List of Peruvian football champions


The Peruvian football champions are the winners of the highest league in Peruvian football, which is currently named as Torneo Descentralizado and organized by the Sports Association of Professional Football. The Liga Peruana de Football was established in 1912. It was an amateur league that lasted until 1921 due to scheduling and organizing conflicts. In this league only teams from Lima participated. In 1926, the Peruvian Football Federation took control of organizing the tournament and continued the Peruvian Primera División with the introduction of teams from Callao. In 1951, the Primera División turned professional and in 1966, the Torneo Descentralizado was founded in which the first non-capital teams were invited to play the first national championship. Between 1996 and 2008, the Apertura and Clausura format was adopted.
In its early stages the first division was dominated by Universitario and Alianza Lima. Other notable teams were Atlético Chalaco, Sport Boys and Deportivo Municipal. The professional era saw Sporting Cristal rise to challenge the dominance of Universitario and Alianza Lima. These three teams account for nearly a third of the titles won. Melgar, Juan Aurich and Binacional are the only teams outside the Lima Region to have won national titles. As of 2019, the league title has been won by over 20 clubs but Universitario, Alianza Lima, and Sporting Cristal share a total of 68 titles of the 103 contested. Universitario and Alianza Lima alone account for half of the titles won.

Amateur league (1912–1950)

Peruvian football had amateur status since its foundation until 1950. In the course of this era, Alianza Lima, Atlético Chalaco, Municipal, Sport Boys, and Universitario de Deportes shared the most titles. The first run from 1912 to 1921 featured clubs only from Lima under the Liga Peruana de Football and were awarded the Escudo Dewar. In 1926 and 1927 two unofficial tournaments were played. In 1928 the first championship official expanded to Callao under the Peruvian Football Federation. In 1936 no tournament took place, however an unofficial tournament were played, where Universitario and Alianza Lima were champion and runner-up respectively.

Professional league (1951–present)

In 1951 the league obtained professional status and in 1966 expanded the league to the entire nation, beginning the Descentralizado.
SeasonChampionRunners-upThird placeTop scorerTop scorer's clubGoals
1951Sport BoysDeportivo MunicipalMariscal SucreValeriano LopezSport Boys31
1952Alianza LimaSport BoysSporting TabacoEmilio SalinasAlianza Lima22
1953Mariscal SucreAlianza LimaSporting TabacoGualberto BlancoAtlético Chalaco17
1954Alianza LimaSporting TabacoUniversitarioVicente VillanuevaSporting Tabaco14
1955Alianza LimaUniversitarioCentro IqueñoMaximo MosqueraAlianza Lima11
1956Sporting CristalAlianza LimaDeportivo MunicipalDaniel RuizUniversitario16
1957Centro IqueñoAtlético ChalacoAlianza LimaDaniel RuizUniversitario20
1958Sport BoysAtlético ChalacoMariscal CastillaJuan JoyaAlianza Lima17
1959UniversitarioSport BoysCentro IqueñoDaniel RuizUniversitario28
1960UniversitarioSport BoysSporting CristalFernando OlaecheaCentro Iqueño18
1961Sporting CristalAlianza LimaCentro IqueñoAlberto GallardoSporting Cristal18
1962Alianza LimaSporting CristalUniversitarioAlberto GallardoSporting Cristal22
1963Alianza LimaSporting CristalUniversitarioPedro Pablo LeonAlianza Lima13
1964UniversitarioAlianza LimaDeportivo MunicipalÁngel UribeUniversitario15
1965Alianza LimaUniversitarioDefensor AricaCarlos UrranagaDefensor Lima16

Torneo Descentralizado (1966–2018)

Liga 1 (2019–present)

Half-year tournaments

Throughout the history of Peruvian football, tournaments have been divided into a few stages or have employed filler tournaments played alongside the Descentralizado due to the Peru national football team's compromises, be it FIFA World Cup qualification, FIFA World Cup participation, or Copa América.

