The 2026 Liga DIMAYOR (officially known as the 2026 Liga BetPlay DIMAYOR for sponsorship purposes) is the 79th season of the first division league of Colombian football. The season began on 16 January and is scheduled to end on 22 December 2026.
Two tournaments (Apertura and Finalización) are played in the season, each one of them being an independent championship. Junior entered the season as defending champions, having won the 2025 Finalización tournament, and claimed their twelfth league title in the Torneo Apertura, defeating Atlético Nacional 3–1 on aggregate in the finals.
Format The competition format for the season was determined at the Extraordinary Assembly of Dimayor, held on 10 and 11 December 2025. Due to the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the need to end the Torneo Apertura by 5 June 2026, the format proposed and eventually approved for the Torneo Apertura consisted in playing a round-robin first stage with 19 matchdays (without the extra regional derby matchday), with the top eight teams advancing to a final stage played as single-elimination playoffs instead of the semifinal group stage played in recent seasons, thus returning to the format last used in the 2021 Apertura tournament.
Unlike the Apertura, the Torneo Finalización will be played under the usual format, with a round-robin first stage in which teams will play each other once (with reversed fixtures) and the top eight teams from the first stage advancing to the following phase. Instead of play-offs, the eight qualified teams will be drawn into two semi-final groups, with the two group winners advancing to play the tournament finals.
Teams
Twenty teams take part in the season, the top 18 teams in the relegation table of the previous season as well as the 2025 Torneo DIMAYOR champions Jaguares and Cúcuta Deportivo, who returned to the top flight after one year and six years, respectively. Both teams promoted after winning the season's short tournaments and securing the top two places of the aggregate table. The promoted teams replaced Envigado and Unión Magdalena, the bottom two teams in the relegation table of the 2025 season, who were relegated to the second tier after sixteen and one year in the top flight, respectively.
Starting from this season, La Equidad rebranded to Internacional de Bogotá, following the club's takeover by the Tylis-Porter Group in early 2025 and the decision by its former owners Seguros La Equidad to keep the name, symbols and colors to themselves. The club's new identity was officially presented on 10 December 2025.
Stadia and locations Team City Stadium Capacity Águilas Doradas Medellín Cincuentenario 4,000 Alianza Valledupar Armando Maestre Pavajeau 11,000 América de Cali Cali Pascual Guerrero 38,588 Atlético Bucaramanga Bucaramanga Américo Montanini 28,000 Atlético Nacional Medellín Atanasio Girardot 44,863 Boyacá Chicó Tunja La Independencia 20,630 Cúcuta Deportivo Cúcuta General Santander 32,163 Deportes Tolima Ibagué Manuel Murillo Toro 28,100 Deportivo Cali Palmira Deportivo Cali 42,000 Deportivo Pasto Pasto Departamental Libertad 20,665 Deportivo Pereira Armenia Centenario 23,500 Yopal Santiago de las Atalayas 10,000 Fortaleza Bogotá Metropolitano de Techo 10,000 Independiente Medellín Medellín Atanasio Girardot 44,863 Internacional de Bogotá Bogotá Metropolitano de Techo 10,000 Jaguares Montería Jaraguay 12,000 Junior Barranquilla Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez 46,692 Romelio Martínez 8,600 Llaneros Villavicencio Bello Horizonte – Rey Pelé 15,000 Millonarios Bogotá Nemesio Camacho El Campín 39,512 Once Caldas Manizales Palogrande 31,611 Santa Fe Bogotá Nemesio Camacho El Campín 39,512 Notes
