The División de Honor or División Profesional de la Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol (; "Professional Division of the Paraguayan Football Association"), or due to sponsorship reasons Copa de Primera Tigo – ueno bank, is the top-flight professional football league in Paraguay. Currently, there are 12 teams in the first division.
The most successful club is Olimpia, with 48 championships. Olimpia are also the most recent champions, having won the 2026 Apertura tournament. As of 2022, IFFHS ranked the league as the 10th strongest in the world and 3rd in South America.Brazil have the world’s best national league in 2022, South Africa rated at 53 after a previous 31 slot
History Liga Paraguaya's first game was played in 1906, after the director of the El Diario newspaper, Don Adolfo Riquelme, brought to his office on 18 June 1906, the representatives of the five existing football teams in Paraguay at that time (Olimpia, Guaraní, Libertad, General Díaz, and Nacional) to create the governing body of football in Paraguay: the Liga Paraguaya de Fútbol (known today as Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol). The representatives were William Paats and Junio Godoy (Olimpia) Ramón Caballero, Manuel Bella and Salvador Melián (Guaraní), Juan Escalada (Libertad), César Urdapilleta (General Díaz), and Vicente Gadea (Nacional).Historia de la APF The Liga Paraguaya saw Club Guaraní as the first champion in 1906, after defeating Olimpia in the final.
The Primera División was founded in 1906 with 5 teams, and turned professional in 1935 when 10 clubs broke away from the amateur leagues to form a professional league. Since 1996 the format of tournament was changed to Torneo Apertura and Clausura, but since 2008 each tournament is independent.
Traditionally, the dominance of Olimpia and Cerro Porteño went mostly unchallenged for decades. All of this changed at the turn of the 21st century. Since then, Libertad has been the most dominant club, while Nacional and Guaraní have also experienced success at the local level.
Format The league is currently contested by 12 teams that play home and away games in a round-robin format. The league is traditionally divided into two halves: the Torneo Apertura (Opening Tournament) from February to July, and the Torneo Clausura (Closing Tournament) from July to December.
Relegation is based on an averaging system. At the end of each season, the two teams with the worst three-year averages are relegated, and the two best teams in the "División Intermedia" (second division) are promoted to Primera División.
International cup participation + Results of the 'Big Five' in the last 8 seasons Season 2018 28341 2019 34261 2020 14352 2021 13254 2022 1 5 3 4 2 2023 25 1 4 6 2024 34281 2025 12357 8 2 8 0 5 8 7 8 6 6out of 6 Apertura and/or Clausura champions / Copa Libertadores group stage Copa Libertadores group stage Copa Libertadores qualifying round Copa Sudamericana qualifying round
Since 2017, Paraguay have eight slots in international cups (four in the Copa Libertadores de America and four in the Copa Sudamericana). These eight slots will be filled by eight teams.
In the Copa Libertadores, the winner of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments qualify automatically. The third (going into the second round play-off) and fourth (going into the first round play-off) representatives are the best placed non-champion teams from the accumulative table of both the Apertura and Clausura.
In the Copa Sudamericana, the 4th, 5th and 6th best placed teams from the Apertura and Clausura accumulative table qualify for the first stage, alongside the winners of the Copa Paraguay.
Teams The following are the teams in the first division for the 2026 season:
Team City Stadium Capacity2 de Mayo Pedro Juan Caballero Río Parapití 25,000Cerro Porteño Asunción General Pablo Rojas 45,000Guaraní Asunción La Arboleda 8,000Libertad Asunción La Huerta 14,000Nacional Asunción Arsenio Erico 7,500Olimpia Capiatá Erico Galeano 13,500Recoleta Asunción Ricardo Gregor 4,000Rubio Ñu Asunción La Arboleda 8,000San Lorenzo San Lorenzo Gunther Vogel 5,000Sportivo Ameliano Villeta Ameliano Villeta 7,000Sportivo Luqueño Itauguá Luis Alberto Salinas 10,000Sportivo Trinidense Asunción Martín Torres 3,000 Notes
List of champions Complete list of champions since 1906. Paraguayan football turned professional since the 1935 season.