National Cups

Parallel tournaments

These were the filler tournaments played parallel to or in between the national championship. Some of these tournaments awarded the winning clubs with a qualification to an international tournament or guaranteed a spot in a further round whilst two of these filler tournaments did not award anything to its winner. The purpose of these tournaments was so that the national team could participate in its compromises without affecting the national championship when calling domestic players.
SeasonTournamentChampionRunner-upAward
1969AperturaAtlético GrauUniversitario-
1977InterzonalAlianza Lima
Coronel Bolognesi		N/AAdvanced to end-of-season Liguilla
1978InterzonalCoronel BolognesiUnión Huaral-
1981RegionalDeportivo MunicipalUniversitarioAdvanced to Copa Libertadores second berth play-off
1994AperturaSporting CristalCiclista LimaQualified for 1995 Copa CONMEBOL
2017Torneo de VeranoMelgarUTCQualified for 2018 Copa Libertadores
2018Torneo de VeranoSporting CristalSport HuancayoQualified for 2018 Torneo Descentralizado Semifinals

Regional seasons

The first regional seasons began in 1984 where teams were divided into regional groups and would advance to the Descentralizado or descend to the Torneo Intermedia for a promotion/relegation tournament against second division teams. Only the 1984 regional did not crown a champion. Starting in 1989, the Descentralizado was temporarily replaced by two regional tournaments, each crowning a champion and contesting a national season final.

Apertura and Clausura seasons

In 1997, the first Apertura and Clausura half-year tournaments were introduced and had its champions face each other in a season final as in the regional tournaments between 1989 and 1991. They were abolished at the end of 2008 season.

Title definitions

Several matches to define champions have been played over the course of Peruvian football history. The earliest title-defining matches were played between teams that tied for first place at the end of the season or tournament phase and forced an extra match to determine the champion. Eventually, finals were organized to be played at the end of the season after set conditions were fulfilled or tournament winners. The first of these finals started in the eighties when winners of each regional tournament played each other to determine the season champion; if the same team won both tournaments, they were champions by default. In the late nineties the Apertura and Clausura tournaments were hosted so that the winners of each tournament would also face each other in the final. If the same team won both tournaments, they were champions by default.
In 2001, Alianza Lima won the Apertura tournament, but their performance in the Clausura tournament suffered and placed a shocking 10th place—which led to a rule change. A tournament-winning team had to place above a set place in order to be able to play the final. In the cases of the seasons of 2002, 2007 and 2008, one or both of the tournament winners failed to place above a set position therefore no final was played and the season champion was determined by the aggregate table or by the tournament winner that had satisfied the set conditions.

Key

List of finals

Other definitions

These matches were played when teams were tied for first in the general league or in a specific tournament.
YearWinnerScoreRunner-upVenueIn contention
1928Alianza Lima1–1Federación UniversitariaStadium Nacional1928 Campeonato de Selección y Competencia
ReplayAlianza Lima2–0Federación UniversitariaStadium Nacional1928 Campeonato de Selección y Competencia
1935Universitario2–1Alianza LimaStadium Nacional1934 Torneo de Primeros Equipos
1955Alianza Lima2–1UniversitarioEstadio Nacional1955 Campeonato Profesional de Lima
1961Sporting Cristal2–0Alianza LimaEstadio Nacional1961 Campeonato Profesional de Lima
1968Sporting Cristal2–1Juan AurichEstadio Nacional1968 Torneo Descentralizado
1976Unión Huaral2–0Sport BoysEstadio Nacional1976 Torneo Descentralizado
1989Sporting Cristal2–0Alianza AtléticoEstadio Nacional1989 Torneo Regional I
1990Universitario1–0Alianza LimaEstadio Nacional1990 Torneo Regional II
1991Sporting Cristal1–0Sport BoysEstadio Nacional1991 Torneo Regional I
1991Sporting Cristal1–1UniversitarioEstadio Nacional1991 Torneo Regional II
1998Sporting Cristal1–0Alianza LimaEstadio Nacional1998 Torneo Clausura
2001Alianza Lima2–1Sporting CristalEstadio Nacional2001 Torneo Apertura
2001Cienciano1–0Estudiantes de MedicinaEstadio UNSA2001 Torneo Clausura
2002Universitario1–0
0–0		Alianza LimaEstadio Monumental
Estadio Mansiche		2002 Torneo Apertura
2006Cienciano2–1UniversitarioEstadio Mansiche2006 Torneo Clausura
2014Sporting Cristal1–0Alianza LimaEstadio UNSA2014 Torneo Clausura
2015Melgar1–1Real GarcilasoEstadio Miguel Grau2015 Torneo Clausura

