Primera Nacional

Primera Nacional
Founded	1986; 38 years ago
First season	1986–87
Country	Argentina
Confederation	CONMEBOL
Number of clubs	38
Level on pyramid	2
Promotion to	Primera División
Relegation to	Primera B Metropolitana ; Torneo Federal A
Current champions	Aldosivi ; (2024)
Most championships	Banfield; Olimpo (3 titles each)
Top goalscorer	Adrián Czornomaz (160)
TV partners	Argentina:; TyC Sports; DirecTV SportsInternational:; TNT Sports; TyC Max
Website	afa.com.ar/primerabnacional
	Current: 2025 Primera Nacional

Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, in English "National B Division", and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season)^[2]^[3] is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 38 teams.

It is played by teams from all over the country. Clubs from Buenos Aires surroundings, as well as some from Santa Fe Province, are promoted from or relegated to the Primera B Metropolitana ("Metropolitan B Division") while for teams from the other provinces the Torneo Federal A ("Federal A Tournament") is the next level down. In Argentine football, Primera Nacional is the second-highest league, and from it, the three best teams are automatically promoted to Primera División.

Primera B Nacional games are often transmitted to Argentina and abroad on television by TyC Sports.

History

It was created in 1986 to integrate unaffiliated clubs into the Argentine football structure, which until then had only participated in Nacional championships of Argentina's First Division tournament. It brought together teams from the old Primera B (until then, the second division) and regional leagues from several Argentine provinces.

After the 1985–86 season, the Primera B Nacional became the second hierarchical league in Argentina's professional football, after the Primera División, and it is above the Torneo Federal A and the Primera B Metropolitana, the last one started to act as a third division for the teams directly affiliated to AFA.

Beginning in the 2019–20 season, the name was changed dropping the B to simply be known as Primera Nacional.

Format

Thirty-seven teams play each other once for a total of thirty-six rounds. The top-placed team will be the champion and will also earn promotion to the Primera División. The teams placed from 2nd to 13th place will compete in the "Torneo Reducido" for the second promotion berth after the regular season ends, with the team placed 2nd entering in the third round, the team placed 3rd entering in the second round and the teams placed 4th to 13th entering in the first round.

List of champions

Since the first season held in 1986–87, the following teams have crowned champions of the division:^[4] In case of championships defined by final, they are indicated.

