Category First A

The First A Category (also called BetPlay Dimayor League for commercial reasons) is the first division championship of professional soccer in Colombia, which is organized by the Division Mayor of Colombian Soccer (Dimayor), an entity dependent on the Colombian Soccer Federation. Since 2002, the championship has been held every six months, that is, two champions are declared per year, under the Opening and Finalization Tournament format. However, in 2020, exceptionally, the tournament was held annually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the creation of professionalism in the country in 1948, the tournament has been held to date for 74 years (including the season canceled in 1989) and 53 titles have been awarded in long tournaments, plus 40 in short tournaments, 14 by direct elimination system and 26 by home runs. To date, a total of 93 official titles have been awarded in 94 contested championships. Atlético Nacional is the most winning team with 17 titles.

The only three clubs that have participated throughout their history in the highest category of soccer in Colombia have been Santa Fe, Millonarios, both from Bogotá, and Atlético Nacional from Medellín.

According to the 2020 IFFHS ranking, the Primera A Category is the 15th^a strongest professional league in the world, and fifth in Conmebol. Meanwhile, it ranks as the 3rd best of America in the 21st century, behind the Brazilian Serie A Championship and the Argentine First Division.

History

Backgrounds and amateurism

1922 team with the 2 national championships (Medellin Foot Ball Club Amateur) achieved in 1918 and 1920.

The first official match was played on March 6, 1908 in the coastal city of Barranquilla. In that city, championships began to be held between teams made up of different neighborhoods. Bogotá was also a pioneer of this sport with the organization of small championships and matches, one stands out at the end of the War of a Thousand Days at the Polo Club.

Junior in 1929.

In 1912 the Cali FootBall Club was born in the department of Valle del Cauca; in 1913 the Medellín Foot Ball Club was born in the department of Antioquia; América F.B.C. from Valle del Cauca in 1918 and Juventud Junior, which was founded in the department of Atlántico in 1924 together with the Cúcuta Foot-Ball Club, from the department of Norte de Santander. Remarkable is the creation of the Colombian Football Association under the name of Liga de Fútbol that was recognized by FIFA. However, the association was never able to consolidate professional football.

1948: Professional Soccer

The birth of the Colombian championship is directly related to the foundation of the Major Division of Colombian Soccer (Dimayor) on June 27, 1948 in Barranquilla and whose objective was to organize the first professional soccer tournament in the country. Finally, August 15 of the same year was approved as the start date of the championship. The opening match of the first tournament was between Atlético Municipal de Medellín and Universidad Nacional de Bogotá with a final result of 2-0. The first goal in the history of the championship was converted by Rafael Serna from a penalty 15 minutes into the first half. In that tournament the winner was Santa Fe, so that he became the first Colombian professional soccer champion.

El Dorado

The Argentines José Manuel Moreno, Alfredo Di Stéfano, and the Brazilian Garrincha were three of the most important foreign players who played in Colombian football.

In the 1949 season, due to a strike in Argentine soccer, the era of El Dorado began, a period in which numerous players from that nation were hired, such as Alfredo Di Stéfano and Adolfo Pedernera to play in the various teams that made up the league. Several Peruvians, Paraguayans and, to a lesser extent, Brazilians and Uruguayans also arrived. Valeriano López, from Peru, stood out with Deportivo Cali where, together with other important soccer players from that same country, they formed the generation of Peruvian soccer known as the "Rodillo Negro." Independiente Medellín established a team that had twelve Peruvians on its payroll, some of them winners in Argentine soccer such as Roberto "Tito" Drago and Segundo "Titina" Castillo, who was called "La Danza del Sol." In that season Millionaires got his first star.

1950-1959

In 1950 Deportes Caldas (a team later merged with Once Deportivo) gave the surprise and was crowned champion for the first time in its history. Millionaires would achieve the three-time championship in the 1951, 1952 and 1953 seasons, making the most of the figures of El Dorado.

In 1954 Atlético Nacional won its first championship, in a tournament that was marked by the economic crisis due to the end of El Dorado, which forced several teams to retire. In 1955 Independiente Medellín won its first crown, relegating Atlético Nacional to runner-up. In 1956 Deportes Quindío was crowned champion for the first and until now, only time in its history after a head-to-head with Millonarios and Boca Juniors de Cali.

The 1957 tournament was one of the longest and most confusing in the history of Colombian soccer; First, there was a round-robin round, of which the first 8 classified would play an octagonal, a phase in which only 3 dates were played, the eliminated teams protested, a situation that echoed given the importance of those eliminated, Atlético Nacional, América de Cali, Atlético Bucaramanga and Millonarios. The tournament was won by Independiente Medellín, being the last championship they won in 45 years, the controversy is even greater since the match that showed who will play the final against the winner of all against all (Independiente Medellín) was held between Deportes Tolima and Cúcuta Deportivo, but after a round trip series and a tiebreaker match, Cúcuta was the team that played the final against the Paisa team after winning a disputed "cari-seal" in which no authority from the Tolima team Ibagué was present, in the end Cúcuta would lose that final and would have to play the runner-up against Deportes Tolima, a game they also lost. The following year, Independiente Medellín would retire due to financial problems.

In 1958 Independiente Santa Fe returned to the top after 10 years occupying intermediate positions. On the penultimate date, Santa Fe and Millonarios equaled 46 points. For the last day Millonarios visited Cúcuta Deportivo and tied 2-2 while the cardinal team won 2-0 at Atlético Manizales. In addition, Boca Juniors de Cali announced the final withdrawal from the championship.

In 1959 and with the creation of the Champions Cup (later Copa Libertadores de América) by the South American Football Confederation, for the first time in history a Colombian team would play an international tournament of an official nature. The champion was the Millonarios de Bogotá, achieving their fifth title in professionalism. This team would represent Colombia in the 1960 Copa de Campeones de América, where they would reach the semifinals.

1960-1969

The 1960 tournament was played with the same 12 teams from the previous season, which happened for the first time since Colombian professional soccer was played in 1948. The champion of this edition was Independiente Santa Fe, achieving its third conquest. The runner-up was América de Cali.

The following four years would be a blue wake, because Millonarios, led by Julio Cozzi and after the doctor Gabriel Ochoa Uribe, won the 1961, 1962 and 1963 championships. In 1964 Millonarios became in the first team to win a four-time online championship, this time led first by the Brazilian Joao Avelino (since Gabriel Ochoa left in February after the game against River Plate), who later retired due to health problems in the middle of the year, being replaced by his assistant, Efraín Sánchez, who in turn acted as goalkeeper in some games, sharing the position with Senen Mosquera.

In 1965 Deportivo Cali would win its first title, in a season marked by the famous Colombian soccer schism, which meant that Colombia could not participate in the Copa Libertadores in its 1965 and 1966 editions. In 1966 Independiente Santa Fe returns to the top directed by the doctor Gabriel Ochoa Uribe, and by prominent figures such as Alfonso Cañón and Omar Lorenzo Devanni. In 1967 Deportivo Cali took a wide advantage over Millonarios and would win their second championship. But in 1968 Unión Magdalena surprises and snatches the title from Deportivo Cali, winning the first and only title in its history. In 1969 Deportivo Cali won the title again, beating Millonarios and their backyard rival, América de Cali, in the triangular final.

1970-1979

In 1970, Deportivo Cali won its fourth title and what until now is its only two-time championship in history. The sugar growers agreed to the final home run with Atlético Junior de Barranquilla, Independiente Santa Fe and Cúcuta Deportivo thanks to the Finalization Tournament. In the end there was a triple tie between Cali, Barranquilla and Bogota with seven points, but in the end it would be a new championship for Deportivo Cali thanks to the goal difference.

In 1971 the championship was strongly disputed by Atlético Nacional, Deportivo Cali, Independiente Santa Fe and Millonarios, leaving the cardinals and the paisas tied in the final home run with 7 points for first place. A double-legged final was played, but since both ended 0-0, a final had to be played in Cali. The champion was Independiente Santa Fe after winning that match 3-2, getting their fifth star.

In 1972 and after 8 years, Millonarios manages to lower its tenth star after winning a triangular final against Deportivo Cali and Junior de Barranquilla. In 1973 Atlético Nacional won its second title after 19 years, after beating Millonarios and Deportivo Cali again. In 1974 Deportivo Cali won its fifth title after finishing first in the final hexagonal; this would be the last in 22 years for the sugar growers.

In 1975, Independiente Santa Fe, led by Chilean Francisco Hormázabal, won its sixth title and the last in 37 years. In the cardinal table, figures such as Héctor Javier Céspedes, Juan Carlos Sarnari, Alonso "Cachaco" Rodríguez, Alfonso Cañón, Ernesto Díaz and Carlos Alberto Pandolfi.

The 1976 tournament was once again contested by Millonarios, Atlético Nacional and Deportivo Cali, and as happened in 1973, Atlético Nacional won in the final hexagonal, thus winning its third title. In 1977, Atlético Junior won its first title in the final hexagonal after a one-on-one with Deportivo Cali. The coach of the Barranquilla team was Juan Ramón Verón. In 1978 Millionaires returned to the top after winning the final home run. On the last date, the ambassadors and Deportivo Cali were tied on 7 points, but Millonarios beat their backyard rival 3-1 while the sugar growers only drew 1-1 with Nacional, giving the Bogota team their eleventh title. At the international level, Deportivo Cali reaches the final of the Copa Libertadores, losing to Boca Juniors. In this way, the sugar team became the first Colombian team to reach an international final.

In 1979 and after 31 years in the dark, América de Cali achieved its first title in professionalism at the hands of doctor Gabriel Ochoa Uribe, after a tough one-on-one with Independiente Santa Fe and Unión Magdalena.

1980-1989

In 1980, Atlético Junior and Deportivo Cali once again became protagonists in Colombian soccer. In the Apertura they played the final, which Junior would win. The Barranquilla team won the final home run, thus achieving their second star and relegating the sugar team to the runner-up spot. In 1981, led by Osvaldo Zubeldía, Atlético Nacional won its fourth title, winning the home run where surprisingly the runner-up was Deportes Tolima. A month later, the purslane team suffers the death of the Argentine coach when he was going to seal a horse betting ticket in Medellín. He was with a friend when he suffered a heart attack.

The following years were the best time for América de Cali, as it would achieve what is the highest record of consecutive championships achieved to date, the five-time championship was achieved by achieving the 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1986 championships. The scarlet team relegated Deportes Tolima (1982), Atlético Junior de Barranquilla (1983), Millonarios (1984), and Deportivo Cali (1985 and 1986) to runner-up, and all the titles were won by the doctor Gabriel Ochoa Uribe. Likewise, América would reach three consecutive Copa Libertadores finals, losing to Argentinos Juniors on penalties (1985), against River Plate (1986) and against Peñarol in the last seconds (1987).

