Argentina’s First Division: A Century of Dominance and Passion
The First Division Championship is the world’s longest-running continuous league tournament. River Plate stands out as the most successful club in this storied competition.
Argentine football traces its roots to the late 1800s, with the competition first staged in 1893 and run by the AFA and its predecessor bodies. It remains the league held in continuous operation longer than any other on the planet, a testament to a deep footballing tradition that has endured through generations.
Even though some teams from the early era faded from the professional ranks, their impact remains. Alumni, once a dominant force in amateur football with seven straight titles, still looms large in the annals of the sport. River Plate and Boca Juniors emerged as the giants of the professional era, shaping the modern narrative of Argentine football. This is the overview of the most successful clubs in the Argentine First Division across amateur and professional periods.
The team known as the Millionaire leads in total official AFA titles across both eras. Their first championship came in 1920 during the amateur era, and their most recent national crown was achieved with the 2021 Professional League success, illustrating a long-spanning era of achievement.
Boca Juniors, known as Xeneize, has secured 35 national titles spanning amateur and professional play. The journey began with the 1919 championship and culminated with the 2022 Professional League triumph, underscoring a sustained level of high performance over more than a century.
RACING – 18 LOCAL TITLES
A profile like Racing Club’s speaks to a unique golden era. The Academy holds a record of seven consecutive titles from 1913 to 1919 and has nine amateur era championships alongside another nine in the professional era. The most recent local crown came in the 2018-19 season of the Super League, with Lisandro López emblematic of the club’s enduring legacy.
INDEPENDIENTE – 16 LOCAL TITLES
El Rojo stands as the fourth most decorated club at the local level, though it has not added crowns in over two decades. Its first championship arrived in 1922, one of the two amateur era titles, while the latest local triumph occurred in the 2002 Apertura under Américo Rubén Gallego as coach.
SAN LORENZO – 15 LOCAL TITLES
The Cyclone boasts three amateur titles and twelve professional era titles. Its first local championship came in 1923, and the most recent one was earned in 2013 during the Initial Tournament, marking a decade of continued success for the club.
VÉLEZ – 10 LOCAL TITLES
Vélez Sarsfield’s record is anchored in the professional era, with the first title in 1968 Nacional and the latest in the one-game format of the 2012-2013 Argentine season’s final stage under Ricardo Gareca, a distinctive moment in league history where the title was decided in a single decisive match.
OTHER CHAMPIONS
Alumni dominated the amateur ranks with ten titles, while Estudiantes de La Plata secured six—five in the professional era and one in amateurism. Newell’s Old Boys also own six titles, all from the professional period. Huracán claims a professional-era crown among several amateur-era trophies, and Lomas Athletic appears with five titles at the amateur level.
Rosario Central has four top-tier titles in the professional era. Argentinos Juniors records three titles in professionalism, while Belgrano Athletic has three, all from amateur glory. Lanús and Ferro each claim two professional titles, and Quilmes has two titles overall, one from the amateur era. Estudiantil Porteño and Porteño share two amateur titles. Arsenal, Banfield, Chacarita, and Tigre—honored by the 2018 Super League Cup—each hold a single professional trophy, while Gimnasia La Plata, Sportivo Barracas, Sportivo Dock Sud, and Saint Andrew’s each claim one amateur trophy in their history.
Source: Goal