Liga Panameña de Fútbol (LPF)

What is the Liga Panameña de Fútbol?

The Liga Panameña de Fútbol — LPF Tigo, after its sponsor — is the top division of Panamanian men’s football, organised by the league body based in Costa del Este, Panama City, under the Federación Panameña de Fútbol. Twelve clubs play in two conferences of six, Este and Oeste.^[1] [6]

How does it work?

Two tournaments a year. From 2026 the Apertura runs from July to December and the Clausura from January to May, reversing the previous order, so the Clausura 2026 was played before the Apertura 2026. Conference leaders go straight to the semifinals while second and third in each conference play qualifiers, and the final is a single match at a neutral venue — in recent seasons the Estadio Rommel Fernández. Since 2021 the league has operated as a competition of twelve franchises, expanded from ten, with no relegation; the champions feed into the Concacaf Central American Cup.^{[1] [2] [6]}

Since when does it exist?

Professional football in Panama began with ANAPROF, the Asociación Nacional Pro-Fútbol, inaugurated on 26 February 1988 and renamed the Liga Panameña de Fútbol in 2009. Plaza Amador won three straight tournaments from the Apertura 2025 — a 6–0 final over San Francisco in June 2025 before 17,498 at the Rommel Fernández, 2–0 over Alianza in December 2025 and 3–2 after extra time over Alianza on 23 May 2026 — after a run of titles for Independiente de La Chorrera and Tauro.^{[3] [4] [5] [6]}

Champions of the last ten tournaments.

Why does it matter?

The LPF is Panama’s only professional top division and its clubs’ route into Concacaf’s Central American Cup and, through it, the Champions Cup. Its finals draw five-figure crowds to the national stadium.^{[1] [3] [6]}