In 1987, led by Luis Augusto García Millonarios, he won the three tournaments and five tables of the year, establishing an undefeated record of 22 dates without losing. On the last date he was crowned champion in the final octagonal with only a tie. On December 20, he won 1-0 with a goal from Óscar "Pájaro" Juárez against Junior in Bogotá and achieved his 12th star with 22 points, two more than América de Cali, a team that was looking for the six-time championship. In 1988 he won the two-time championship (for having a better goal difference than Atlético Nacional) and the 13th star again against Atlético Junior, but this time in Barranquilla.

In 1989 Millonarios along with Junior, were the only two teams that were already classified for the final home run for the title of the year, but when the tournament was approaching said home run, the Medellín Cartel committed the murder in Medellín of the Barranquilla referee Álvaro Ortega, after the match between Independiente Medellín and América de Cali, which caused the cancellation of that year's tournament. The only title awarded that year was the Copa Colombia won by Independiente Santa Fe. The highlight of the year was the Atlético Nacional title in the Copa Libertadores after beating Olimpia on penalties, being the first Colombian team to win the trophy.

1990-1999

In 1990 and after the cancellation of the previous tournament, América de Cali would achieve its seventh star at the hands of the doctor Gabriel Ochoa Uribe, this also being the last one for the Antioquian coach. In the final homer they beat Atlético Nacional, Atlético Bucaramanga and Independiente Santa Fe, leaving the Paisa team runner-up. However, in 1991 and under the guidance of Hernán Darío Gómez, the purslane team would take revenge and get their fifth star, being crowned champion in the last game against América in Medellín. That same year, the First B Category was created. In 1992, América de Cali, led by Francisco Maturana, achieved its eighth star, defeating Deportivo Cali in its last game and relegating Atlético Nacional to runner-up.

In 1993 it seemed that Independiente Medellín would win their first title since 1957. They beat their backyard rival 1-0 and at that moment Junior tied América 2-2 in Barranquilla, but Oswaldo Mackenzie scored an agonizing goal in the last seconds, which gave the title to the Barranquilla team after 13 years of waiting.

In 1994, Atlético Nacional won the championship, defeating its backyard rival with a goal by Juan Pablo Ángel, thus obtaining its sixth star. It would be an emotional title, since months ago Andrés Escobar was assassinated, after scoring an own goal in the World Cup in the United States, a fact that led to the elimination of the Colombian National Team in said World Cup. In 1995 a tournament would be played that would last a single semester, since for the next one it was going to adapt to the European format. In this Junior edition of Barranquilla, he was champion after an intense head-to-head with América de Cali who was finally runner-up. This year Atlético Nacional reached the final of the Copa Libertadores for the second time, this time losing it against Gremio de Porto Alegre.

In the 1995/96 tournament, Deportivo Cali became champion again after 22 years after drawing 0-0 against América de Cali. In the final home run, Millonarios had scored more points than the sugar team, but Deportivo Cali had a bonus point and despite surpassing it in games won and goal difference, the title is defined by better reclassification, won by Deportivo Cali. The invasion of the sugar fans to the field once the match ended prevented those led by Fernando "El Pecoso" Castro from going around the Olympics. In that same year, América de Cali reached the final of the Copa Libertadores again, losing it again to River Plate as it happened 10 years ago.

The 1996/97 tournament would be the longest, as it lasted 16 months. In the first phase, América de Cali won and in the Adequacy tournament an unprecedented final was played between Atlético Bucaramanga and Deportes Quindío. The final was won by the Canarian team that went on to play for the title against América de Cali. The title was precisely won by the scarlet box, being its ninth star in its history.

In 1998, Once Caldas led the entire year, setting a record for points in long tournaments. But Deportivo Cali earned its seventh star by beating the white team from Manizales 4-0 on aggregate. In 1999 Atlético Nacional won its seventh star on penalties against América de Cali in the first final to be defined from this instance. In that year Deportivo Cali reached its second Copa Libertadores final after 21 years, losing it this time against Palmeiras from Brazil from kicks from the penalty spot.

2000-2009

In the years 2000 and 2001, América de Cali achieved the two-time championship with Jaime de la Pava, in what would be the last long tournaments played up to now.

For 2002, the General Assembly of Clubs approved that the professional tournament will be played with 18 teams, adding to the current 16 two of the three members that at that time were participating in the First B Category Championship. 2001 that year the Atlético Bucaramanga team from Primera A to which it corresponded to descend remained in the same.

Also, as of the 2002 Opening Tournament, the championship was divided into two (Apertura and Finalización), according to the leaders, to draw more attention from the fans and make them interested in the championship. Thus, the semifinal home run system was implemented, where the eight best teams of the semester advanced to a semifinal stage of two groups: The 1st and 2nd of the table are the head of group "A" and "B" respectively, for the remaining 6 teams a draw is made to define the group that corresponds to each team. The first of each group, since then, qualify for the final to define the champion. In the Apertura, América de Cali achieved the three-time championship after beating Atlético Nacional in the two finals. In the 2002 Completion Tournament, the champion would be Independiente Medellín after 45 years, after beating the surprising Deportivo Pasto.

In the Apertura 2003 another team would be champion after a long time. This time it would be Once Caldas, who beat Junior from Barranquilla in the final with a 1-0 aggregate, the first leg at the Metropolitano de Barranquilla that will end 0-0 and at the Palogrande de Manizales, the white would defeat Junior by 1 -0 with a goal from Sergio Galván. In this way, the white team would win its second title after 53 years when it was called Deportes Caldas. In the Finalization Deportes Tolima gave the surprise and would win the final against the favorite Deportivo Cali on penalties, in the first leg in Ibagué Deportes Tolima would defeat Deportivo Cali 2-0 with a double by the Brazilian Rogerio Pereira and in the Pascual Guerrero de Cali the sugar growers defeated the Deportes Tolima 3-1, forcing the collection of penalties, where Deportes Tolima would win 4-2, thus achieving their first title in Colombia.

In the 2004 Apertura Independiente Medellín won its fourth star after beating Atlético Nacional in the final in the first and only paisa final, in the first leg the "Powerful" would defeat Nacional 2-1 with goals from Jorge Horacio Serna and Rafael Castillo, Edixon Perea discounted for the purslane, in the second leg the paisas tied 0-0 giving the title to Independiente Medellín. In Finalization, the purslane team reached the final again, but was beaten by Junior from Barranquilla in an agonizing final that Nacional had won, but which was allowed to tie in the last minutes, thus forcing the definition by penalties, where the Barranquilla team won 5-4.

However, this season is remembered for the Copa Libertadores that Once Caldas beat Boca Juniors on penalties, where the Argentine team was the favorite thanks to their performances in the penalty shootouts prior to the final. In the final, Boca wasted the 4 penalties with a great performance by Juan Carlos Henao, making the Manizalita team win the second Libertadores for Colombia.

Meeting disputed between the Deportivo Cali and Independiente Santa Fe.

In the 2005 Apertura Atlético Nacional reached its third consecutive final, this time it would take revenge and win its eighth star after defeating Independiente Santa Fe, a team that had not reached a final for a long time, in the first leg between Santa Fe and Nacional They drew 0-0 at El Campín in Bogotá and in the second leg in Medellín, the Purslanes beat the Cardenales 2-0 with goals from Carlos Alberto Díaz and Óscar Echeverry, giving the Paisas their 8th title. In the Finalization Deportivo Cali won its eighth title after defeating the recently promoted and surprising Real Cartagena, in the first leg in Cartagena de Indias Deportivo Cali would beat the Cartagena team 2-0 with a double by Hugo Rodallega, and in the second leg in the Pascual Guerrero de Cali, the sugar growers beat Real Cartagena 1-0 with a score by Jaime Riveros, ending with a 3-0 aggregate score for the caleños.

Since 2006, the last team in the table of relegation averages (a calculation based on the performance in points of the last three tournaments in the First Division) continues to descend directly to the First B Category, being replaced by the champion of that tournament, while the penultimate in that table must face the runner-up in the First B Category in a round-trip duel to define whether or not to remain in the First Division.

This season two teams won their titles for the first time in their history. In the Apertura it was Deportivo Pasto led by Oscar Quintabani, who after qualifying eighth in the home runs, reached the final where they beat Deportivo Cali, in the first leg the pastusos would beat Cali 1-0 with a goal from Carlos Villagra, and in the second leg at the Estadio La Libertad de Pasto, the locals would tie with the caleños 1-1 with goals from Jorge Hernando Vidal for Pasto and Anthony Tapia would tie for the sugar growers, Deportivo Pasto would obtain the 1st title in their history. In Finalization it was Cúcuta Deportivo, a team that was promoted that season after 9 years in the Second Division. In the final they beat Deportes Tolima, the first leg was played at General Santander de Cúcuta, the motilones would beat the "pijaos" 1-0 with a goal from Rodrigo Saraz, the second leg in Ibagué would be difficult for the 2 teams, where they would tie 1-1 with goals from Yulián Anchico for the Tolimenses and Macnelly Torres would tie for the motilones that would allow them to be crowned champions.

The year 2007 will be remembered by the purslane fans, since Atlético Nacional would achieve its first two-time championship. In both finals they beat teams that had never agreed to a definition for the title. In the Apertura they beat Atlético Huila, in the first leg in Neiva, the purslane beat the Huilenses as visitors with a goal from Carmelo Valencia, and in the second leg in Medellín Atlético Nacional would defeat Atlético Huila 2-1 with goals from Diego Toro and Carmelo Valencia for the paisas and Duván Hernández would discount for the "opitas". While in Finalización they beat La Equidad, a team that was debuting in the First A that year, the first leg in Bogotá would end 3-0 in favor of Atlético Nacional with a clear victory for the paisas over La Equidad, the goals were scored by Carmelo Valencia, Sergio Galván and León Darío Muñoz, in the second leg in Medellín the 2 teams would tie 0-0, ending the series with a 3-0 aggregate in favor of the purslane team. Both tournaments were won by Oscar Quintabani.