Ed.	Season	Champion	Final score	Runner-up	Third Place
1	1986–87	Deportivo Armenio (1)	– ^{[n1 1]}	Banfield	Belgrano (C)
2	1987–88	Deportivo Mandiyú (1)	– ^{[n1 1]}	Quilmes	Cipolletti
3	1988–89	Chaco For Ever (1)	– ^{[n1 1]}	Lanús	Unión
4	1989–90	Huracán (1)	– ^{[n1 1]}	Quilmes	Douglas Haig
5	1990–91	Quilmes (1)	– ^{[n1 1]}	Atlético Tucumán	Belgrano (C)
6	1991–92	Lanús (1)	– ^{[n1 1]}	Almirante Brown	Colón
7	1992–93	Banfield (1)	0–0 (5–4 p)	Colón	Gimnasia y Tiro
8	1993–94	Gimnasia y Esgrima (J) (1)	– ^{[n1 1]}	Quilmes	San Martin (T)
9	1994–95	Estudiantes (LP) (1)	– ^{[n1 1]}	Atlético de Rafaela	Colón
10	1995–96	Huracán (C) (1)	2–2, 4–1	Talleres (C)	Atlético Tucumán
11	1996–97	Argentinos Juniors (1)	– ^{[n1 1]}	Talleres (C)	Godoy Cruz
12	1997–98	Talleres (C) (1)	1–0, 1–2 (4–3 p)	Belgrano (C)	No third-place awarded
13	1998–99	Instituto (1)	3–0, 0–1	Chacarita Juniors	No third-place awarded
14	1999–00	Huracán (2)	1–0, 1–1	Quilmes	No third-place awarded
15	2000–01	Banfield (2)	2–1, 4–2	Quilmes	No third-place awarded
16	2001–02	Olimpo (1)	– ^{[n1 1]}	Quilmes	San Martín (M)
17	2002–03	Atlético de Rafaela (1)	– ^{[n1 1]}	Argentinos Juniors	Quilmes
18	2003–04	Instituto (C) (2)	0–1, 2–0	Almagro	Huracán (TA)
19	2004–05	Tiro Federal (1)	1–0, 1–1	Gimnasia y Esgrima (J)	Huracán
20	2005–06	Godoy Cruz (1)	1–1, 3–1 (a.e.t.)	Nueva Chicago	Belgrano (C)
21	2006–07	Olimpo (2)	– ^{[n1 1]}	San Martín (SJ)	Huracán
22	2007–08	San Martín (T) (1)	– ^{[n1 1]}	Godoy Cruz	Unión
23	2008–09	Atlético Tucumán (1)	– ^{[n1 1]}	Chacarita Juniors	Atlético de Rafaela
24	2009–10	Olimpo (3)	– ^{[n1 1]}	Quilmes	Atlético de Rafaela
25	2010–11	Atlético de Rafaela (2)	– ^{[n1 1]}	Unión	San Martín (SJ)
26	2011–12	River Plate (1)	– ^{[n1 1]}	Quilmes	Instituto
27	2012–13	Rosario Central (1)	– ^{[n1 1]}	Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	Olimpo
28	2013–14	Banfield (3)	– ^{[n1 1]}	Defensa y Justicia	Independiente
29	2014	(no champion crowned) ^{[n1 2]}
30	2015	Atlético Tucumán (2)	– ^{[n1 1]}	Patronato	Ferro Carril Oeste
31	2016	Talleres (C) (2)	– ^{[n1 1]}	Chacarita Juniors	Gimnasia y Esgrima (J)
32	2016–17	Argentinos Juniors (2)	– ^{[n1 1]}	Chacarita Juniors	Guillermo Brown
33	2017–18	Aldosivi (1)	3–1	Almagro	San Martin (T)
34	2018–19	Arsenal (1)	1–0	Sarmiento (J)	Nueva Chicago
35	2019–20	(not completed due to COVID-19 pandemic) ^{[n1 3]}
36	2020	Sarmiento (J) (1)	1–1 (4–3 p)	Estudiantes (RC)	No third-place awarded
37	2021	Tigre (1)	1–0	Barracas Central	No third-place awarded
38	2022	Belgrano (1)	– ^{[n1 1]}	Instituto	San Martín (T)
39	2023	Independiente Rivadavia (1)	2–0 (a.e.t.)	Almirante Brown	No third-place awarded
40	2024	Aldosivi (2)	2–0	San Martín (T)	No third-place awarded

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w Championship won on points at the end of the season.
^ At the end of the season, the 10 best-placed teams were directly promoted to Primera División.
^ On 28 April 2020, AFA decided to abandon the competition and declare the season finished due to the COVID-19 pandemic with no champion crowned. All official football competitions were suspended on 17 March 2020.

Titles by club

Club	Titles	Runn.	Seasons won
Banfield	3	1	1992–93, 2000–01, 2013–14
Olimpo	3	—	2001–02, 2006–07, 2009–10
Talleres (C)	2	2	1997–98, 2016
Atlético Tucumán	2	1	2008–09, 2015
Atlético de Rafaela	2	1	2002–03, 2010–11
Argentinos Juniors	2	1	1996–97, 2016–17
Aldosivi	2	—	2017–18, 2024
Huracán	2	—	1989–90, 1999–00
Instituto	2	—	1998–99, 2003–04
Quilmes	1	8	1990–91
Arsenal	1	1	2018–19
Belgrano	1	1	2022
Gimnasia y Esgrima (J)	1	1	1993–94
Godoy Cruz	1	1	2005–06
Lanús	1	1	1991–92
San Martín (T)	1	1	2007–08
Sarmiento (J)	1	1	2020
Chaco For Ever	1	—	1988–89
Deportivo Armenio	1	—	1986–87
Deportivo Mandiyú	1	—	1987–88
Estudiantes (LP)	1	—	1994–95
Huracán (C)	1	—	1995–96
Independiente Rivadavia	1	—	2023
River Plate	1	—	2011–12
Rosario Central	1	—	2012–13
Tigre	1	—	2021
Tiro Federal	1	—	2004–05

