PERU NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM
WORLD RANKING: 27
GOVERNING BODY:-
Peruvian Football Federation (FPF)
CAPTAIN:-
Paolo Guerrero
COACH:-
Ricardo Gareca
MOST CAPPED PLAYER:-
Roberto Palacios (128 appearances)
TOP SCORER:-
Paolo Guerrero
HOME STADIUMS:-
Estadio Nacional, Lima
NICKNAME:-
La Blanquirroja (The White and Red)
La Bicolor (The Bicolour)
Los Incas (The Incas)
RIVALS:-
Chile
Ecuador
WORLD CUP:-
Appearances: 5
Best Result: Quarterfinals (1970)
COPA AMERICA:-
Appearances: 32
Best Result: Champions (1939, 1975)
The Peru national football team represents Peru in men’s international football. The national team has been organised, since 1927, by the Peruvian Football Federation (FPF).
The FPF constitutes one of the ten members of FIFA’s South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL).
Peru has won the Copa América twice and qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals five times (last appearing in 2018). The team also participated in the 1936 Olympic football competition and has reached the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
The team plays most of its home matches at the Estadio Nacional in Lima, the country’s capital.
The team is well known for its white shirts adorned with a diagonal red stripe, which combine Peru’s national colours. This basic design has been used continuously since 1936, and gives rise to the team’s common Spanish nickname, la Blanquirroja (“the white-and-red”).
Peruvian football fans are known for their distinctive cheer ¡Arriba Perú! (“Onward Peru!”). Peru has longstanding rivalries with Chile and Ecuador.
The Peru national team enjoyed its most successful periods in the 1930s and the 1970s.
In the 1930s, Peru took part in the inaugural FIFA World Cup in 1930 and enjoyed victories in the 1938 Bolivarian Games and the 1939 Copa América, with goalkeeper Juan Valdivieso and forwards Teodoro Fernández and Alejandro Villanueva playing important roles.
In the 1970s, Peru qualified for three World Cups and won the Copa América in 1975, attaining worldwide recognition; the team then notably included defender Héctor Chumpitaz and the forward partnership of Hugo Sotil and Teófilo Cubillas, often regarded as Peru’s greatest player.
The national team’s all-time top goalscorer is Paolo Guerrero, and its most-capped player is Roberto Palacios, with 128 appearances.
Under current manager Ricardo Gareca, Peru placed third at the 2015 Copa América, reached the quarter-finals of the Copa América Centenario, participated in the group stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals, and earned second at the 2019 Copa América.
Football in Peru
Football is the most popular sport in Peru.
Football in Peru was introduced by British immigrants, Peruvians returning from Great Britain, and by English sailors in the later half of the 19th century during their frequent stops at the port of Callao, which at that point was considered one of the most important ports of the Pacific Ocean.
According to the work entitled La Difusion del Futbol en Lima, during the last decade of the 19th century, records show that sailors were known to practice sports such as football and played against teams made up of Englishmen, Peruvians, or a mix between Englishmen and Peruvians.
Peruvian football league system
The Peruvian football league system is a complex system.
Though the general outline includes the Liga 1, Liga 2 and Copa Perú.
The Copa Perú is very large involving several stages and leagues within it. In addition, the Copa Perú is played within a year. Therefore, clubs that reach level 3 of the pyramid (National stage of the Copa Perú) will have climbed 4 levels in a one-year period.
Both the Liga 2 and Copa Perú promote one club to the Liga 1. In addition, the Copa Perú promotes another club to the Liga 2.
Level 1 – Liga 1 (Primera Division)
Peruvian Primera División
The Peru First Division – known as Liga 1 Betsson for sponsorship reasons and officially as Liga 1 – is the top flight of football in Peru.
It has been referred to as Torneo Descentralizado since 1966, when the first teams residing outside the Lima and Callao provinces were invited to compete in the inaugural league national competition.
The main sponsor is the Spanish telecommunications brand Movistar.
There are 20 teams in the division of a league that operates on a system of promotion and relegation determined at the end of the season with the Segunda División and the Copa Perú.
Seasons run from February to December with each team playing 44 matches. The league is organized by Asociación Deportiva de Fútbol Profesional (English: Professional Football Sport Association) (ADFP).
The Peruvian Football League was founded on an amateur basis and organized in 1912 into the two tiers of Primera División and the Segunda División.
Editions from 1912 to 1921 were played by clubs based in Lima and considered unofficial by the Peruvian Football Federation (FPF), which came into existence in 1926.
The Primera División became professional in 1951. In 1966, the first truly national league was founded and continues.
Level 2 – Liga 2 (Segunda Division), National stage (Copa Peru)
Peruvian Segunda División
The Liga 2 (Ligue 2) of Peru is the second-highest division in the Peruvian football league system.
It is a professional and promotional division organized by the Peruvian Football Federation.
After years of changing numbers of clubs, as of 2021, the league includes 12 clubs.
Copa Peru
The Copa Perú is a football tournament in Peru.
Despite its name, it is not entirely an elimination-cup competition involving all Peruvian clubs, but rather a series of league tournaments leading to an elimination tournament, with regional league clubs as participants.
It guarantees its winner promotion to the professional Liga 1 and its runner-up a promotion to Liga 2.
Level 3 – National stage (Copa Peru)
Level 4 – Ligas Departamentales del Perú
The Ligas Departamentales are one of two leagues that form part of the Departamental Stage in the Copa Perú of the Peruvian Football Federation (FPF) football league system.
The other league at the level is the Ligas Superiores.
The are the leagues under Ligas Departamentales del Perú.
