Football rivalries in Argentina


There are a number of major football rivalries in Argentina.

Superderby

The superderby is the most important football rivalry in Argentina, and the most important local derby. It is contested between Buenos Aires rivals Boca Juniors and River Plate. It name in Spanish derives from the usage of clásico to mean derby and the prefix súper to denote its importance, because Boca Juniors and River Plate are the two most popular and successful teams in Argentine football, commanding more than 70% of all Argentine football fans between them.
Rivalry began due to the location of both clubs in the same neighborhood in the early 20th century, before River Plate left definitively the southern neighborhood in 1923 to move to the north of the city.
The superderby is known worldwide as one of world football's fiercest and most important derbies. It isn't particularly noted for the passion of the fans compared to the other important Argentine derbies due to their habituation to won trophies, but is the most followed in the country, and sometimes riots occurred. The English newspaper The Observer put the superderby at the top of their list of 50 sporting things you must do before you die.

Avellaneda derby

The Avellaneda derby, contested between Independiente and Racing, is the second most important rivalry in Argentine football. Both teams are from the city of Avellaneda but have many fans throughout the country, being the third and fourth most popular clubs in Argentina, accounting for more than 9% of the nation's population. They are also the third and fourth most successful Argentine teams respectively in terms of total number of honours won.
Rivalry started in the first decade of the 20th century, when Independiente, that was founded in 1904 in the neighboring city of Buenos Aires, moved to Avellaneda in 1907, the same year of the first match against Racing, played on June 9 for the 3rd division and ended 3-2 in favor of Independiente. Since 1928 both stadiums are just 200 meters apart. This derby is one of the most intense and colorful of the world, and didn't had a clear dominator until 1970s, when Independiente began to gain an advantage that is currently very large.

Rosario derby

The Rosario derby is the most important derby between clubs that are not based in the autonomous city or the province of Buenos Aires. It is contested between Newell's Old Boys and Rosario Central, the two major teams in the city of Rosario. The teams nicknames relate from the same incident where Rosario Central refused to play a charity game for a Leper colony, hence their nickname Canallas. Newell's Old Boys stepped in to play the game and earned the nickname Los Leprosos.

Huracán - San Lorenzo de Almagro

This derby, that doesn't have a name of its own, is contested between Huracán and San Lorenzo de Almagro, both clubs from Buenos Aires. While San Lorenzo de Almagro is the fifth most popular and successful team in Argentine football, with fans all over the country, Huracán was considered a big team in the amateur era and since then is considered like a "mid-sized" team, occupying the 10th place in number of honours won and having the majority of its fans in Buenos Aires and some cities of the Greater Buenos Aires that are near the south of Argentine capital.
Rivalry began due to the proximity of both clubs, that since early 20th century to 1979 had their different fields in boundary neighborhoods of the south of Buenos Aires. San Lorenzo de Almagro was founded on April 1, 1908 in Almagro neighborhood, but quickly moved to another location that later became a part of Boedo. Huracán was founded on November 1, 1908 in Nueva Pompeya, and later moved to Parque Patricios, both neighborhoods that borders Boedo. From 1916 to 1923, stadiums of both clubs were only 500 meters apart, then Huracán built a new stadium in another location of the same neighborhood due to the expropriation of its ground by the government for open a street. In 1979, Argentine dictatorial government expropriated the ground where San Lorenzo de Almagro had its stadium and later sold it to a private company that opened a hypermarket. The club maintained its headquarters in the same place, where also are installations for another sports practiced by the club. During the 1980s and early 1990s, San Lorenzo de Almagro played its home matches in several stadiums of Buenos Aires and the Greater Buenos Aires until began to build a new stadium in the 1990s, that was inaugurated on December 16, 1993, in Flores neighborhood. The derby has been dominated historically by San Lorenzo de Almagro.

Western derby

The Western derby is contested between the two major teams in the west of the city of Buenos Aires, Ferro Carril Oeste and Vélez Sársfield. The first game was played in the amateur era in 1920 but this derby has not been played in official competition since Ferro's relegation from the Primera División in 2000. From the beginning of the professional era the difference between wins of Ferro Carril Oeste and Vélez Sarsfield has been 9 wins for the latter. This is one of the oldest derbies and rivalry began 11 years before the start of the professional AFA football league.

La Plata derby

The La Plata derby is contested between the two major clubs in the city of La Plata, Estudiantes de La Plata and Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata. The derby is fiercely contested, and the rivalry between the fans is so extreme that Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata fans have been accused of making death threats to their own team to lose on purpose to Boca Juniors during the 2006 Apertura; by strengthening Boca Juniors' lead at the top of the table, it would have damage Estudiantes' chances of winning the championship.

Cordoba derby

The Córdoba derby is a closely contested derby between the two most popular teams of Córdoba, Belgrano and Talleres. The teams nicknames are "Matadores" for Talleres and "Piratas" for Belgrano.

Santa Fe derby

The Santa Fe derby is contested between the two major teams in the city of Santa Fe, Colón and Unión. The derby had been played in official competition since 1913. Colón play their home games at the Estadio Brigadier López, while Unión play their home games at Estadio 15 de Abril. The teams nicknames are Sabaleros for Colón and Tatengues for Unión.

Tucumán derby

The Tucumán derby : is contested between the two major teams in the province of Tucumán, and it is played in San Miguel de Tucumán, San Martín de Tucumán vs. Club Atlético Tucumán, it is the most important match in northern Argentina.

Complete list

[Buenos Aires] (city)