Seasons in Primera Nacional

Notes

Updated to 2025 season.
Teams in bold are currently playing in the division.

Club/s	Seasons
Instituto	31
Atlético de Rafaela	29
Quilmes	28
Chacarita Juniors, Gimnasia y Esgrima (J), Nueva Chicago	26
Ferro Carril Oeste	25
Defensa y Justicia, San Martín (SJ), San Martín (T)	24
All Boys, Almagro, Atlético Tucumán	22
Almirante Brown, Independiente Rivadavia	21
Los Andes	20
Belgrano (C), Deportivo Morón, Douglas Haig	19
Aldosivi	17
Unión (SF), Tigre	15
Villa Dálmine	14
Arsenal, Atlanta, Godoy Cruz, Huracán, Temperley	13
Banfield, Chaco For Ever, Colón, Defensores de Belgrano, Guillermo Brown, Olimpo	12
Brown (A), Central Córdoba (R), Deportivo Maipú, Estudiantes (BA), Sportivo Italiano, Talleres (C)	11
Boca Unidos, Central Córdoba (SdE), Cipolletti, Platense, Racing (C), Santamarina, Sarmiento (J)	10
Agropecuario, Comisión de Actividades Infantiles, Gimnasia y Esgrima (M), Juventud Antoniana, Mitre (SdE), Patronato, San Martín (M), Talleres (RE)	9
El Porvenir, Gimnasia y Tiro	8
Alvarado, Estudiantes (RC), Gimnasia y Esgrima (CdU), Tiro Federal (R)	7
Almirante Brown (A), Deportivo Riestra, San Miguel	6
Argentinos Juniors, Crucero del Norte, Güemes (SdE), Huracán (TA), Laferrere, Lanús, San Telmo, Tristán Suárez	5
Deportivo Madryn, Deportivo Merlo, Estudiantes (SL), Flandria, Guaraní Antonio Franco, Juventud Unida (G), Villa Mitre	4
Atlético Paraná, Barracas Central, Ben Hur, Defensores Unidos, Deportivo Español, Huracán Corrientes, Rosario Central, Sportivo Belgrano	3
Central Norte, Deportivo Armenio, Deportivo Mandiyú, Ferro Carril Oeste (GP), Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP), Ituzaingó	2
Atlético Concepción, Argentino (R), Colegiales, Desamparados, Estación Quequén, Estudiantes (LP), General Paz Juniors, Independiente, Juventud Unida Universitario, River Plate, Sacachispas, Unión (MdP), Unión de Villa Krause, Villa San Carlos	1

