2023 in Paraguayan football

Football in Paraguay
Season	2023
Men's football
Primera División	Libertad (Apertura and Clausura)
División Intermedia	Sol de América
Tercera División	Tembetary (Metro.); 12 de Junio (Nac.); Encarnacena (Interligas)
Cuarta División	12 de Octubre SD
Copa Paraguay	Libertad
Supercopa Paraguay	Libertad
Women's football
Campeonato Femenino	Olimpia (Apertura and Clausura)

The following article presents a summary of the 2023 football season in Paraguay, which was the 113th season of competitive football in the country.

First Division

The 2023 Primera División started on 27 January 2023 and ended on 1 December 2023.^[1]

Torneo Apertura

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Libertad (C)	22	16	3	3	39	15	+24	51	Qualification for Copa Libertadores group stage
2	Cerro Porteño	22	11	8	3	40	29	+11	41
3	Sportivo Trinidense	22	11	5	6	34	21	+13	38
4	Guaraní	22	8	9	5	29	24	+5	33
5	Nacional	22	9	6	7	23	21	+2	33
6	Olimpia	22	8	7	7	32	26	+6	31
7	Sportivo Ameliano	22	7	9	6	27	28	−1	30
8	Sportivo Luqueño	22	6	9	7	27	28	−1	27
9	General Caballero (JLM)	22	6	6	10	21	28	−7	24
10	Guaireña	22	3	8	11	15	31	−16	17
11	Resistencia	22	4	5	13	14	35	−21	17
12	Tacuary	22	4	3	15	16	31	−15	15

Source: APF, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Head-to-head points, 3) Head-to-head goal difference, 4) Overall goal difference, 5) Goals for, 6) Playoff game (if needed to decide championship between two teams) or Drawing of lots (if three teams or more are tied).^[2]
(C) Champions

Torneo Clausura

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Libertad (C)	22	14	6	2	45	14	+31	48	Qualification for Copa Libertadores group stage
2	Cerro Porteño	22	10	10	2	41	21	+20	40
3	Nacional	22	8	8	6	33	23	+10	32
4	Guaraní	22	9	5	8	20	29	−9	32
5	Olimpia	22	8	7	7	28	26	+2	31
6	Tacuary	22	7	8	7	24	29	−5	29
7	Sportivo Trinidense	22	7	6	9	34	35	−1	27
8	Sportivo Ameliano	22	8	3	11	32	34	−2	27
9	General Caballero (JLM)	22	6	7	9	18	24	−6	25
10	Sportivo Luqueño	22	6	6	10	24	28	−4	24
11	Guaireña	22	6	6	10	29	41	−12	24
12	Resistencia	22	5	4	13	20	44	−24	19

Source: APF, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Head-to-head points, 3) Head-to-head goal difference, 4) Overall goal difference, 5) Goals for, 6) Playoff game (if needed to decide championship between two teams) or Drawing of lots (if three teams or more are tied).^[2]
(C) Champions

Aggregate table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Libertad (C)	44	30	9	5	84	29	+55	99	Qualification for Copa Libertadores group stage
2	Cerro Porteño	44	21	18	5	81	50	+31	81	Qualification for Copa Libertadores group stage
3	Sportivo Trinidense	44	18	11	15	68	56	+12	65	Qualification for Copa Libertadores second stage
4	Nacional	44	17	14	13	56	44	+12	65	Qualification for Copa Libertadores first stage^[a]
5	Guaraní	44	17	14	13	49	53	−4	65	Qualification for Copa Sudamericana first stage
6	Olimpia	44	16	14	14	60	52	+8	62
7	Sportivo Ameliano	44	15	12	17	59	62	−3	57
8	Sportivo Luqueño	44	12	15	17	51	56	−5	51
9	General Caballero (JLM)	44	12	13	19	39	52	−13	49
10	Tacuary	44	11	11	22	40	60	−20	44
11	Guaireña	44	9	14	21	44	72	−28	41
12	Resistencia	44	9	9	26	34	79	−45	36

Source: APF
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Head-to-head points, 3) Head-to-head goal difference, 4) Overall goal difference, 5) Goals for, 6) Playoff game (if needed to decide international qualification between two teams) or Drawing of lots (if three teams or more are tied).^[2]
(C) Champions
Notes:

^ Nacional qualified for the Copa Libertadores first stage as the 2023 Copa Paraguay third-placed team.

Relegation

Relegation is determined at the end of the season by computing an average of the number of points earned per game over the past three seasons. The two teams with the lowest average were relegated to the División Intermedia for the following season.