Personnel and kits Team Manager Kit manufacturer Main shirt sponsor(s) Águilas Doradas Flavio Robatto Aerosport Colanta, Pool Alianza Flabio Torres Pin-Go Gobernación del Cesar, Pool, Fundación Universitaria San Mateo América de Cali David González Reebok Cerveza Poker, BetPlay Atlético Bucaramanga Pablo Peirano Lotto Financiera Comultrasan Atlético Nacional Lucas González Nike Betsson Boyacá Chicó Jhon Jaime Gómez Geus Pool Cúcuta Deportivo Nicolás Chiesa Boman Colanta Deportes Tolima Luis Fernando Suárez Umbro BetPlay, Pool, Mercacentro Deportivo Cali Rafael Dudamel Hillside Wplay, Pastas La Muñeca Deportivo Pasto René Rosero Boman Aguardiente Nariño, Banco AV Villas, Pool Deportivo Pereira Alexis Márquez Oto Fortaleza Diego Arias Roott+Co Stake Independiente Medellín Luis Amaranto Perea Adidas (Apertura)Reebok (Finalización) Colanta, Wplay, Pool Internacional de Bogotá Ricardo Valiño Umbro Mastercard, BetPlay, TaDa, Bogotá Jaguares Julio Méndez (caretaker) Kimo Colanta, Pool Junior Sebastián Viera Adidas BetPlay, Águila Llaneros José Luis García Aerosport Maxi Cola, Aitabü Hotel Campestre, Gobernación del Meta Millonarios Alberto Gamero Adidas Cerveza Andina Once Caldas Carlos Valencia (caretaker) Reebok Colanta, BetPlay, Wakate Santa Fe Pablo Repetto Fila Colanta, BetPlay, Pool
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentTorneo AperturaDeportivo Pereira Cristian GalíndezEnd of caretaker spell12 November 2025Pre-season Arturo Reyes30 December 2025Internacional de Bogotá Daniel Gómez12 November 2025 Ricardo Valiño21 December 2025Deportivo Pasto René Rosero13 November 2025 Jonathan Risueño1 December 2025Jaguares Álvaro HernándezResigned24 November 2025 Alexis Márquez28 November 2025Águilas Doradas Jonathan Risueño26 November 2025 Juan David Niño17 December 2025Santa Fe Francisco López Grigori MéndezEnd of caretaker spell8 December 2025 Pablo Repetto2 December 2025Millonarios Hernán TorresSacked28 January 202620th Omar Rodríguez29 January 2026 Omar RodríguezEnd of caretaker spell2 February 202618th Fabián Bustos1 February 2026Cúcuta Deportivo Nelson FlórezSacked3 February 202615th Richard Páez5 February 2026Jaguares Alexis MárquezResigned14 February 202614th Gustavo Florentín16 February 2026Boyacá Chicó Flabio TorresSacked16 February 202617th Jhon Jaime Gómez17 February 2026Alianza Hubert Bodhert17 February 202620th Camilo Ayala18 February 2026Deportivo Cali Alberto GameroResigned6 March 202610th Rafael Dudamel9 March 2026Jaguares Gustavo Florentín16 March 202616th Julio Méndez16 March 2026 Julio MéndezEnd of caretaker spell31 March 202618th Hubert Bodhert31 March 2026Atlético Bucaramanga Leonel ÁlvarezSacked8 April 202612th Wilbert Perea9 April 2026Independiente Medellín Alejandro Restrepo21 April 202614th Sebastián Botero21 April 2026Torneo FinalizaciónIndependiente Medellín Sebastián BoteroEnd of caretaker spell2 June 2026Pre-tournament Luis Amaranto Perea26 May 2026Atlético Bucaramanga Wilbert Perea27 May 2026 Pablo Peirano27 May 2026Águilas Doradas Juan David NiñoMutual agreement5 June 2026 Flavio Robatto16 June 2026Atlético Nacional Diego AriasSacked12 June 2026 Lucas González27 June 2026Deportes Tolima Lucas GonzálezResigned27 June 2026 Sebastián Oliveros30 June 2026Fortaleza Sebastián OliverosSigned by Deportes Tolima30 June 2026 Diego Arias8 July 2026Cúcuta Deportivo Richard PáezMutual agreement9 August 202616th Nicolás Chiesa16 August 2026Deportivo Pasto Jonathan RisueñoSacked24 August 202619th René Rosero24 August 2026Alianza Camilo Ayala30 August 202618th Leonardo Torres30 August 2026Junior Alfredo Arias31 August 202617th Sebastián Viera1 September 2026Millonarios Fabián Bustos1 September 20265th Omar Rodríguez1 September 2026 Omar RodríguezEnd of caretaker spell3 September 2026 Alberto Gamero3 September 2026Alianza Leonardo Torres4 September 202618th Flabio Torres4 September 2026Once Caldas Hernán Darío HerreraResigned26 September 202610th Carlos Valencia26 September 2026Jaguares Hubert BodhertSacked28 September 202620th Julio Méndez28 September 2026Deportes Tolima Sebastián Oliveros28 September 20267th Luis Fernando Suárez28 September 2026Deportivo Pereira Arturo ReyesMutual agreement5 October 202619th Alexis Márquez6 October 2026 Notes
Torneo Apertura The Torneo Apertura, officially known as Liga BetPlay Dimayor 2026–I, was the 102nd first division football championship and the first tournament of the 2026 season. It began on 16 January and ended on 8 June 2026. The champions, Junior, qualified for the 2027 Copa Libertadores group stage.