In 2008 another team of the so-called "little ones" won its first title. The turn would be for Boyacá Chicó, led by Alberto Gamero, who would win the Apertura final on penalties against América de Cali, the first leg at Pascual Guerrero de Cali would end 1-1, Néstor Salazar would open the scoring for the "Checkered" and Adrián Ramos would tie for the scarlets, this game would be remembered for the controversial arbitration by Wilmar Roldán, since the game ended before Frank Pacheco scored the 2-1 favorable for Boyacá Chicó. in the return match at the Estadio La Independencia de Tunja, both checkered and scarlet would tie 1-1 with goals from the Argentine Miguel Caneo and Luis Tejada; both from penalty kicks, with the overall score being 2-2, the series would be defined on penalties, where Boyacá Chicó would beat the Red Devils 4-2 and win their first League title. However the 'scarlet' he took revenge in the Finalization and after 6 years he would win a title by beating Independiente Medellín in both finals, in the first leg at the Atanasio Girardot, the scarlets would beat "Powerful&#34 on visitors 1-0; with a goal by Víctor Cortés. In the second leg at the Pascual Guerrero, América would easily beat the Paisa team 3-1, Diego Álvarez Sánchez would open the scoring for Independiente Medellín, but the "mechita" would come back with goals from Adrián Ramos, Jaime Córdoba and an own goal from Jamell Ramos. In this way, those directed by Diego Edison Umaña would equal the Millonarios Fútbol Club in championships won (13 titles).

In 2009 the system of the semifinal home runs was changed, since the first two will be in groups A and B, while the remaining six will enter a lottery to define their respective place in the groups. In addition, the referees they will use intercoms, in order to improve their performance and comply with FIFA requirements.

In the Apertura 2009 Once Caldas won its third title. He qualified with one date missing for the home runs and in them he beat Deportes Tolima, Equidad and Boyacá Chicó. In the final they beat Junior from Barranquilla with an aggregate score of 5-2. In the first leg at the Palogrande in Manizales, Once Caldas won 2-1 with goals from Nordier Romero and Johan Fano, Giovanni Hernández discounted for Junior. In the return match at the Metropolitano de Barranquilla, El Once emerged victorious with a score of 3-1 with goals from Alexis Henríquez, Alex Sinisterra and Dayron Pérez; Hayder Palacio scored for the visit. In the Finalización Independiente, Medellín defeated Atlético Huila in the final, winning its fifth league title. Medellín, directed by Leonel Álvarez, finished first in the general table and qualified early for the home runs, where they also achieved the highest position. The first leg at the Guillermo Plazas Alcid de Neiva ended with a victory for "Powerful" 1-0 over Huila with a goal from Jackson Martínez; in the second leg in Medellín they tied 2-2: Jackson Martìnez and Luis Fernando Mosquera scored for Medellín, while Erwin Maturana and Lewis Ochoa scored for Huila. In addition, in the Finalization 2009, Jackson Martínez broke Leider Preciado's record to establish himself as the top scorer in a semi-annual tournament after scoring 19 goals.

2010-2019

Trophy that handed over to the League champion from 2010 to 2014.

For the 2010 Apertura Tournament, Postobón's era began as a sponsor of Colombian Professional Soccer. The home runs were replaced by a series of semifinals in which only the first 4 teams qualified (1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3), to round-trip matches to define the finalists, due to the Soccer World Cup that was taking place. in South Africa. Under this format, Junior achieved his sixth star after coming back from 1-0 in the first leg, against La Equidad, winning in the second leg 3-1 with a double from Carlos Bacca and another from Víctor Cortés for the shark team, Leonardo Castro discounted for equity.

In Finalización the home run system returned, where Once Caldas achieved its fourth star in an unprecedented final against Deportes Tolima. The white team lost 2-1 at the Manuel Murillo Toro de Ibagué against Deportes Tolíma, the scores for the "pijaos" They were from Rodrigo Marangoni from a penalty and an own goal from Alexis Henríquez, Dayro Moreno from a penalty scored the only goal for the manizalitas. the second leg at the Palogrande in Manizales, the whites came back in a great match, winning the match 3-1 with goals from Jaime Castrillón, Fernando Uribe and Wilson Mena, Danny Aguilar discounted for the Tolimenses. In this way, Once Caldas obtained its 4th title in Colombian soccer.

In the 2011 season, the semifinal home run system was modified for reasons of the U-20 World Cup held in Colombia and the Copa América held in Argentina. In this, the eight classified teams met by draw in the quarterfinals, where the winners went to the semifinals and then to the grand final. Under this format, in the 2011 Apertura, Atlético Nacional won its eleventh star, where it beat La Equidad on penalties, a team that was a rival 4 years ago when they won the two-time championship in 2007, and was a finalist for the third time in its history.. The first leg at the Metropolitano de Techo in Bogotá ended 2-1 in favor of the Bogota squad, goals by Juan Gilberto Núñez and Edwin Rivas for Equidad and Carlos Rentería scored the only goal for the purslane, in the second leg at Atanasio Girardot, Nacional defeated the "insurer" for another 2-1 with goals from Dorlan Pabón and Carlos Rentería, Roberto Polo would discount for La Equidad. The "purslane" they won their 11th star in Colombian soccer in the penalty shootout. In Finalización, Junior from Barranquilla defeated Once Caldas in the final, thus earning his seventh star and taking revenge for the Apertura 2009. Both teams had just eliminated Independiente Santa Fe and Millonarios in the semifinals, coming back in an incredible way in the match back from each of the semifinals, when it was thought that the final was going to be from Bogotá. América de Cali, one of the biggest teams in Colombia, falls to Primera B for the first time in its history after losing the promotion series on penalties against Patriotas Boyacá, becoming the first big team to be relegated to the second category, and in the first team to be relegated through promotion.

In 2012, after the U-20 World Cup held in Colombia, it returned to the old semifinal Quadrangular system implemented in 2002. As outstanding events in 2012, the two traditional teams from Bogotá, Independiente Santa Fe, were crowned champions and Millonarios breaking their streak of 37 and 24 years without winning the title, respectively. In the Apertura Independiente Santa Fe beat Deportivo Pasto, a team that had just been promoted that season, in the first leg at the Estadio Departamental Libertad de Pasto, Los "volcánicos" (Nickname for the one they are popularly called) would give the first shot with a score by Kévin Rendón, almost ending the first half when Julián Quiñones scored for the cardinals. In the second leg in Bogotá, Santa Fe was crowned champion, beating the Pastusos 1-0 with the only goal from Jonathan Copete, thus obtaining his 7th league title. In Finalization, Millonarios defeated Independiente Medellín on penalties and once again became the Colombian team that won the most times, beating América de Cali by one title, which had 13, therefore Millonarios was left with 14; This year the teams from Bogotá (Independiente Santa Fe 7 titles and Millonarios 14) won 2 titles that tied it with Cali in 21 titles (Deportivo Cali 8 titles and América 13), becoming the 2 cities with the most championships won in soccer. Colombian.

In the 2013 Season, the tournaments were held with the traditional game system of semifinal home runs. Alianza Petrolera was promoted to the First Division and therefore Real Cartagena was relegated for the 3rd time in its history. The final of the 2013 Opening Tournament was staged by Atlético Nacional who won the final against Deportes Tolima, Tolima passed with a tie and ended up losing against the old Itagüí, and Independiente Santa Fe, the first leg was played at the Atanasio Girardot in Medellín, equaling the 2 teams to zero. The second game was played at El Campín in Bogotá, with a victory for the 'pursolagas' 2-0 with scores from Atlético Nacional youth squad Jefferson Duque and Luis Fernando Mosquera, proclaiming himself champion and obtaining his 12th star in Colombian Professional Soccer; The top scorer of the tournament would be Wilder Medina with 12 goals.

In Finalización, the purslane team managed to get its second two-time championship (after the one achieved in 2007) and its 13th title (reaching América de Cali in the number of titles) at the hands of the coach from Risaraldense Juan Carlos Osorio, imposing a unique game style of possession of the ball and football at a single touch. Atlético Nacional played the final against Deportivo Cali, which ultimately left a 2-0 aggregate (0-0 in the first leg at Pascual Guerrero de Cali and 2-0 on Antioquia soil) with goals from Paraguayan Néstor Camacho (own door) and striker Jefferson Duque; Dayro Moreno and Luis Carlos Ruiz were the top scorers of the tournament with 16 goals each.

In the 2014 Apertura Tournament, Atlético Nacional managed to reach the final, becoming the first team in the history of Colombian soccer to do so in the era of short tournaments. In the Final they faced Junior, who won the first leg at home 1-0 with the only score by Edison Toloza, but in the second leg in Medellín, the "paisa" would win in the 90 minutes thanks to an agonizing goal at the last minute by Jhon Valoy forcing the definition of the title from the penalty shootout, where the Argentine goalkeeper Franco Armani was the great figure saving 2 shots. Thus, Atlético Nacional got its 14th star, and therefore tied Millonarios in the number of titles (both becoming the 2 most winning teams in Primera A).

In the 2014 Finalization Tournament, Independiente Santa Fe won its 8th title, beating Independiente Medellín in the first leg, 2-1; In the 37th minute of the first half, the score was opened in favor of Independiente Medellín 1-0, but with a comeback from Santa Fe 2-1, the capitalists went to Bogotá in peace. On Sunday, December 21, the cardinal team received Independiente Medellín, the score was opened by Luis Carlos Arias, starting the second half and the tie reached the 88th minute although Independiente Medellín did not reach it. With a 3-2 aggregate score, Independiente Santa Fe was crowned champion by Professor Gustavo Costas.

Euforia 2.0, the official football of Colombian football in 2017.

In 2014, Dimayor reached a consensus in an assembly held in October in which a change of format for the championship was approved for the 2015 season: the number of participating teams will go from eighteen to twenty teams. However, for the 2014 season the promotions and relegations remained the same (one promotion and one promotion match) and the two teams to be promoted will be defined between the class A clubs, which are in Primera B through a Promotion Quadrangular to be played in Bogotá. Likewise, the promotion and relegation system will be changed from 2015, it was changed from one relegation and one promotion match to two direct relegations.

In the 2015 Apertura Tournament, the champion was Deportivo Cali, winning the aggregate series 2-1 against DIM, who reached the final for the second time in a row. The "sugar bowl" he was champion after 9 and a half years with a squad that was barely 22.3 years old on average and with 70% of players coming from his quarry. The so-called "Kinder of the Freckled" they beat two greats in direct confrontations: Nacional and Millonarios, before playing the final with Independiente Medellín. A special ingredient of the ninth star was that Deportivo Cali's home games were held at its stadium: El Coloso de Palmaseca. In that year, the team's Board of Directors made the decision to move permanently to their stadium, leaving behind the Pascual Guerrero Olympic Stadium. With this title, Deportivo Cali again reached Bogotá as the Colombian city with the most stars (22 for each one, distributed as follows: 14 for Millonarios Fútbol Club and 8 for Independiente Santa Fe, 13 for América de Cali and 9 for Deportivo Cali).