Pos	Team	2021 Pts	2022 Pts	2023 Pts	Total Pts	Total Pld	Avg	Relegation
1	Libertad	65	91	99	255	124	2.056
2	Cerro Porteño	66	98	81	245	124	1.976
3	Olimpia	51	92	62	205	124	1.653
4	Nacional	50	71	65	186	124	1.5
5	Sportivo Trinidense	—	—	65	65	44	1.477
6	Guaraní	61	55	65	181	124	1.46
7	Sportivo Ameliano	—	48	57	105	88	1.193
8	Sportivo Luqueño	—	—	51	51	44	1.159
9	General Caballero (JLM)	—	51	49	100	88	1.136
10	Tacuary	—	53	44	97	88	1.102
11	Guaireña (R)	44	50	41	135	124	1.089	Relegation to División Intermedia
12	Resistencia (R)	—	49	36	85	88	0.966	Relegation to División Intermedia

Source: APF

Second Division

The second-tier División Intermedia began on 31 March and ended on 9 October 2023.^[3]

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Sol de América (C, P)	30	21	4	5	46	25	+21	67	Promotion to Primera División
2	2 de Mayo (P)	30	16	9	5	46	23	+23	57	Promotion to Primera División
3	Independiente (CG)	30	14	9	7	53	35	+18	51
4	Deportivo Recoleta	30	15	6	9	59	45	+14	51
5	Fernando de la Mora	30	14	6	10	40	31	+9	48
6	Rubio Ñu	30	12	8	10	42	44	−2	44
7	Deportivo Santaní	30	12	8	10	41	43	−2	44
8	Sportivo Carapeguá	30	11	10	9	43	31	+12	43
9	Pastoreo	30	11	10	9	37	31	+6	43
10	San Lorenzo	30	11	9	10	35	27	+8	42
11	3 de Febrero	30	11	6	13	39	42	−3	39
12	Atlético Colegiales	30	9	5	16	29	44	−15	32
13	Martín Ledesma	30	8	7	15	30	41	−11	31
14	24 de Setiembre (VP)	30	7	8	15	38	52	−14	29
15	Atyrá	30	7	5	18	32	58	−26	26
16	12 de Octubre	30	2	8	20	24	62	−38	14

Source: APF, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Head-to-head points, 3) Head-to-head goal difference, 4) Overall goal difference, 5) Goals for, 6) Playoff game (if needed to decide championship between two teams) or Drawing of lots (if three teams or more are tied).^[2]
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Relegation

Relegation is determined at the end of the season by computing an average of the number of points earned per game over the past three seasons. The three teams with the lowest average were relegated to Primera División B or Primera División B Nacional for the following season, depending on their geographical location.

Pos	Team	2021 Pts	2022 Pts	2023 Pts	Total Pts	Total Pld	Avg	Relegation
1	Sol de América	—	—	67	67	30	2.233
2	Deportivo Recoleta	—	—	51	51	30	1.7
3	Pastoreo	—	53	43	96	60	1.6
4	San Lorenzo	53	54	42	149	94	1.585
5	Independiente (CG)	51	41	51	143	94	1.521
6	Fernando de la Mora	45	48	48	141	94	1.5
7	Sportivo Carapeguá	—	—	43	43	30	1.433
8	Rubio Ñu	39	44	44	127	94	1.351
9	2 de Mayo	36	29	57	122	94	1.298
10	3 de Febrero	48	35	39	122	94	1.298
11	Martín Ledesma	—	45	31	76	60	1.267
12	Deportivo Santaní	41	33	44	118	94	1.255
13	Atlético Colegiales	—	36	32	68	60	1.133
14	Atyrá (R)	43	36	26	105	94	1.117	Relegation to Primera B Nacional
15	24 de Setiembre (VP) (R)	—	—	29	29	30	0.967	Relegation to Primera B Metropolitana
16	12 de Octubre (R)	—	—	14	14	30	0.467	Relegation to Primera B Metropolitana

Source: APF

Third Division

The Third Division is divided into three leagues: the Primera B Metropolitana, the Primera B Nacional and the Campeonato Nacional de Interligas.

Primera B Metropolitana

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Atlético Tembetary	32	21	5	6	63	34	+29	68	Promotion to División Intermedia
2	Cristóbal Colón JAS	32	20	7	5	60	25	+35	67	Playoff for promotion to División Intermedia
3	River Plate	32	17	9	6	52	36	+16	60
4	Benjamín Aceval	32	17	8	7	71	32	+39	59
5	General Díaz	32	15	5	12	49	50	−1	50
6	Silvio Pettirossi	32	13	9	10	52	55	−3	48
7	3 de Noviembre	32	13	8	11	62	56	+6	47
8	Deportivo Capiatá	32	13	6	13	36	42	−6	45
9	Olimpia (Itá)	32	12	6	14	54	52	+2	42
10	Sportivo Limpeño	32	11	8	13	47	46	+1	41
11	Atlántida	32	9	13	10	41	38	+3	40
12	3 de Febrero FBC	32	10	8	14	40	52	−12	38
13	Presidente Hayes	32	8	11	13	38	48	−10	35
14	Cristóbal Colón (Ñ)	32	8	7	17	44	72	−28	31
15	Sportivo Iteño	32	7	8	17	41	60	−19	29
16	Deportivo Humaitá	32	7	5	20	35	57	−22	26
17	29 de Setiembre	32	7	5	20	25	55	−30	26

Source: APF

Relegation

Relegation is determined at the end of the season by computing an average of the number of points earned per game over the past three seasons. The two teams with the lowest average will be relegated to the Primera División C for the following season.