SeasonChampion (title count) Runner-upWinning manager 1906 Guaraní Olimpia Salvador Melián 1907 Guaraní Olimpia Manuel Bella 1908 1909 Nacional Libertad 1910 Libertad Atlántida 1911 Nacional Atlántida 1912 Olimpia Sol de América Carlos Olivia 1913 Cerro Porteño Sol de América Dámaso Ávila 1914 Olimpia Cerro Porteño Ángel Hermosilla 1915 Cerro Porteño Olimpia 1916 Olimpia Guaraní César Mena Porta 1917 Libertad Olimpia 1918 Cerro Porteño Nacional 1919 Cerro Porteño River Plate Humberto Camperchiolli 1920 Libertad Olimpia 1921 Guaraní Nacional Idelfonso López 1922 1923 Guaraní Olimpia Idelfonso López 1924 Nacional Libertad 1925 Olimpia Guaraní Axel Sirvent 1926 Nacional Olimpia 1927 Olimpia Libertad Nacional José Durand Laguna 1928 Olimpia Libertad 1929 Olimpia Libertad 1930 Libertad River Plate 1931 Olimpia Libertad 1932 1933 1934 1935 Cerro Porteño Sol de América Alejandro Delgado 1936 Olimpia Atlántida Daniel Schaerer 1937 Olimpia Cerro Porteño César Mena Porta 1938 Olimpia Cerro Porteño Daniel Schaerer 1939 Cerro Porteño Olimpia Benjamín Laterza 1940 Cerro Porteño Sol de América Manuel Recalde 1941 Cerro Porteño Olimpia Athuel Velázquez 1942 Nacional Cerro Porteño Athuel Velázquez 1943 Libertad Olimpia Manuel Fleitas Solich 1944 Cerro Porteño Libertad Garibaldi Bougermini 1945 Libertad Cerro Porteño Manuel Fleitas Solich 1946 Nacional Sol de América José Durand Laguna 1947 Olimpia Guaraní Antonio Brunetti 1948 Olimpia Cerro Porteño Antonio Brunetti 1949 Guaraní Nacional Fulgencio Romaro 1950 Cerro Porteño Libertad Pedro Osorio 1951 Sportivo Luqueño Cerro Porteño Vessilio Bártoli 1952 Presidente Hayes LibertadSol de América Luis Magín Gómez 1953 Sportivo Luqueño Libertad Cerro Porteño Vessilio Bártoli 1954 Cerro Porteño Libertad Gregorio Juan Esperón 1955 Libertad Olimpia Luis Viccini 1956 Olimpia Libertad Aurelio González 1957 Olimpia Cerro PorteñoSol de AméricaGuaraní Aurelio González 1958 Olimpia Cerro Porteño Aurelio González 1959 Olimpia Cerro Porteño Aurelio González 1960 Olimpia Cerro Porteño Aurelio González 1961 Cerro Porteño Olimpia Vessilio Bártoli 1962 Olimpia Nacional Miguel Ángel Pangrazio 1963 Cerro Porteño Olimpia Mario Fortunato 1964 Guaraní NacionalCerro Porteño Ondino Viera 1965 Olimpia Guaraní Aurelio González 1966 Cerro Porteño Guaraní Mario Fortunato 1967 Guaraní Libertad José María Rodríguez 1968 Olimpia Cerro Porteño Marcos Pavlovsky 1969 Guaraní Olimpia José María Rodríguez 1970 Cerro Porteño Guaraní Marcos Pavlovsky 1971 Olimpia Cerro Porteño José María Rodríguez 1972 Cerro Porteño Olimpia Marcos Pavlovsky 1973 Cerro Porteño Olimpia Salvador Breglia 1974 Cerro Porteño Olimpia Egidio Landolfi 1975 Olimpia Sportivo Luqueño Aurelio González 1976 Libertad Cerro Porteño Ramón Rodríguez 1977 Cerro Porteño Libertad Salvador Breglia 1978 Olimpia Sol de América Carlos Sanabria 1979 Olimpia Sol de América Luis Cubilla 1980 Olimpia Cerro Porteño José Sasía 1981 Olimpia Sol de América Roque Fernández 1982 