In the 2015 Finalization Tournament, Atlético Nacional was crowned champion. The first game was played in Barranquilla and the Paisa team lost 2-1 against Junior with goals from Roberto Ovelar and Édison Toloza for the local and Yimmi Chará discounted for the visitor. In Medellín the green team obtained a 1-0 victory with a goal from the youthful Marlos Moreno. On aggregate, the result was 2-2. In the penalty shootout, the Antioquia team won 3-2 in the definition from the penalty shootout. The paisa team obtained its 15th star with this title, establishing itself as the most successful club in the national income. The tournament's top scorer would be Jefferson Duque with 15 scores.

In the 2016 Apertura Tournament he was once again the Medellín Independent Champion after seven years, the last time it had been in the 2009 Finalization Tournament against the Atlético Huila team. The powerful of the mountain was the best team of the regular tournament by classification in the general table, on June 19, 2016 after drawing in Barranquilla the first leg of the final with Junior (1: 1), champions are consolidated in the city from Medellín by winning the second leg (2:0) with Christian Marrugo being a figure in the final match, thus obtaining his sixth title in the national tournament.

In the 2016 Finalization Tournament, the champion would be Independiente Santa Fe by beating Deportes Tolima 1-0 on aggregate, imposing a Uruguayan-style game and finishing 15 dates undefeated in the league. At the end of 2016, Santa Fe would be the best in the reclassification of the year.

In the 2017 Apertura Tournament, Atlético Nacional won its sixteenth title, after coming back from 2-0 away from Deportivo Cali and winning the second leg at the Atanasio Girardot stadium with a resounding 5-1. As champions, Atlético Nacional obtains a direct place in the group stage of the Copa Libertadores 2018.

In the final tournament of 2017, Millonarios wins its 15th star in an unprecedented final in short tournaments against Santa Fe, prevailing by an aggregate score of 3-2, accessing the Copa Libertadores 2018

In the 2018 Apertura Tournament, Deportes Tolima won its second title in the highest category of Colombian soccer, after defeating Atlético Nacional in the final by kicks from the penalty spot. After losing the first leg 1-0 at the Manuel Murillo Toro stadium and winning the second leg in Medellín by a score of 2-1, equaling the global score 2-2, the Vinotinto y Oro team triumphed 4-2 in penalties to get the second star. Deportes Tolima obtains a direct quota to the group stage of the Copa Libertadores 2019.

In the Finalization Tournament 2018 Junior got his long-awaited eighth star by beating Independiente Medellín 4-1 in the first leg at the Roberto Meléndez Metropolitan Stadium and losing 3-1 in the second leg at the Atanasio Girardot stadium, getting a direct place in the phase of groups of the Copa Libertadores 2019

In the 2019 Apertura Tournament, Millonarios, despite ranking first in the round-robin with a considerable advantage over the other teams, is surpassed by Deportivo Pasto in home runs, which qualifies for the final against Junior from Barranquilla. Junior obtained his ninth title and his first two-time championship in history.

In the 2019 Finalization Tournament, América de Cali achieved its 14th title, after eleven years of waiting (five of which were in the second division). They did so after a great campaign in the all against all, where they accumulated 35 points, the same as Atlético Nacional, and after beating Deportivo Cali, Santa Fe and Alianza Petrolera in the semifinal home run. In the final, they defeated Junior, who was looking for their three-time championship, after drawing 0-0 in Barranquilla and beating them 2-0 in Cali.

2020s

The 2020s began with the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected the entire world, including Colombia, and forced the cancellation of sports and entertainment activities. The 2020 Opening Tournament, which for sponsorship reasons began to be called the BetPlay League, had to be suspended on March 13 when eight dates had been played so far. During April and May, the Dimayor eLiga was played to maintain a product for the Win Sports channel. The suspension of the championship caused a great economic crisis in the teams and that, added to old discontents over the business of selling television rights, led Dimayor and Colombian soccer to an organizational crisis and a division between the teams, which was settled with the resignation of the president of the entity and with the arrival of a new one. Finally, and after obtaining the authorization of the national government after many attempts, the Dimayor assembly decided that the tournament would return in mid-September, respecting the points earned up to March and resuming the ninth date, which had been suspended. It was also decided that, after finishing the round-robin phase, the eight qualifiers would not play in two home runs, but in direct elimination matches until they reached the final, which would be in December. For the same reason, it was decided that by 2020 a single championship would be played (that is, there would be no Completion Tournament) and that there would be no promotion or relegation until 2021. The tournament ended with the 15th title and the two-time championship of América de Cali, defeating Santa Fe 3-0 in the first leg in Cali, but losing 0-2 in Bogotá. Thus, with a 3-2 aggregate, the scarlets won the final.

In the 2021 season, the semi-annual tournaments that have been played since 2002 returned. In the first semester, Deportes Tolima, who won eight wins, six draws and four losses in the round-robin round, was able to access the finals of the BetPlay League. In the final against the Millonarios team they equalized 1-1 at Manuel Murillo Toro and in the second leg at El Campín they were left with the 1-2 victory with two goals from Juan Fernando Caicedo, thus obtaining their third record of honors in the league. In the second semester, loaded with performance problems, Deportivo Cali, in the middle of the semester, hired the Venezuelan Rafael Dudamel as technical director of the sugar team, who was a player of the Verdiblanco team in the 1990s. Again, Deportes Tolima reached the final, where they would be tied 1-1 at the Palmaseca stadium, but Rafael Dudamel's team won 1-2 in Ibagué and took the title with a 3-2 overall, thus achieving their tenth league title with a great comeback in the second half against Tolima.

Game system

Every year the leaders of the Dimayor assembly meet to define the game system. Since 2002, the one-year tournament has been divided into: Opening (February to June) and Finalization (July to December), with relegation to the Second Division only at the end of the year. Since 2015 the tournament has been played by 20 clubs. It should be noted that the system is subject to modifications each semester depending on the international calendar.

The game system for the 2020 season is:

• All against all: We play 20 dates in which each team plays against all its rivals (19 dates + 1 date of regional classics) in 9 or 10 local matches and 9 or 10 of visitor.

• Semi-final strangulation: The first eight classifieds after the 20 days will be distributed in two quadrangles where the first and second of the general table will go to different quadrangles as serial heads, the quadrangular of the remaining classifieds will be determined by draw and the teams of each quadrangular will face in 6 days all against all with round and round.

• Final: The 2 winning teams of the semi-final Quadrangulars or the Playoffs, according to the case, are facing in the final to round and back matches to define the champion of the semester, who will get the title of Colombian football champion, the game back is played in the field of the team with the best ranking between the two finalists of the stage "All against All".

During the year you play with two and even three position tables.

• Classification: It is the one that carries the score in the phase of all against all in the Opening and Finalization Tournament independently. In it is defined the so-called 'invisible point' that gives advantage in case of tie in the semifinal quadrangles and the location at the end of each championship.

• Reclassification: It is the general table of the year, summarizing the tournaments Opening and Finalization, adding the quarter finals, the semifinals and the finals. There are several quotas to international tournaments.

• Average table: It is the one that determines the two teams that descend directly. It adds the scores of the last three years (six tournaments) and divides into the number of games played. For this table only the parties and points obtained in the phase all against all are counted. The newly ascended teams enter inheriting the score of the last classified that has not descended (post 18).

Qualification for the Copa Libertadores

Colombia has two direct berths to the group stage of the Copa Conmebol Libertadores and two to the first phase for a total of four berths. The champions of the Apertura and Finalización tournaments access the group stage. In the event that the same team wins both tournaments of the year, a direct quota will be opened to the team that obtains the best score in the sum of the year (reclassification).

The team with the best total score in the Apertura and Finalización tournaments, and that has not won any of the tournaments played, obtains the third place in the Copa Libertadores. The fourth team is the champion of the Colombia Cup.

Classification to the Copa Sudamericana

For the Conmebol Sudamericana Cup, Colombia has four direct places to the first phase. These quotas are won by the best located within the table of accumulated points of the year, not classified to the Conmebol Libertadores Cup.

Relegation to First B

The average table for relegation is what determines the teams that will be relegated to the First B Category each season. That table is made up of the total sum of scores in the round-robin phases of the last two years of the championship and the new year in which the tournament is played. Example: the round-robin phases of the 2011-I, 2011-II, 2012-I, 2012-II, 2013-I and 2013-II tournaments are taken into account for relegation in the 2013 season.

To obtain the average, the total points obtained are added and divided by the number of games played.

As of the 2006 season there are two possibilities of relegation to the First B Category, which are determined by the average table. Direct relegation: it is obtained by the teams located in the last two places (19th and 20th) of the relegation table from the 2015 season to the present.

It should be noted that the teams that are promoted to play the championship from Primera B enter the average table for relegation with the same points and match history of the last club in said table, which did not lose the category (18th)..

However, due to the pause in national football due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in the extraordinary assembly of the DIMAYOR it was determined that both promotion and relegation will clearly be suspended until 2021.

Trophies

The trophy awarded to the Primera División champion is over 70 years old. It is made by the Solórzano Platería Jewelry, made of German silver, weighs about 5 kilos and measures approximately 90 centimeters. The shape of the cup has always been the same, only its size has varied; its approximate value is 5 million pesos. The original has the figure of the winged victory of Samothrace, which represents the sporting triumph.

From the arrival of Postobón as sponsor of the championship, two trophies were awarded. The traditional one from Dimayor and one from the sponsor, when in 2010 the sponsor change contest was held to choose the new trophy, the winning design was that of a group of students from the National University of Palmira, Valle del Cauca.

The original cup is in the Dimayor offices, so each team that wins the championship receives an exact replica that they can keep at their headquarters.