First stage Standings
Results
Knockout stage For the knockout stage, teams were drawn into four ties with Atlético Nacional and Junior being seeded into the first and fourth one, respectively, for being the top two teams in the first stage of the tournament. Both seeded teams were granted home advantage for the quarter-finals and semi-finals, whilst the order of legs was drawn for the remaining two quarter-final ties.
Bracket
Quarter-finals
First leg
Second leg
Semi-finals
First leg
Second leg
Finals
Junior won 3–1 on aggregate.
Top scorers Rank Player Club Goals 1 Andrey EstupiñánDeportivo Pasto 13 Luis MurielJunior 3 Hugo RodallegaSanta Fe 12 4 Jorge RivaldoÁguilas Doradas 11 Alfredo MorelosAtlético Nacional 6 Yeison GuzmánAmérica de Cali 10 Dayro MorenoOnce Caldas 8 Andrés ArroyoFortaleza 9 9 Rodrigo ContrerasMillonarios 8
Source: BeSoccer
Torneo Finalización The Torneo Finalización, officially known as Liga BetPlay Dimayor 2026–II, is the 103rd first division football championship and the second and final tournament of the 2026 season. It began on 24 July and is scheduled to end on 22 December 2026. The champions will qualify for the 2027 Copa Libertadores group stage.
First stage Standings
Results
Top scorers
{| class="wikitable" border="1" |- ! Rank ! Player ! Club ! Goals |- | align=center | 1 | Yeison Guzmán |América de Cali | align=center | 8 |- | rowspan=2 align=center | 2 | Emerson Batalla |Atlético Bucaramanga | rowspan=2 align=center | 7 |- | Nahuel Bustos |Santa Fe |- | align=center | 4 | Eduard Bello |Deportivo Cali | align=center | 6 |- | rowspan=4 align=center | 5 | Jaime Peralta |Cúcuta Deportivo | rowspan=4 align=center | 5 |- | Dayro Moreno |Once Caldas |- | John Montaño |Independiente Medellín |- | Jefry Zapata |Once Caldas |- | rowspan=10 align=center | 9 | Andrés Rentería |Jaguares | rowspan=10 align=center | 4 |- | Andrés Sarmiento |Atlético Nacional |- | Marlos Moreno |Atlético Nacional |- | Ricardo Márquez |Águilas Doradas |- | Néider Ospina |Llaneros |- | Luciano Pons |Atlético Bucaramanga |- | Andrey Estupiñán |Millonarios |- | Leonardo Castro |Millonarios |- | Diego Duarte |Internacional de Bogotá
Source: BeSoccer
Aggregate table The results of all stages of the Apertura and Finalización tournaments are combined into a single table to determine qualification for international tournaments. The two best-placed teams in this table (excluding both tournament champions) at the end of the season will qualify for the Copa Libertadores second stage, with the next best three teams earning berths into the Copa Sudamericana first stage.
Relegation A separate table is kept to determine the teams that will be relegated to Torneo DIMAYOR for the next season. This table is elaborated from a sum of all first stage games played in the three most recent seasons (including the 2024–I, 2024–II, 2025–I, 2025–II, 2026–I, and 2026–II tournaments), with the points earned being averaged per match played. The bottom two teams of the relegation table at the end of the season will be relegated to Torneo DIMAYOR.