- Liga Departamental de Amazonas
- Liga Departamental de Ancash
- Liga Departamental de Apurímac
- Liga Departamental de Arequipa
- Liga Departamental de Ayacucho
- Liga Departamental de Cajamarca
- Liga Departamental del Callao
- Liga Departamental de Cusco
- Liga Departamental de Huancavelica
- Liga Departamental de Huánuco
- Liga Departamental de Ica
- Liga Departamental de Junín
- Liga Departamental de La Libertad
- Liga Departamental de Lambayeque
- Liga Departamental de Lima
- Liga Departamental de Loreto
- Liga Departamental de Madre de Dios
- Liga Departamental de Moquegua
- Liga Departamental de Pasco
- Liga Departamental de Piura
- Liga Departamental de Puno
- Liga Departamental de San Martín
- Liga Departamental de Tacna
- Liga Departamental de Tumbes
- Liga Departamental de Ucayali
Level 5 – Ligas Superiores del Peru
The Ligas Superiores are one of two leagues that form part of the Departamental Stage in the Copa Perú of the Peruvian Football Federation (FPF) football league system.
The other league at the level is the Ligas Departamentales.
A transcendental step was given in the Copa Perú with the official establishment of the Ligas Superiores that did not become as successful as expected.
Here are the leagues under this division.
- Liga Superior de Ancash
- Liga Superior de Arequipa
- Liga Superior de Ayacucho
- Liga Superior de Cajamarca
- Liga Superior del Callao
- Liga Superior de Cusco
- Liga Superior de Huánuco
- Liga Superior de Lambayeque
- Liga Superior de Pasco
- Liga Superior de Piura
- Liga Superior de Puno
- Liga Superior de Tumbes
Level 6 – Ligas Provinciales del Peru
The Ligas Provinciales del Peru are the Peruvian football lower divisions. They are administered by the Local Federations. The level immediately above is the Ligas Departamentales (Copa Perú).
The following is a list of provincial football leagues in Peru sorted by region.
1 Amazonas
Liga Provincial de Bagua
Liga Provincial de Bongará
Liga Provincial de Chachapoyas
Liga Provincial de Condorcanqui
Liga Provincial de Luya
Liga Provincial de Rodríguez de Mendoza
Liga Provincial de Utcubamba
2 Ancash
3 Apurímac
4 Arequipa
Liga Provincial de Arequipa
Liga Provincial de Camaná
Liga Provincial de Caravelí
Liga Provincial de Castilla
Liga Provincial de Caylloma
Liga Provincial de Condesuyos
Liga Provincial de Islay
Liga Provincial de La Unión
5 Ayacucho
6 Cajamarca
7 Callao
8 Cusco
Liga Provincial de Acomayo
Liga Provincial de Anta
Liga Provincial de Calca
Liga Provincial de Canas
Liga Provincial de Canchis
Liga Provincial de Chumbivilcas
Liga Provincial del Cusco
Liga Provincial de Espinar
Liga Provincial de La Convención
Liga Provincial de Paruro
Liga Provincial de Paucartambo
Liga Provincial de Quispicanchi
Liga Provincial de Urubamba
9 Huancavelica
10 Huánuco
11 Ica
12 Junín
13 La Libertad
14 Lambayeque
Liga Provincial de Chiclayo
Liga Provincial de Ferreñafe
Liga Provincial de Lambayeque
15 Lima
Liga Provincial de Lima (Interligas de Lima)
Liga Provincial de Barranca
Liga Provincial de Cañete
Liga Provincial de Canta
Liga Provincial de Huaral
Liga Provincial de Huarochirí
Liga Provincial de Huaura
Liga Provincial de Oyón
Liga Provincial de Yauyos
16 Loreto
17 Madre de Dios
Liga Provincial de Manu
Liga Provincial de Tahuamanu
Liga Provincial de Tambopata
18 Moquegua
Liga Provincial de General Sánchez Cerro
Liga Provincial de Ilo
Liga Provincial de Mariscal Nieto
19 Pasco
Liga Provincial de Daniel Alcídes Carrión
Liga Provincial de Oxapampa
Liga Provincial de Pasco
20 Piura
Liga Provincial de Ayabaca
Liga Provincial de Huancabamba
Liga Provincial de Morropón
Liga Provincial de Paita
Liga Provincial de Piura
Liga Provincial de Sechura
Liga Provincial de Sullana
Liga Provincial de Talara
21 Puno
22 San Martín
23 Tacna
Liga Provincial de Candarave
Liga Provincial de Jorge Basadre
Liga Provincial de Tacna
Liga Provincial de Tarata
24 Tumbes
Liga Provincial de Contralmirante Villar
Liga Provincial de Tumbes
Liga Provincial de Zarumilla
25 Ucayali
Liga Provincial de Atalaya
Liga Provincial de Coronel Portillo
Liga Provincial de Padre Abad
Liga Provincial de Puerto Inca (Huánuco Province)
Liga Provincial de Purús
Level 7 – Ligas Distritales del Peru
The Ligas Distritales del Peru are the Peruvian football lower divisions. They are administered by the Local Federations. The level immediately above is the Liga Provincial (Copa Perú).
Cup Competitions
Copa Bicentenario
The Copa Bicentenario is a football competition in Peru played by the football clubs of the Liga 1 and Liga 2.
It was founded in 2019 and was played as a domestic football cup competition between clubs of the first and second division.
Supercopa Peruana
The Peruvian Soccer Super Cup is an official soccer competition, organized by the Peruvian Soccer Federation since 2020.
It is played in a single match, on a neutral field, which, if necessary, breaks the tie with shots from the penalty spot.
The Bicentennial Cup champion and the winner of the First Division feature in this game.
In the event that the same team wins both the cup and the championship, the league runner-up will play the match against the champions.