• Official Dimayor Trophy
• 

  Trophy handed over by the Dimayor since 1948-2019

• Trophies of the co-sponsors delivered by the trophy Dimayor
• 

  Mustang Cup Trophy 1990-2009
• 

  Trophy Postobón League 2010-2014
• 

  Trophy Eagle League 2015-2019
• 

  Trophy BetPlay League 2020-Update

Sponsorship

Since 1990 the tournament was officially called Mustang Cup for commercial reasons with the tobacco company Protabaco. The contract was signed until December 31, 2009. When the anti-tobacco law was approved in the Congress of the Republic, the tournament had to change its sponsor before the date stipulated in the contract with Protabaco. The rule, promoted by congresswoman Dilian Francisca Toro, put the future of the championship in jeopardy, since Dimayor had to find a sponsor soon, because the rule was effective immediately. However, after the rule was passed by the congressional conciliation commissions, it was agreed to give the Major Division of Colombian Soccer a two-year term to get new sponsors. Despite this, the sponsor was chosen at the end of 2009. As of 2010, and for For a period of 5 years, Postobón is the official sponsor of Colombian professional soccer in its two categories. The soft drink company promised to disburse a total of 52,000 million pesos, including money for the First Division and Second Division, the U-18 tournament and the hydration of the players. The other competitors were the international bank BBVA (which offered 45,000 million pesos in cash) and the multinational soft drink Coca-Cola (which offered 75,000 million pesos). s of pesos, being 30,000 million in cash and 45,000 million in stadium and club infrastructure).

Postobón's presentation allowed the official name, and for reasons of sponsorship of the championship, to be Postobón League since 2010 and for five years.

On December 4, 2014, Dimayor announced the end of the sponsorship of Postobón, after the termination of the contract that was valid until December 31, 2014. In turn, the arrival of the Bavaria beer company was made official, through its product Cerveza Águila as official sponsor of the league as of 2015, in addition to the other championships organized by Dimayor for a period of 5 years until 2019, for a figure of 40 million dollars (85,000 million pesos) For reasons of sponsorship of the championship, it has been called Liga Águila since December 19, 2014 when the draw for the promotion home runs of the Dimayor partner teams was held, to expand the First Division in 2015 from 18 to 20 teams.

On December 27, 2019, Dimayor officially announced the change of sponsor as of 2020, calling the tournament for commercial reasons Liga BetPlay Dimayor. BetPlay en a Colombian online betting operator owned by Corredor Empresarial S.A. a company that brings together the main betting platforms in Colombia, including soccer betting.

Radio and television coverage

Historically, radio and television have been the main broadcasters of Colombian soccer, as well as national print media.

A sadly famous fact was the broadcast of the match between Millonarios and Unión Magdalena for the 1985 Colombian Championship the night the Palace of Justice was taken over, when the custom of the time was only to broadcast in final phases by public television. The communications minister at the time, Noemí Sanín, assured that the transmission occurred so that there would not be a new Bogotazo.

As regards transmission rights, some matches were broadcast on Inravisión's public television channels until 1998 when transmissions began for the then-nascent private channel RCN. However, in 2001 a Cable TV consortium with SKY kept the exclusive broadcasting rights, until 2004 when RCN broadcasts returned with its Futbolmanía program.

Since 2006, in addition to RCN, the television broadcasting rights were held by the subscription television companies TV Cable (company acquired by Telmex) and UNE, in a five-year contract.

However, Dimayor withdrew the exclusivity to broadcast live Colombian soccer. For the 2012-2016 period, the open television rights have been awarded to RCN Televisión again. For closed television, subscription cable operators DirecTV and SuperCable also acquired the television rights for five years, along with the Cooperativa Multiactiva de Televisión Comunitaria (Comutv). As the television rights were not exclusive, Movistar (Former Telefónica Telecom) and the operators Telmex TV (today Claro TV) and Une, without reaching an economic agreement.

Subsequently, on November 29, 2012, the Win Sports channel was officially created, which groups the operators authorized by Dimayor with the transmissions of Colombian Professional Soccer.

At the time, Dimayor removed the exclusivity to broadcast live Colombian soccer by Colombian radio media on AM and FM frequencies.

In June 2016, Dimayor reached an agreement with the Brazilian sports channel BandSports to have the rights to broadcast the Liga Águila for the next two years, thus marking the first time that the highest category of the Colombian Professional Soccer arrives in that country. By 2017, Dimayor and BandSports did not reach a new television rights agreement for La Liga, ending the contract with said channel.

The former president of Dimayor, Jorge Perdomo, announced the arrival of a premium channel for the tournament matches in 2018, which has generated controversy, since the broadcasts by open signal.

On November 30, 2018 in the Dimayor assembly with 35 votes in favor and 1 against, the premium channel for the most important matches of Colombian Professional Soccer was approved. This channel would start operating from the second semester of 2019, or in the first semester of 2020.^{[citation required]}

On July 22, 2019, the arrival of the premium channel for the first half of 2020 is confirmed, where at least 5 matches will be exclusive to the new channel called Win Sports+.

A year later, through a statement, Dimayor informed that it was terminating its alliance with Asomedios.

Participating teams

Equipment	Coach	City	Stadium	Aforo
Golden Eagles	Lucas González	Rionegro	Alberto Grisales	14 000
Petrolera Alliance	Hubert Bodhert	Barrancaberme	Daniel Villa Zapata	10 400
Americas of Cali	Alexandre Guimarães	Cali	Olympic Pascual Guerrero	35 400
National athletic	Paulo Autuori	Medellín	Athanasius Girardot	44 940
Atlético Bucaramanga	Raúl Armando	Bucaramanga	Alfonso López	25 000
Sports Tolima	Hernán Torres	Ibago	Manuel Murillo Toro	28 170
Deportivo Cali	Jorge Luis Pinto	Palmira	Deportivo Cali	44 000
Deportivo Pasto	Flabio Torres	Pasto	Departmental Freedom	20 000
Pereira	Alejandro Restrepo	Pereira	Hernán Ramírez Villegas	30 290
Envigado F. C.	Alberto Suárez	Envigado	South sports	14 000
Independent Medellín	David González	Medellín	Athanasius Girardot	44 940
Independent Santa Fe	Harold Rivera	Bogotá	Nemesio Camacho El Campín	36 340
Jaguares de Córdoba	Carlos Restrepo	Montería	Jaraguay	12 000
Junior of Barranquilla	Arturo Reyes	Barranquilla	Metropolitan Roberto Meléndez	46 690
Equity	Alexis García	Bogotá	Metropolitan of Techo	10 000
Millions	Alberto Gamero	Bogotá	Nemesio Camacho El Campín	36 340
Eleven Caldas	Elkin Soto	Manizales	Palogrande	32 670
Union of Magdalena	Claudio	Santa Marta	Sierra Nevada	16 000

Champions

League titles by year

In total, 15 teams have been crowned Colombian soccer champions at least once. The club with the most titles is Atlético Nacional de Medellín with 17 victories. The cities with the most stars are Cali with a total of 25, followed by Bogotá with 24 and Medellín with 23.

It should be noted that in Colombia property titles are not delivered, only replicas of the trophy. The Major Division of Colombian Soccer does not award an economic prize to the champion either, the prize money received by champion players comes directly from the clubs' budget.

Under the current championship system, the champion, in addition to obtaining a new star on his shield, obtains direct qualification to the Copa Libertadores. The runner-up does not get a prize, beyond appearing in the list of winners, since the other places in international tournaments are defined by ways such as reclassification and the title of the Colombia Cup.

The history of the First A Category of professional soccer in Colombia includes the official titles obtained and approved by the Major Division of Colombian Soccer between 1948 and 2022.

