expansion has diluted the product, with too many teams in the first division and several clubs struggling financially. Worse yet, Argentine clubs have not won the Copa Libertadores since River Plate’s 2018 victory, while Brazil’s more structured and financially stronger league has produced the region’s top clubs and last six Copa Libertadores winners.
With a tiny global TV contract and limited international interest, the Argentine league seems to be drifting along without any clear direction or purpose. As with many aspects of Argentine society, the league seems to be getting by with the hope that things will improve, with few answers on whether its leaders truly have the fans’ best interests at heart.
The last decade clearly shows that they haven’t, leaving the league clunky and overly reliant on its past successes rather than adapting to the present and giving what fans truly want.