Pos	Team	Avg	Total Pts	Total Pld	2021 Pts	2022 Pts	2023 Pts	Relegation
1º	River Plate	1.875	60	32	-	-	60
2º	Atlético Tembetary	1.872	176	94	49	59	68
4º	Benjamín Aceval	1.844	59	32	-	-	59
6º	Cristóbal Colón JAS	1.649	155	94	53	35	67
3º	General Díaz	1.609	103	64	-	53	50
5º	Deportivo Capiatá	1.547	99	64	-	54	45
7º	3 de Noviembre	1.500	141	94	36	58	47
8º	Atlántida	1.415	133	94	32	61	40
10º	Silvio Pettirossi	1.359	87	64	-	39	48
9º	Presidente Hayes	1.319	124	94	43	46	35
11º	Olimpia (Itá)	1.245	117	94	39	36	42
13º	Cristóbal Colón (Ñ)	1.160	109	94	41	37	31
12º	29 de Septiembre	1.149	108	94	45	37	26
15º	3 de Febrero FBC	1.053	99	94	33	28	38
14º	Sportivo Limpeño	1.021	96	94	38	17	41
17º	Sportivo Iteño	0.906	29	32	-	-	29	Relegation to Primera División C
16º	Deportivo Humaitá	0.813	26	32	-	-	26	Relegation to Primera División C

Source: APF

Primera B Nacional

Final phase

Semifinals				Final

12 de Junio	2	2	4

Guaraní (Fram)	0	1	1
				12 de Junio	1

				Ovetense	0
Patriotas FC	1	0	1

Ovetense	2	0	2

Promotion

The champions of the B Nacional plays round-trip matches against the runner-up of the B Metropolitana for a promotion spot to the Second Division.

November 22

19:30

12 de Junio	0:0	Cristóbal Colón JAS
	Report

Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción

Referee: Carlos Paul Benítez

November 26

18:00

Cristóbal Colón JAS	0:0	12 de Junio
	Report
Penalties
Luis Matto Hugo Oviedo Walter Núñez Estiven Pérez Diego Arias Alex Ayala	4:5	Freddy Coronel Jesús Asta César Ayala Daniel Valdvinos Marcial Núñez Guillermo Beltrán

Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción

Referee: Juan Gabriel Benítez

Campeonato Nacional de Interligas

January 15

18:00

Encarnacena	6:2	Horqueteña
	Report

Estadio Luis Alberto Salinas, Itauguá

Domestic cup

Copa Paraguay

The 2023 Copa Paraguay started on 18 April 2023 and ended on 2 December 2023^[4] with a total of 74 teams. The Copa Paraguay final was played between Sportivo Trinidense and Libertad.

2 December 2023

Sportivo Trinidense	1–1	Libertad

Penalties
	1–4

Estadio Parque del Guairá, Villarrica

Super cup

Supercopa Paraguay

After winning the Primera División Apertura and Clausura, and also the Copa Paraguay, Libertad was awarded the 2023 Supercopa Paraguay.^[5]

References

^ "Calendarios definidos para el 2023" [Schedules set for 2023] (in Spanish). ABC Color. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "REGLAMENTO GENERAL DE COMPETICIONES 2023" [2023 GENERAL REGULATIONS OF COMPETITIONS] (PDF) (in Spanish). APF. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
^ "Calendario definido: La División Intermedia tiene su hoja de ruta para el 2023" [Schedule set: The División Intermedia has its roadmap for 2023] (in Spanish). Versus. 15 December 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
^ "El Consejo aprueba el calendario de los torneos 2023" [The Council approves the schedule for the 2023 tournaments] (in Spanish). APF. 14 December 2022. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
^ "Libertad logra un histórico triplete" [Libertad achieve a historic treble] (in Spanish). D10. 2 December 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.

[table_note_res_CL1S0.086438787675667-3] Nacional qualified for the Copa Libertadores first stage as the 2023 Copa Paraguay third-placed team.

[Dates-1] "Calendarios definidos para el 2023" [Schedules set for 2023] (in Spanish). ABC Color. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2022.

[General_Regulations-2] "REGLAMENTO GENERAL DE COMPETICIONES 2023" [2023 GENERAL REGULATIONS OF COMPETITIONS] (PDF) (in Spanish). APF. Retrieved 19 January 2023.

[4] "Calendario definido: La División Intermedia tiene su hoja de ruta para el 2023" [Schedule set: The División Intermedia has its roadmap for 2023] (in Spanish). Versus. 15 December 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2022.

[5] "El Consejo aprueba el calendario de los torneos 2023" [The Council approves the schedule for the 2023 tournaments] (in Spanish). APF. 14 December 2022. Retrieved 16 April 2023.

[6] "Libertad logra un histórico triplete" [Libertad achieve a historic treble] (in Spanish). D10. 2 December 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.

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