Year	N.o	Champion	Final outcome	Subfield	D.T. Champion	Maximum scorer	Goles	Cant. Equipment
First category A
1948	1	Santa Fe (1) Bogotá	All against all	Junior (1) Atlantic	Carlos Carrillo Nalda (1)	Alfredo Castillo	31	10
1949	2°	Millions (1) Bogotá	1:0 3:2	Deportivo Cali (1) Valle del Cauca	Carlos Aldabe (1)	Pedro Cabillón	42	14
1950	3°	Sports Caldas (1) Caldas	All against all	Millions (1) Bogotá	Alfredo Cuezzo (1)	Casimiro Ávalos	27	16
1951	4°	Millions (2) Bogotá	All against all	Boca Juniors de Cali (1) Valle del Cauca	Adolfo Pedernera (1)	Alfredo Di Stéfano	31	18
1952	5°	Millions (3) Bogotá	All against all	Boca Juniors de Cali (2) Valle del Cauca	Adolfo Pedernera (2)	Alfredo Di Stéfano	19	15
1953	6°	Millions (4) Bogotá	All against all	Quindío (1) Caldas	Adolfo Pedernera (3)	Mario Garelli	20	12
1954	7°	National athletic (1) Antioquia	All against all	Quindío (2) Caldas	Fernando Paternoster (1)	Carlos Alberto Gambina	21	10
1955	8°	Independent Medellín (1) Antioquia	All against all	National athletic (1) Antioquia	Dolphin Benítez Cáceres (1)	Felipe Marino	22	10
1956	9°	Quindío (1) Caldas	All against all	Millions (2) Bogotá	Francisco Lombardo (1)	Jaime Gutiérrez	21	13
1957	10°	Independent Medellín (2) Antioquia	Final vs. Sports	Sports Tolima (1) Tolima	René Seghini (1)	José Vicente Grecco	30	12
1958	11°	Santa Fe (2) Bogotá	All against all	Millions (3) Bogotá	July Tocker (1)	José Américo Montanini	36	12
1959	12°	Millions (5) Bogotá	All against all	Independent Medellín (1) Antioquia	Gabriel Ochoa Uribe (1)	Felipe Marino	35	12
1960	13°	Santa Fe (3) Bogotá	All against all	Americas of Cali (1) Valle del Cauca	July Tocker (2)	Wálter Marcolini	30	12
1961	14th	Millions (6) Bogotá	All against all	Independent Medellín (2) Antioquia	Gabriel Ochoa Uribe (2)	Alberto Perazzo	32	12
1962	15°	Millions (7) Bogotá	All against all	Deportivo Cali (2) Valle del Cauca	Gabriel Ochoa Uribe (3)	José Omar Verdún	36	12
1963	16°	Millions (8) Bogotá	All against all	Santa Fe (1) Bogotá	Gabriel Ochoa Uribe (4)	José Omar Verdún Omar Lorenzo Devanni	36	13
1964	17°	Millions (9) Bogotá	All against all	Sports (1) North of Santander	Efraín Sánchez (1)	Omar Lorenzo Devanni	28	13
1965	18°	Deportivo Cali (1) Valle del Cauca	All against all	National athletic (2) Antioquia	Francisco Villegas (1)	Perfect Rodriguez	38	13
1966	19°	Santa Fe (4) Bogotá	All against all	Independent Medellín (3) Antioquia	Gabriel Ochoa Uribe (5)	Omar Lorenzo Devanni	31	14
1967	20°	Deportivo Cali (2) Valle del Cauca	All against all	Millions (4) Bogotá	Francisco Villegas (2)	José María Ferrero	38	14
1968	21°	Union of Magdalena (1) Magdalena	1:0 2:2	Deportivo Cali (3) Valle del Cauca	Antonio Julio de la Hoz (1)	José María Ferrero	32	14
1969	22nd	Deportivo Cali (3) Valle del Cauca	Final triangle	Americas of Cali (2) Valle del Cauca	Francisco Villegas (3)	Hugo Horacio Lóndero	24	14
1970	23°	Deportivo Cali (4) Valle del Cauca	Cuadrangular final	Junior (2) Atlantic	Roberto Reskín (1)	José María Ferrero Walter Sossa	27	14
1971	24°	Santa Fe (5) Bogotá	0:0 0:0 3:2	National athletic (3) Antioquia	Vladimir Popović (1)	Hugo Horacio Lóndero Apollina Paniagua	27	14
1972	25°	Millions (10) Bogotá	Final triangle	Deportivo Cali (4) Valle del Cauca	Gabriel Ochoa Uribe (6)	Hugo Horacio Lóndero	30	14
1973	26°	National athletic (2) Antioquia	Final triangle	Millions (5) Bogotá	César López Fretes (1)	Nelson Silva Pacheco	36	14
1974	27°	Deportivo Cali (5) Valle del Cauca	Hexagonal final	National athletic (4) Antioquia	Vladimir Popović (2)	Victor Ephanor	33	14
1975	28°	Santa Fe (6) Bogotá	Hexagonal final	Millions (6) Bogotá	Francisco Hormazábal (1)	Jorge Ramón Cáceres	35	14
1976	29°	National athletic (3) Antioquia	Hexagonal final	Deportivo Cali (5) Valle del Cauca	Osvaldo Zubeldía (1)	Miguel Angel Converti	33	14
1977	30°	Junior (1) Atlantic	Hexagonal final	Deportivo Cali (6) Valle del Cauca	Juan Ramón Verón (1)	Oswaldo Palavecino	30	14
1978	31°	Millions (11) Bogotá	Cuadrangular final	Deportivo Cali (7) Valle del Cauca	Pedro Dellacha (1)	Oswaldo Palavecino	36	14
1979	32°	Americas of Cali (1) Valle del Cauca	Cuadrangular final	Santa Fe (2) Bogotá	Gabriel Ochoa Uribe (7)	Juan José Irigoyen	33	14
1980	33°	Junior (2) Atlantic	Cuadrangular final	Deportivo Cali (8) Valle del Cauca	José Varacka (1)	Sergio	26	14
1981	34°	National athletic (4) Antioquia	Cuadrangular final	Sports Tolima (2) Tolima	Osvaldo Zubeldía (2)	Victor Hugo del Río	29	14
1982	35°	Americas of Cali (2) Valle del Cauca	Final Octogon	Sports Tolima (3) Tolima	Gabriel Ochoa Uribe (8)	Miguel Oswaldo González	27	14
1983	36°	Americas of Cali (3) Valle del Cauca	Final Octogon	Junior (3) Atlantic	Gabriel Ochoa Uribe (9)	Hugo Gottardi	29	14
1984	37°	Americas of Cali (4) Valle del Cauca	Final Octogon	Millions (7) Bogotá	Gabriel Ochoa Uribe (10)	Hugo Gottardi	23	14
1985	38°	Americas of Cali (5) Valle del Cauca	Final Octogon	Deportivo Cali (9) Valle del Cauca	Gabriel Ochoa Uribe (11)	Miguel Oswaldo González	33	14
1986	39°	Americas of Cali (6) Valle del Cauca	Final Octogon	Deportivo Cali (10) Valle del Cauca	Gabriel Ochoa Uribe (12)	Hector Sosa	23	14
1987	40°	Millions (12) Bogotá	Final Octogon	America of Cali (3) Valle del Cauca	Luis Augusto García (1)	Jorge Aravena	23	14
1988	41°	Millions (13) Bogotá	Final Octogon	Atletico Nacional (5) Antioquia	Luis Augusto García (2)	Sergio Angulo	29	15
1989	42°	Championship cancelled
1990	43°	Americas of Cali (7) Valle del Cauca	Cuadrangular final	National athletic (6) Antioquia	Gabriel Ochoa Uribe (13)	Antony de Ávila	25	15
1991	44°	National athletic (5) Antioquia	Cuadrangular final	America of Cali (4) Valle del Cauca	Hernán Darío Gómez (1)	Iván René Valenciano	30	15
1992	45°	Americas of Cali (8) Valle del Cauca	Cuadrangular final	National athletic (7) Antioquia	Francisco Maturana (1)	John Jairo Tréllez	25	16
1993	46°	Junior (3) Atlantic	Cuadrangular final	Independent Medellín (4) Antioquia	Julio Comesaña (1)	Niche Guerrero	34	16
1994	47°	National athletic (6) Antioquia	Cuadrangular final	Millions (8) Bogotá	Juan José Peláez (1)	Rubén Darío Hernández	32	16
1995	48°	Junior (4) Atlantic	All against all	Americas of Cali (5) Valle del Cauca	Carlos Restrepo (1)	Iván René Valenciano	24	16
1995-96	49°	Deportivo Cali (6) Valle del Cauca	Cuadrangular final	Millions (9) Bogotá	Fernando Castro (1)	Iván René Valenciano	36	16
1996-97	50°	Americas of Cali (9) Valle del Cauca	1:0 2:0	Atletico Bucaramanga (1) Santander	Luis Augusto García (3)	Hamilton Ricard	36	16
1998	51°	Deportivo Cali (7) Valle del Cauca	4:0 0:0	Eleven Caldas (1) Caldas	José Eugenio Hernández (1)	Victor Bonilla	37	16
1999	52°	National athletic (7) Antioquia	1:1 0:0 (4:2 p.m.)	Americas of Cali (6) Valle del Cauca	Luis Fernando Suárez (1)	Sergio Galván	26	16
2000	53°	Americas of Cali (10) Valle del Cauca	Cuadrangular final	Junior (4) Atlantic	Jaime de la Pava (1)	Carlos Castro	24	16
2001	54°	Americas of Cali (11) Valle del Cauca	1:0 2:0	Independent Medellín (5) Antioquia	Jaime de la Pava (2)	Carlos Castro Jorge Serna	29	16
Opening Tournament (I) Finalization Tournament (II)
2002-I	55°	Americas of Cali (12) Valle del Cauca	2:1 1:0	Atletico Nacional (8) Antioquia	Jaime de la Pava (3)	Luis Zuleta	13	18
2002-II	56°	Independent Medellín (3) Antioquia	2:0 1:1	Pasto (1) Nariño	Victor Luna (1)	Orlando Ballesteros Milton Rodríguez	13	18
2003-I	57°	Eleven Caldas (2) Caldas	0:0 1:0	Junior (5) Atlantic	Luis Fernando Montoya (1)	Arnulfo Valentierra	13	18
2003-II	58°	Sports Tolima (1) Tolima	2:0 1:3 (4:2 p.m.)	Deportivo Cali (11) Valle del Cauca	Luis Augusto García (4)	Léider Preciado	17	18
2004-I	59°	Independent Medellín (4) Antioquia	2:1 0:0	Atletico Nacional (9) Antioquia	Pedro Sarmiento (1)	Sergio Herrera	13	18
2004-II	60°	Junior (5) Atlantic	3:0 2:5 (5:4 p.m.)	Atletico Nacional (10) Antioquia	Miguel Angel López (1)	Leonardo Moreno Léider Preciado	15	18
2005-I	61°	National athletic (8) Antioquia	0:0 2:0	Santa Fe (3) Bogotá	Santiago Escobar (1)	Victor Aristizábal	16	18
2005-II	62°	Deportivo Cali (8) Valle del Cauca	2:0 1:0	Real Cartagena (1) Bolívar	Pedro Sarmiento (2)	Jámerson Renter Hugo Rodallega	12	18
2006-I	63°	Deportivo Pasto (1) Nariño	1:0 1:1	Deportivo Cali (12) Valle del Cauca	Oscar Héctor Quintabani (1)	Jorge Díaz	15	18
2006-II	64°	Sports (1) North of Santander	1:0 1:1	Sports Tolima (4) Tolima	Jorge Luis Pinto (1)	Diego Alvarez John Charria	11	18
2007-I	65°	National athletic (9) Antioquia	1:0 2:1	Atletico Huila (1) Huila	Óscar Héctor Quintabani (2)	Freddy Montero Sergio Galván	13	18
2007-II	66°	National athletic (10) Antioquia	3:0 0:0	Equity (1) Bogotá	Oscar Héctor Quintabani (3)	Dayro Moreno	16	18
2008-I	67°	Boyacá Chicó (1) Boyacá	1:1 1:1 (4:2 p.m.)	Americas of Cali (7) Valle del Cauca	Alberto Gamero (1)	Miguel Caneo Ivan Velásquez	13	18
2008-II	68°	Americas of Cali (13) Valle del Cauca	1:0 3:1	Independent Medellín (6) Antioquia	Diego Edison Umaña (1)	Freddy Montero	16	18
2009-I	69°	Eleven Caldas (3) Caldas	2:1 3:1	Junior (6) Atlantic	Javier Álvarez (1)	Teófilo Gutiérrez	16	18
2009-II	70°	Independent Medellín (5) Antioquia	1:0 2:2	Atletico Huila (2) Huila	Leonel Alvarez (1)	Jackson Martínez	18	18
2010-I	71°	Junior (6) Atlantic	0:1 3:1	Equity (2) Bogotá	Diego Edison Umaña (2)	Carlos Bacca Carlos Rentería	12	18
2010-II	72°	Eleven Caldas (4) Caldas	1:2 3:1	Sports Tolima (5) Tolima	Juan Carlos Osorio (1)	Wilder Medina Dayro Moreno	16	18
2011-I	73°	National athletic (11) Antioquia	1:2 2:1 (3:2 pen.)	Equity (3) Bogotá	Santiago Escobar (2)	Carlos Rentería	12	18
2011-II	74°	Junior (7) Atlantic	3:2 1:2 (4:2 p.m.)	Eleven Caldas (2) Caldas	José Eugenio Hernández (2)	Carlos Bacca	12	18
2012-I	75°	Santa Fe (7) Bogotá	1:1 1:0	Deportivo Pasto (2) Nariño	Wilson Gutiérrez (1)	Robin Ramírez	13	18
2012-II	76°	Millions (14) Bogotá	0:0 1:1 (5:4 p.m.)	Independent Medellín (7) Antioquia	Hernán Torres (1)	Germán Cano Henry Hernández Carmelo Valencia	9	18
2013-I	77°	National athletic (12) Antioquia	0:0 2:0	Santa Fe (4) Bogotá	Juan Carlos Osorio (2)	Wilder Medina	12	18
2013-II	78°	National athletic (13) Antioquia	0:0 2:0	Deportivo Cali (13) Valle del Cauca	Juan Carlos Osorio (3)	Dayro Moreno Luis Carlos Ruiz	16	18
2014-I	79°	National athletic (14) Antioquia	0:1 2:1 (4:2 p.m.)	Junior (7) Atlantic	Juan Carlos Osorio (4)	Dayro Moreno	13	18
2014-II	80°	Santa Fe (8) Bogotá	2:1 1:1	Independent Medellín (8) Antioquia	Gustavo Costas (1)	Germán Cano	16	18
2015-I	81°	Deportivo Cali (9) Valle del Cauca	1:0 1:1	Independent Medellín (9) Antioquia	Fernando Castro (2)	Fernando Uribe	15	20
2015-II	82°	National athletic (15) Antioquia	1:2 1:0 (3:2 pen.)	Junior (8) Atlantic	Reinaldo Rueda (1)	Jefferson Duque	15	20
2016-I	83°	Independent Medellín (6) Antioquia	1:1 2:0	Junior (9) Atlantic	Leonel Alvarez (2)	Miguel Borja	19	20
2016-II	84°	Santa Fe (9) Bogotá	0:0 1:0	Sports Tolima (6) Tolima	Gustavo Costas (2)	Ayron del Valle	12	20
2017-I	85°	National athletic (16) Antioquia	0:2 5:1	Deportivo Cali (14) Valle del Cauca	Reinaldo Rueda (2)	Dayro Moreno	14	20
2017-II	86°	Millions (15) Bogotá	1:0 2:2	Santa Fe (5) Bogotá	Miguel Angel Russo (1)	Ayron del Valle Yimmi Chará Dayro Moreno Carmelo Valencia	11	20
2018-I	87°	Sports Tolima (2) Tolima	0:1 2:1 (4:2 p.m.)	Atletico Nacional (11) Antioquia	Alberto Gamero (2)	Germán Cano	12	20
2018-II	88°	Junior (8) Atlantic	4:1 1:3	Independent Medellín (10) Antioquia	Julio Comesaña (2)	Germán Cano	20	20
2019-I	89°	Junior (9) Atlantic	1:0 0:1 (5:4 p.m.)	Deportivo Pasto (3) Nariño	Julio Comesaña (3)	Germán Cano	20	20
2019-II	90°	Americas of Cali (14) Valle del Cauca	0:0 2:0	Junior (10) Atlantic	Alexandre Guimarães (1)	Germán Cano Michael Rangel	13	20
2020	91°	Americas of Cali (15) Valle del Cauca	3:0 0:2	Santa Fe (6) Bogotá	Juan Cruz Real (1)	Miguel Borja	14	20
2021-I	92°	Sports Tolima (3) Tolima	1:1 2:1	Millions (10) Bogotá	Hernán Torres (2)	Jefferson Duque Fernando Uribe Diego Herazo	11	19
2021-II	93°	Deportivo Cali (10) Valle del Cauca	1:1 2:1	Sports Tolima (7) Tolima	Rafael Dudamel (1)	Harold Preciado	13	20
2022-I	94°	National athletic (17) Antioquia	3:1 1:2	Sports Tolima (8) Tolima	Hernan Herrera (1)	Dayro Moreno	13	20
2022-II	95°	Pereira (1) Risaralda	1:1 0:0 (4:3 pen.)	Independent Medellín (11) Antioquia	Alejandro Restrepo (1)	Leonardo Castro	15	20

