Liga AUF Uruguaya

What is the Liga AUF Uruguaya?

The Campeonato Uruguayo de Primera División — branded the Liga AUF Uruguaya — is the top division of Uruguayan men’s football. There is no separate league company: the Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol organises it directly, alongside the Copa AUF Uruguay. Sixteen clubs play a February-to-December season.^[1] [6]

How does it work?

The season has three tournaments and an annual table. The Torneo Apertura and Torneo Clausura are each a single round-robin of 15 rounds; the Torneo Intermedio, between them, is a group stage with a final. The Apertura and Clausura winners play a semifinal, and the winner meets the leader of the annual table in a final — or is champion outright if it is the same club — so the annual-table leader is not necessarily champion. The champion qualifies for the Copa Libertadores. In 2026 Racing won the Apertura, a first for the Montevideo club, finishing seven points clear of Deportivo Maldonado and Peñarol in late April.^{[2] [3] [6]}

Since when does it exist?

Uruguay’s championship has been played since 1900 and professionally since 1932. Nacional and Peñarol have won nine of the ten titles to 2025 — Liverpool’s first championship in 2023 is the exception — and Nacional’s 2025 title came in a final against Peñarol settled by a 113th-minute goal from Ebere at the Gran Parque Central on 30 November 2025.^{[2] [4] [6]}

Champions of the last ten seasons.

Why does it matter?

Peñarol (5th) and Nacional (8th) are the two highest-ranked clubs outside Brazil and Argentina on CONMEBOL’s 2026 club ranking, and the two have eight Copa Libertadores titles between them. For a Uruguayan player, the Primera División is the country’s top professional level and the gateway to South America’s continental competitions.^[5] [6]