Top scorers

Season	Player	Team	Goals
1986–87	José Raúl Iglesias	Huracán	36
1987–88	Daniel Leani	Quilmes	24
1988–89	Daniel Aquino	Banfield	24
1988–89	Sergio Recchiutti	Almirante Brown	24
1989–90	Juan Almada	Defensa y Justicia	20
1989–90	Abel Blasón	Quilmes	20
1990–91	Roberto Oste	Defensa y Justicia	24
1991–92	Carlos Cardozo	Almirante Brown	26
1992–93	Miguel Amaya	Gimnasia y Tiro (S)	21
1993–94	Dante Fernández	Quilmes	29
1994–95	Alejandro Abaurre	Godoy Cruz	29
1995–96	Adrián Czornomaz	Los Andes	22
1996–97	Eduardo Bennett	Argentinos Juniors	23
1997–98	Alejandro Glaría	Banfield	30
1998–99	Adrián Czornomaz	Atlético Tucumán	26
1999–00	Gastón Casas	Huracán	30
2000–01	Daniel Jiménez	Instituto	23
2001–02	Diego Ceballos	Gimnasia y Esgrima (CdU)	26
2002–03	Daniel Giménez	Godoy Cruz	13
2002–03	Diego Torres	Quilmes	13
2003–04	Julio Bevacqua	Comisión de Actividades Infantiles	13
2004–05	Rubén Ramírez	Tiro Federal	15
2005–06	Daniel Bazán Vera	Unión (SF)	18
2006–07	Ismael Blanco	Olimpo	29
2007–08	Cristian Milla	Chacarita Juniors	20
2007–08	Leandro Zárate	Unión	20
2008–09	Luis Rodríguez	Atlético Tucumán	20
2009–10	Leandro Armani	Tiro Federal	19
2010–11	César Carignano	Atlético de Rafaela	21
2011–12	Gonzalo Castillejos	Rosario Central	26
2012–13	Luis Rodríguez	Atlético Tucumán	20
2013–14	Juan M. Lucero	Defensa y Justicia	24
2014	Ramón Ábila	Huracán	9
2014	Nicolás Mazzola	Instituto (C)	9
2015	Fernando Zampedri	Juventud Unida (G)	25
2016	Germán Lesman	All Boys	17
2016–17	Rodrigo Salinas	Chacarita Juniors	30
2017–18	Jonathan Herrera	Deportivo Riestra / Ferro Carril Oeste	13
2018–19	Patricio Cucchi	Gimnasia y Esgrima (M)	15
2019–20	Pablo Magnín	Sarmiento (J)	15
2020	Claudio Bieler	Atlético Rafaela	5
2021	Pablo Magnín	Tigre	22
2022	Pablo Vegetti	Belgrano (C)	17
2023	Alex Arce	Independiente Rivadavia	25

Notes

^ Clubs from Buenos Aires (autonoumous city and suburban areas)
^ Clubs from the rest of the Argentine provinces

References

^ "Y se sacó el parche" on Olé, 28 Jan 2007
^ La AFA le cambió el nombre a la Primera B Nacional, Infobae, 10 Jul 2019
^ La Primera B Nacional renueva su formato, Diario Uno, 10 Jul 2019
^ List of Argentine second division champions at RSSSF

External links

[points-7] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w Championship won on points at the end of the season.

[tenpromoted-8] At the end of the season, the 10 best-placed teams were directly promoted to Primera División.

[coronavirus-9] On 28 April 2020, AFA decided to abandon the competition and declare the season finished due to the COVID-19 pandemic with no champion crowned. All official football competitions were suspended on 17 March 2020.

[primerab-1] Clubs from Buenos Aires (autonoumous city and suburban areas)

[federala-2] Clubs from the rest of the Argentine provinces

[3] "Y se sacó el parche" on Olé, 28 Jan 2007

[4] La AFA le cambió el nombre a la Primera B Nacional, Infobae, 10 Jul 2019

[5] La Primera B Nacional renueva su formato, Diario Uno, 10 Jul 2019

[6] List of Argentine second division champions at RSSSF

[2]

[3]

[note 1]

[note 2]

[1]

[4]

[n1 1]

[n1 2]

[n1 3]


Founded	1986; 38 years ago (1986)
First season	1986–87
Country	Argentina
Confederation	CONMEBOL
Number of clubs	38
Level on pyramid	2
Promotion to	Primera División
Relegation to	Primera B Metropolitana ^{[note 1]} Torneo Federal A ^{[note 2]}
Current champions	Aldosivi (2024)
Most championships	Banfield Olimpo (3 titles each)
Top goalscorer	Adrián Czornomaz (160)^[1]
TV partners	Argentina: TyC Sports DirecTV Sports International: TNT Sports TyC Max
Website	afa.com.ar/primerabnacional
Current: 2025 Primera Nacional