Official name of the tournament.
Championship cancelled.
Note: pen. = Kicks from the penalty mark. - (# in parentheses) = Total number of titles earned during seasons

Team Titles

Titles by Department

Department	Titles		Subtitles
Valle del Cauca	25	Americas of Cali (15) Deportivo Cali (10)	23	Deportivo Cali (14) Americas of Cali (7) Boca Juniors de Cali (2)
Bogotá	24	Millions (15) Santa Fe (9)	19	Millions (10) Santa Fe (6) Equity (3)
Antioquia	23	Atletico Nacional (17) Independent Medellín (6)	22	Atletico Nacional (11) Independent Medellín (11)
Atlantic	9	Junior (9)	10	Junior (10)
Caldas	4	Eleven Caldas (4)	2	Eleven Caldas (2)
Tolima	3	Sports Tolima (3)	8	Sports Tolima (8)
Nariño	1	Pasto (1)	3	Deportivo Pasto (3)
Quindío	1	Quindío (1)	2	Quindío (2)
North of Santander	1	Sports Quote (1)	1	Sports Quote (1)
Boyacá	1	Boyacá Chicó (1)	0
Magdalena	1	Union Magdalena (1)	0
Risaralda	1	Pereira (1)	0
Huila	0		2	Atletico Huila (2)
Bolívar	0		1	Real Cartagena (1)
Santander	0		1	Atletico Bucaramanga (1)

Consecutive champions

Pentacampeonatos
Club	Veces	Years champion
Americas of Cali	1	1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986

Tetracampeonatos
Club	Veces	Years champion
Millions	1	1961, 1962, 1963, 1964

Tricampeonatos
Club	Veces	Years champion
Millions	1	1951, 1952, 1953
Americas of Cali	1	2000, 2001, 2002-I
National athletic	1	2013-I, 2013-II, 2014-I

Bicampeonates
Club	Veces	Years champion
Deportivo Cali	1	1969, 1970
Millions	1	1987, 1988
National athletic	1	2007-I, 2007-II
Junior	1	2018-II, 2019-I
Americas of Cali	1	2019-II, 2020

Statistics

Historical classification

The Historical Classification of the First A Category is a statistical summary of the first Colombian professional soccer tournament, since its founding in 1948. The table shows a summary of the 10 best teams positioned in this competition. The scoring has been made by applying the rule of 3 points for a win and one for a tie, just as it is done in the official FIFA tallies.

• Updated on December 22, 2021 (Finance 2021).

Pos.	Equipment	Temp.			PJ	PG	PE	P	GF	GC	DG	Points	Pts. x3
1.	Millions	95	15	10	3414	1522	975	917	5405	3964	+1441	4522	5541
2.	National athletic	95	17	11	3544	1481	989	1074	5206	4389	+817	4541.25	5432
3.	Deportivo Cali	93	10	14	3366	1452	981	933	5165	4031	+1134	4437.25	5337
4.	Americas of Cali	84	15	7	3225	1317	938	970	4734	3967	+767	4021.25	4889
5.	Santa Fe	95	9	6	3351	1291	1007	1053	5051	4432	+619	4038.5	4880
6.	Independent Medellín	91	6	11	3220	1202	944	1074	4480	4102	+378	3825	4550
7.	Junior	82	9	10	2997	1189	870	938	4229	3681	+548	3738.25	4437
8.	Eleven Caldas	81	4	2	2889	995	872	1022	3856	3845	+11	3297.25	3857
9.	Sports Tolima	87	3	8	3060	946	941	1173	3711	4210	- 499	3351.5	3779
10.	Atlético Bucaramanga	75	0	1	2767	850	814	1103	3354	3986	-632	2765	3364

Historical scorers table

In Colombian soccer, the golden booty prize is awarded to the top scorer at the end of each tournament. Likewise, mentions are made in the media about the best players of the season without any additional distinction being awarded.

Summary of the main historical scorers in the local Colombian championship:

Pos.	Name	Cycle	Goles
1	Sergio Galván Rey	1996-2011	224
2	Iván René Valenciano	1988-2009	217
3	Hugo Horacio Lóndero	1969-1981	211
4	Martial Oswaldo Palavecino	1975-1985	204
5	Jorge Ramírez Gallego	1962-1975	201
6	Dayro Moreno	2003-act	200
7	Omar Lorenzo Devanni	1963-1971	198
8	Victor Hugo Aristizábal	1989-2008	187
9	Arnold Iguaran	1977-1997	186
10	Willington Ortiz	1972-1988	184

• They do not include goals scored in First B competitions (national second division tournament), nor in Colombia Cup (the tournament facing First A and B clubs).

Players with the most matches played

Position	Football	Nationality	Parties
1	Gabriel Berdugo	ColombiaColombia	733
2	Arturo Segovia	ColombiaColombia	722
3	Alexis García	ColombiaColombia	721
4	Juan Carlos Henao	ColombiaColombia	719
Statistics until August 2018.

Most winning coaches

Pos.	Technical	Nationality	Cant.	Years
1	Gabriel Ochoa Uribe	ColombiaColombia	13	1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1972, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1990.
2	Luis Augusto García	ColombiaColombia	4	1987, 1988, 1996-97, 2003-II
3	Juan Carlos Osorio	ColombiaColombia	4	2010-II, 2013-I, 2013-II, 2014-I.
4	Adolfo Pedernera	Argentina	3	1951, 1952, 1953.
5	Francisco Villegas	Argentina	3	1965, 1967, 1969.
6	Jaime de La Pava	ColombiaColombia	3	2000, 2001, 2002-I.
7	Oscar Quintabani	Argentina	3	2006-I, 2007-I, 2007-II.
8	Julio Comesaña	Uruguay	3	1993, 2018-II, 2019-I.

Other information

Teams

Note: The 94 editions of the tournament from 1948 to Apertura 2022 are taken into account; this includes annual long tournaments (1948 to 2001) and semi-annual short tournaments (2002-I to 2017-2020).

• Total teams participating in the first division of 1948 today: 43of which 28 still compete professionally in first or second division.
• Increased number of titles obtained: National athletic with 17 championships.
• Increased number of participations: Millonarios, Santa Fe and Atlético Nacional have participated in all editions (95)
• Increased number of participations without titles obtained: Atlético Bucaramanga with 76 tournaments.
• Increased number of participations from a team from Second Division: FC envigado with 38 (until opening 2022).
• Major waits to obtain first title: Deportivo Pereira with 73 years (1949 to 2022-II) and participation in 69 championships.
• Increased time between two titles: Once Caldas with 53 years (1950 to 2003-I) and participation in 55 championships.
• More time since last title: Quindío Sports, whose last title was given in 1956 and having participated in 66 championships since then.
• Increased number of games played: National athletic with 3450. See: Historical Table of First Category A
• Increased number of points in Long Tournament championships: Once Caldas with 126 points (1998).
• Increased number of points in a short tournament (2002 - Act.): Atlético Nacional in Opening 2017 with 62 points in 26 matches.
• Increased number of points in a phase of all against all (2002 - Act.): National Athletic in Opening 2017 with 49 points in 20 matches.
• Increased number of subfielders: Deportivo Cali with 14.
• Increased number of contested titles: National athletic with 17 championships and 11 sub-camps, 28 in total.