Olimpia Nacional Luis Cubilla 1983 Olimpia Sportivo Luqueño Sergio Markarian 1984 Guaraní Cerro Porteño Cayetano Ré 1985 Olimpia Nacional Aníbal Ruiz 1986 Sol de América Olimpia Silvio Parodi 1987 Cerro Porteño Olimpia Valdir Espinosa 1988 Olimpia Sol de América Luis Cubilla 1989 Olimpia Guaraní Luis Cubilla 1990 Cerro Porteño Libertad Sergio Markarian 1991 Sol de América Cerro Porteño Héctor Corte 1992 Cerro Porteño Libertad Valdir Espinosa 1993 Olimpia Cerro Porteño Ever Almeida 1994 Cerro Porteño Olimpia Gerardo González Aquino 1995 Olimpia Cerro Porteño Luis Cubilla 1996 Cerro Porteño Guaraní Carlos Kiese 1997 Olimpia Cerro Porteño Luis Cubilla 1998 Olimpia Cerro Porteño Luis Cubilla 1999 Olimpia Cerro Porteño Luis Cubilla 2000 Olimpia Guaraní Alicio Solalinde 2001 Cerro Porteño Sportivo Luqueño Mario César Jacquet 2002 Libertad 12 de Octubre Gerardo Martino 2003 Libertad Guaraní Víctor Genes 2004 Cerro Porteño Libertad Gerardo Martino 2005 Cerro Porteño Libertad Gustavo Costas 2006 Libertad Cerro Porteño Gerardo Martino 2007 Libertad Sportivo Luqueño Rubén Israel 2008 Apertura Libertad Nacional Rubén Israel Clausura Libertad Guaraní Rubén Israel 2009 Apertura Cerro Porteño Libertad Pedro Troglio Clausura Nacional Libertad Ever Hugo Almeida 2010 Apertura Guaraní Cerro Porteño Félix Darío León Clausura Libertad Cerro Porteño Gregorio Pérez 2011 Apertura Nacional Olimpia Juan Battaglia Clausura Olimpia Cerro Porteño Gerardo Pelusso 2012 Apertura Cerro Porteño Olimpia Jorge Fossati Clausura Libertad Nacional Rubén Israel 2013 Apertura Nacional Guaraní Gustavo Morínigo Clausura Cerro Porteño Libertad Francisco Arce 2014 Apertura Libertad Guaraní Pedro Sarabia Clausura Libertad Cerro Porteño Pedro Sarabia 2015 Apertura Cerro Porteño Guaraní Roberto Torres Clausura Olimpia Cerro Porteño Francisco Arce 2016 Apertura Libertad Olimpia Roberto Torres Clausura Guaraní Olimpia Daniel Garnero 2017 Apertura Libertad Guaraní Fernando Jubero ClausuraCerro Porteño Olimpia Leonel Álvarez 2018 Apertura Olimpia Cerro Porteño Daniel Garnero ClausuraOlimpia Cerro Porteño Daniel Garnero 2019 Apertura Olimpia Cerro Porteño Daniel Garnero Clausura Olimpia Libertad Daniel Garnero 2020 Apertura Cerro Porteño Olimpia Francisco Arce Clausura Olimpia Guaraní Néstor Gorosito 2021 Apertura Libertad Olimpia Daniel Garnero Clausura Cerro Porteño Guaraní Francisco Arce 2022 Apertura Libertad Cerro Porteño Daniel Garnero Clausura Olimpia Cerro Porteño Julio César Cáceres 2023 Apertura Libertad Cerro Porteño Daniel Garnero Clausura Libertad Cerro Porteño Ariel Galeano 2024 Apertura Libertad Cerro Porteño Ariel Galeano Clausura Olimpia Guaraní Martín Palermo 2025 Apertura Libertad Cerro Porteño Sergio Aquino Clausura Cerro Porteño Guaraní Jorge Bava 2026 Apertura Olimpia Nacional Pablo Sánchez Clausura
Titles by club Teams in bold compete in the Primera División as of the 2025 season. Italics indicates clubs that no longer exist or disaffiliated from the APF.