Clubs

Universitario and Alianza Lima have a clear advantage of titles won over the other clubs in Peru. Since 2010, they have won a combined total of 47 Primera División championships of the 94 seasons contested, 25 and 22 respectively. Sporting Cristal trails behind with 15 professional era titles since their debut in 1956 and further behind is the traditional Sport Boys having conquered 6 league titles. Newcomer Universidad de San Martín de Porres has begun to challenge the dominance of the Big Three with back-to-back titles in 2007 and 2008 and a third i 2010. In addition, Melgar and Unión Huaral are the only clubs outside the metropolitan area of Lima to have won a national championship. Other noteworthy clubs to have won championships include 4-time winner Deportivo Municipal.
Universitario is the club with the longest spell in the Primera División, playing since 1928 when they debuted in the Primera División. They are followed by archrivals Alianza Lima who competed in the first edition of the Primera División but were relegated in 1938 and returning a year later for an uninterrupted spell since 1940. Melgar is the team with the longest run in the Primera División outside Lima, competing since 1971.
The oldest clubs currently participating in the Primera División are Alianza Lima and Cienciano which were founded at the beginning of the turn of the century in 1901. The newest clubs active in the Primera División include Inti Gas, Sport Huancayo, Real Garcilaso and Universidad de San Martín. The current Juan Aurich participating in the Descentralizado is not the same club that competed in previous seasons. Inti Gas Deportes was previously known under several different names but the entity first played in the top flight as Inti Gas Deportes with their promotion after finishing second in the 2008 Segunda División.
As of 2018, Universitario, Alianza Lima and Sporting Cristal have won 26, 23 and 19 official league titles respectively. They are regarded as the Big Three of Peru. However, other teams have risen to new heights. In particular, a team from Cusco, Cienciano, has been the only Peruvian team to win international tournaments || Copa Sudamericana 2003 and Recopa Sudamericana 2004 ||, though it has yet to win the domestic league title. Other notable teams include Melgar and Unión Huaral, which are the only non-capital teams to have won a national championship.

Titles by club

Titles by club

ClubWinnersRunners-upWinning yearsRunners-up years
Universitario26141929, 1934, 1939, 1941, 1945, 1946, 1949, 1959, 1960, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1974, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2009, 20131928, 1932, 1933, 1940, 1955, 1965, 1970, 1972, 1978, 1984, 1988, 1995, 2002, 2008
Alianza Lima23231918, 1919, 1927, 1928, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1948, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 20171914, 1917, 1930, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1943, 1953, 1956, 1961, 1964, 1971, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2009, 2011, 2018, 2019
Sporting Cristal19131956, 1961, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1988, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2002, 2005, 2012, 2014, 2016, 20181962, 1963, 1967, 1973, 1977, 1989, 1992, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2015
Sport Boys691935, 1937, 1942, 1951, 1958, 19841938, 1950, 1952, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1976, 1990, 1991
Deportivo Municipal481938, 1940, 1943, 19501941, 1942, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1951, 1981
Universidad San Martín302007, 2008, 2010—
Atlético Chalaco241930, 19471948, 1957, 1958, 1979
Melgar221981, 20151983, 2016
Mariscal Sucre †221944, 19531939, 1949
Lima Cricket211912, 19141913
Unión Huaral211976, 19891974
Sport Progreso †211921, 19261920
Sport José Gálvez †201915, 1916—
Juan Aurich1220111968, 2014
Jorge Chávez †1119131916
Binacional102019—
Centro Iqueño101957—
Defensor Lima101973—
San Agustín101986—
Juan Bielovucic †101917—
Sport Inca †101920—

Titles by region

Footnotes