Undefeated

• Major undefeated: Millionaires with 29 matches (1999).
• Major undefeated premises: Junior with 48 matches, from 27 November 1975 to 31 July 1977; Bucaramanga 40 (1993)
• Major undefeated visitor: Millionaires with 19 matches, from July 9, 1950 and September 2, 1951.
• Major undefeated in short tournaments: Millionaires with 21 dates, from September 27, 2020- Vigent
• Increased number of minutes without receiving goal as local: The Equity with 1228 minutes, from November 25, 2017 to Millonarios Fútbol Club, until September 6, 2018 to Independent Medellín.
• Major undefeated of a archer : Otoniel Quintana Millonarios, 1024 minutes without receiving goal from 12 September to 14 November 1971.

Games won

• Increased number of games won: Millionaires 1470. See: Historical Table of First Category A

• Increased number of matches won in a year (2002 - Act.): Atlético Nacional in 2017: with 32 wins in 48 matches.
• Increased number of matches won in a short tournament (2002 - Act.): National Athletic in Opening 2017 with 19 victories in 26 matches.
• Increased number of games won in a phase of all against all (2002 - Act.): National Atletic in Opening 2017 with 15 wins in the 20 matches.
• Increased number of matches won consecutively: Millionaires with 17 victories (1949).
• Increased number of matches won consecutively in local condition: Atlético Nacional with 16 victories (2015 - 2016).

Drawn games

• Increased number of matched matches: Santa Fe with 980. See: Historical Table of First Category A
• Increased number of matched matches in a year (2002 - Act.): Patriots in 2013 with 19 draws in 36 matches (52.7%), Atlético Bucaramanga in 2016 with 20 draws in 44 matches (45.5%), Deportivo Cali in 2013 with 21 draws in 50 matches (42%).
• Increased number of matched matches in a phase of All against All (2002 - Act.): Atlético Bucaramanga in Opening 2016 with 14 draws in the 20 matches.
• Increased number of matched matches consecutively: Atlético Bucaramanga with 10 consecutive matches in the 1977 Championship.

Lost games

• Increased number of lost matches: Tolima sports with 1153. See: Historical Table of First Category A
• Increased number of games lost in a long tournament (1948 - 2001): Atlético Bucaramanga in 1953 with 22 in 22 matches.
• Increased number of games lost in one year (2002 - Act.): Union Magdalena in 2004 with 23 defeats in 36 matches.
• Increased number of games lost in a phase of All Against All (2002 - Act.): Real Cartagena in Opening 2006 with 15 defeats in the 18 matches.

Seasons

• Teams that have played all seasons without interruption: Atletico Nacional, Independiente Santa Fe y Millonarios.

• Teams that have not contested all seasons but have not descended to First B: Deportivo Cali, Independiente Medellín, Junior de Barranquilla and Once Caldas.

• Equipment that did not go down to First B but disappeared due to economic problems: Club Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sporting de Barranquilla, Deportivo Samarios, Deportivo Barranquilla, Huracán Fútbol Club de Medellín, Oro Negro, Boca Juniors de Cali y Libertad de Barranquilla.

• Equipment that went down to First B and disappeared: Deportivo Unicosta, Centauros Villavicencio and Uniautónoma F. C..

Names and headquarters

• Teams that have changed their names: Atlético Manizales, Eleven Deportivo de Manizales, Deportivo Manizales y Deportes Caldas (Today Eleven Caldas). **Atlético Municipal from 1947 to 1950, today called Atlético Nacional (From 1950 to present).

• Equipment that have changed their name and headquarters:
  • Chicó Football Club (Bogotá, 2004) to Boyacá Chicó (Tunja 2005-present)
  • Itagüí Ditaires, has also been called Golden Eagles (both in Itagüí), Pereira Eagles (Pereira), and currently Rionegro Eagles (Rionegro,Antioquía).

Goals

• Increased number of goals scored in a long tournament (1948 - 2001): Independent Medellin scored 119 goals in 39 games (3.05) in 1957, in a season without final series (squallular or octagonal). If the final series are counted, the Junior scored 114 goals in 1968: 109 goals on the 52 dates of all against all (2.09) and 5 more on the double for the third place, for a total of 114 in 54 matches (total average of 2.11).
• Increased number of goals scored in a short tournament (2002 - Act.): Deportivo Cali in Opening 2002 with 55 goals in 28 matches (1.96 per game).
• Player with more goals in a season : The record belongs to the Argentinean Pedro Cabillón, who marked 42 notes with Millonarios in the championship of 1949.
• Increased amount of time without score goal in the First A: Patriots Boyacá completed 2 months and 6 days without score goal in a total of 10 games in the Finalization 2021, were 927 minutes without conversion. Its swallowing drought lasted from 10 August 2021 to 16 October 2021.
• Average number of goals per game in a long tournament (1948 - 2001): Independent Santa Fe in the Colombian Championship 1949 with an average of 3.9 goals per game, with 102 goals in 26 matches.
• Increased number of goals scored in a phase of All Against All (2002 - Act.): Deportivo Cali in Opening 2002 with 44 goals in 22 matches.
• Author of the first goal in the history of Colombian professional football: Rafael Serna del Atlético Municipal de Medellín precursor of Atlético Nacional contra Universidad Nacional de Bogotá.
• First archer to score a goal : This was done by the Argentinean Julio Cozzi, when he defended the bow of Millonarios in the Golden Age. It happened on October 19, 1952, of criminal shooting, in the 2-1 triumph over the Deportivo Cali.
• First team to reach 5000 goals : Federico Insúa scored the 5000 Millionaires goal in the FPC.
• Gol distance farther: Erwin "Alpinito" Carrillo, scored the farthest distance goal that has been recorded in the FPC, in 2002 playing for the Magdalena Union made Deportivo Cali a goal from a distance of 82 meters.
• Gol faster: Ariel Carreño, at 7 seconds of starting the match, at the meeting La Equidad 1:0 Junior on 25 July 2010 (Torneo Finalización).
• Olympic goals: The Argentine "Cococho" Álvarez is the largest scorer of Olympic goals in the First Division with 8 so many followed by the also Argentine "Nene" Díaz who converted 6.
• Major goals: The games where the biggest winners of the championship are:
  • Samaries 12:1 University (29 July 1951).
  • Samaries 1:11 Quindío (9 November 1952).
  • Independent Santa Fe 10:2 Hurricane (3 August 1949).
  • Independent Santa Fe 10:3 Pereira Deportivo (2 October 1949).
  • Atletico Nacional 0:10 Boca Juniors de Cali (15 April 1951).
  • Deportivo Cali 9:0 Deportivo Pereira (3 June 1962).
  • Americas of Cali 9:0 Sports Cluster (29 August 1990).
• Increased number of goals in a game: Medellín 9:5 Santa Fe (9 June 1957).

Teams that have finished first in the reclassification table each year the most times

• Millions (15): 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1987, 2022
• Americas of Cali (13): 1979, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1996-97, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2019
• Atletico Nacional (11): 1954, 1978, 1983, 1988, 1994, 1999, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2015, 2017
• Deportivo Cali (10): 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1995-96, 2002, 2003
• Santa Fe (9): 1948, 1958, 1960, 1966, 1970, 1971, 2014, 2016, 2020
• Eleven Caldas (4): 1950, 1998, 2001, 2011
• Junior (4): 1991, 1993, 2009
• Independent Medellín (3): 1955, 1957, 2018
• Sports Tolima (3): 2010, 2021
• Quindío Sports (1): 1956
• Sports Quote (1): 2006

Teams that have finished first in the round-robin phase in short tournaments the most times

• Atletico Nacional (11): 2005-I, 2007-II, 2013-II, 2014-I, 2015-II, 2016-II, 2017-I, 2018-I, 2019-II, 2021-I, 2021-II
• Sports Tolima (7): 2006-II, 2008-II, 2009-I, 2010-I, 2010-II, 2012-I, 2018-II
• Deportivo Cali (5): 2002-I, 2002-II, 2003-II, 2005-II, 2007-I
• Santa Fe (4): 2013-I, 2014-II, 2020, 2022-II
• Once Caldas (3): 2003-I, 2006-I, 2011-I
• Millions (3): 2012-II, 2019-I, 2022-I
• Americas of Cali (2): 2004-I, 2004-II
• Independent Medellín (2): 2009-II, 2016-I
• Junior (2): 2011-II, 2017-II
• Equity (1): 2008-I
• Atletic Huila (1): 2015-I

Finals

Note: Cities where the final was played and the award ceremony was held.

• Medellín (19): 1957, 1994, 1999, 2002-I, 2004-I, 2004-II, 2005-I, 2007-I, 2007-II, 2009-II, 2011-I, 2013-II, 2014-I, 2015-I, 2015-II, 2016-I, 2017-I, 2018-I, 2018-II
• Bogotá (10): 1982, 2012-I, 2012-II, 2013-I, 2014-II, 2016-II, 2017-II, 2019-I, 2020, 2021-I
• Cali (8): 1972, 1979, 1997, 2001, 2003-II, 2005-II, 2008-II, 2019-II
• Manizales (4): 1998, 2003-I, 2010-II, 2011-II
• I went (3): 2006-II, 2021-II, 2022-I
• Pasto (2): 2002-II, 2006-I
• Barranquilla (2): 2009-I, 2010-I
• Tunja (1): 2008-I
• Santa Marta (1): 1968
• Pereira (1): 2022-II

International scope

Colombian clubs have obtained a total of 12 international titles recognized by Conmebol and FIFA: 3 Copa Libertadores, 1 Recopa Sudamericana, 1 Copa Sudamericana, 1 Copa J.League-Sudamericana, 4 Cups of the extinct Merconorte and 2 cups of the extinct Inter-American Cup.

Club	International titles
National athletic	7	2 Copas Libertadores (1989 and 2016) 1 South American Recouple (2017) 2 Cups Merconorte (1998 and 2000) 2 Inter-American Cups (1990 and 1997).
Eleven Caldas	1	1 Copa Libertadores (2004)
Santa Fe	2	1 South American Cup (2015) 1 J.League-South American Cup (2016)
Americas of Cali	1	1 Merconorte Cup (1999)
Millions	1	1 Merconorte Cup (2001)