Primera Nacional

Argentina's sprawling second tier, split into two 18-club zones with a final for direct promotion and a Reducido playoff for the second spot.

Primera Nacional is the second division of Argentine football, sitting directly below the Liga Profesional and above the Torneo Federal A and Primera B Metropolitana. Created in 1986 as Primera B Nacional to unify clubs from Buenos Aires and the country's provincial leagues into a single second tier, it dropped the "B" from its name ahead of the 2019-20 season. Like the top flight, it now runs on a calendar-year schedule rather than the August-to-May format common in Europe. Thirty-six clubs are split into two zones of eighteen, playing every other team in their zone home and away; the two zone winners meet in a final on neutral ground, with the winner promoted directly to the Liga Profesional. Clubs finishing second through eighth in each zone enter the Torneo Reducido, a knockout playoff that decides a second promotion spot alongside the beaten zone finalist. The bottom two clubs in each zone are relegated. The division is a proving ground for storied clubs rebuilding after relegation and provincial sides chasing a first taste of the top flight, and it regularly sends surprise promotions into Argentina's elite. For a fan following it on a scores platform, expect two parallel zone races, congested run-ins, and a second-promotion race that can stay unresolved into late November.