Thursday, 26 June 2025

Argentina: Clubs Ranked - 1961 to 2024 (Updated)

To say that Argentine football is organised in a chaotic way would be an understatement. I hope I managed to sort it out accurately. Success is quite well spread out compared to many countries in Europe.

To the right are the top sides listed. 'Arg' represents points awarded for domestic play and 'Tot' includes South America.

So how do the points work? In Primera División and the Campeonato Metro (and other names used) top four are rewarded with 6, 3, 2 and 1. The Copas (Cup) 4 and 2 points for the finalists only. In South America, the Copa Libertadores (Champions League) gives 8, 4 and 2 points. 

The Primera División - National or Clausura - has River Plate as the top side, ahead of Boca Juniors. Recent winners have been CA Lanús (2016), Boca Juniors (2017,18,20,22), Racing Club (2019), River Plate (2021,23) and Vélez Sársfield (2024).

Another league competition played was the Campeonato Metro - Apertura or Inicial - has also often been held concurrently. 

It first was held from 1967 to 1984 and later reinstalled from 1991 to 2014. The same results have nearly been achieved for the top five at least. 


They haven't been big on cup competitions in Argentina, probably due to two league competitions that left no time to squeeze them in. They are the Copa Argentina and Copa Liga Profesional. 

The Copa Argentina was contested in 1969 and 1970, then from 2012 to today. There was no winner declared in 1970 due to the final being drawn but I shared the points with the finalists. Central Córdoba is the current champion.

The other cup Copa Liga Profesional is probably close to League Cups elsewhere. I'm unsure if it is viewed as important as the Copa Argentina so I awarded the same points for top achievers, unlike what I do for Europe. It commenced in 2020 with Estudiantes LP the present trophy holder.

The Copa Libertadores has been a successful hunting ground for Argentine Clubs. As of now, they have almost taken the same number of points as Brazilian clubs. That's an impressive history.


Argentina was of their arch rival Brazil but have recently been overtaken. The last Argentinian title winner was River Plate in 2018 and before that the same club in 2015. Independiente was very successful in the 1960's and more so during the 70's but its last title was 1984. River Plate was a semi finalist in 2024.


All put together, the clubs are below. The grand total is shown for each club, divided into regions with a ranking number (Rk) which gives their place compared to all the other clubs. Please let me know if you have anything to add. I found a few mistakes in my first edition which I have corrected. 

Most come from Buenas Aires which has 79.8% of all points scored. I called the next region Central, which is a similar latitude to BA and that region took 17.9%. The South and North are not prominent. It is all about the capital city. 

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