Buenos Aires, December 22 (NA) — The draw for the 2026 Primera Nacional took place on Monday, a tournament that will bring together 36 teams with the aim of achieving promotion to the Professional League. The championship will maintain the same format as the previous season, which crowned Gimnasia de Mendoza and Estudiantes de Río Cuarto as the teams that managed to be promoted. According to the Argentine News Agency, the clubs were divided into two zones of 18 teams each. Zone A features historic clubs like All Boys, Ferro, Colón, and San Telmo, as well as teams from the interior such as Deportivo Madryn, Racing de Córdoba, and Godoy Cruz. Meanwhile, Zone B will include heavyweights like Chicago, Chacarita, Quilmes, Patronato, and Temperley, among others. The competition format will be identical to that of 2025: 34 matchdays will be played, with home and away games within each zone. The loser of the final for the first promotion will join this stage, seeking the second ticket to the top tier of Argentine football. Regarding relegations, the regulations will also remain unchanged: there will be four in total, with the bottom two of each zone losing their category to Primera B Metropolitano or Federal A, depending on their affiliation. At the end of the regular phase, the top two from each group will play a final at a neutral venue to determine the first promotion, while the loser will get a second chance through the Repechage. The Repechage will be contested by the teams finishing between second and eighth in each zone, in a single match at the home ground of the higher-ranked team. The tournament will begin on the first weekend of February 2026 and will be played even during the World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, with only a brief mid-season break.
Here are the zones for the 2026 Primera Nacional: Zone A: All Boys, Ferro, Deportivo Madryn, Quilmes, Colegiales, Atlético de Rafaela, Midland, Chaco For Ever, Deportivo Maipú. Zone B: Chicago, Chacarita, Atlanta, San Martín (Tucumán), Gimnasia (Jujuy), Almagro, San Martín de San Juan, Temperley, Güemes (SDE), Tristán Suárez, Agropecuario, Patronato, Gimnasia y Tiro (Salta).
