Argentina's top-flight football dates to 1891, when the first organised league was held in Buenos Aires — a city that has remained the heartbeat of the country's football culture ever since. The Argentine Football Association (AFA) in its current form was established in 1934 following the resolution of a turbulent split between amateur and professional factions, and from that point the Primera División became the undisputed pinnacle of the domestic game.
The league's early decades were dominated by what became known as the 'Big Five': Boca Juniors, River Plate, Independiente, Racing Club and San Lorenzo. Between them they monopolised the title for 36 consecutive years, a period that shaped the intense club identities and neighbourhood rivalries that still define Argentine football. The Superclásico between Boca Juniors and River Plate — two clubs separated by a few kilometres of Buenos Aires — grew into one of the most famous derbies in world football.
A major structural shift came in 1967 with the introduction of the Metropolitano and Nacional tournaments, opening the league to provincial clubs and producing new champions such as Estudiantes de la Plata. The format evolved repeatedly over the following decades, cycling through Apertura/Clausura splits, single-season formats, and short-term transitional tournaments, before settling on a two-phase Apertura and Clausura model again from 2025.
In continental competition, Argentine clubs hold a record number of Copa Libertadores titles — Independiente alone won seven — while the country has also produced more Copa Sudamericana winners than any other nation. In the current decade the league continues to feature thirty clubs competing for domestic and South American honours.