Copa Perú

The Copa Perú is a football tournament in Peru and the fourth-highest division of the Peruvian football league system. 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 4 teams promotion to the Liga 3.

Background In 1965, with football activity practically paralyzed among the Lima teams because the Peru national football team was playing in the 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification, four provincial teams agreed under the auspices of Orlando Balarezo, president of Atlético Grau, to organize the Cuadrangular de Campeones Provincianos, a football tournament in Lima among the provincial champions.

History

In 1966, the First Division was named Descentralizado; teams from outside the capital of Lima were allowed to participate in the professional first division. The following year, the Copa Perú began, in which all non-professional teams in Peru were allowed to compete, with the winner to gain promotion to the First Division. After playing many elimination rounds, once six teams were left in the competition, they played in a final round-robin tournament in Lima.El padre de la Copa Perú

In 1974, the tournament ended at the Regional Stage and no Final took place. The departmental champions qualified for the 1974 Reclasificatorio Regional with the last teams from the 1973 Torneo Descentralizado that had to revalidate the category. At the end of the 1974 Reclasificatorio Regional, the teams Alfonso Ugarte, Barrio Frigorífico, Carlos A. Mannucci, Deportivo Junín, Piérola, Unión Huaral, Unión Pesquero and Walter Ormeño were promoted to the 1974 Torneo Descentralizado.

In 1984, the First Division grew from 16 to 44 teams: after the first stage of the season, a Regional Championship qualified the teams for the Decentralizado, with 16 to 18 teams. The Copa Perú qualified teams for the Regional competition. Following this the tournament declined; 1987 was the last year in which a final was contested. The competitions was suspended as a result of the lack of interest and general economic crisis going on during President Alan García's first term. In 1992 the First Division returned to its normal format (16 teams). In 1993 the Copa Perú was returned as a competition for the Second Division, but only for teams outside of Lima. Since 1993, there has also been a Second Division for teams competing that are based in Lima.

In 1998, a major change took place: eight teams from the regional stage qualified for the Finals stage. This was played as a traditional cup tournament with home and away legs being played. The winner gains promotion to the First Division. In 2004, the tournament widened to 16 teams, so that teams from Lima could also compete. The winner and runner-up of the Second Division played in the Round of 16 of the Copa Peru. However, in 2006 this format was abolished as now the winner of the Second Division is promoted to the First Division. In 2008, the National Stage was modified. The four teams that qualified for the semi-finals played in a final group stage; the top two were promoted to the First Division.

In 2009, the Peruvian Football Federation officialized the creation of the Ligas Superiores del Peru. The Ligas Superiores will group to a select group of clubs of each department, that will be faced only among itself and will throw a champion and a runner-up that will agree directly, for now, to play a home run against the clubs that remain first and second in the Departmental Stage. For 2009, nine Departmental Confederacies had adopted them: Arequipa, Ayacucho, Cajamarca, Huánuco, Lambayeque, Pasco, Piura, Puno and Tumbes.

On August 23, 2022, it was announced that from 2023, the Copa Perú would only give promotion to Liga 2 due to the reforms of Peruvian football by the FPF.¿Qué reformas para el fútbol peruano anunció Agustín Lozano? In 2025, the Copa Perú was moved to the fourth tier, being replaced by the Liga 3.

Format

The tournament has 5 stages. The first stage of the tournament is the District Stage (), played from February to May. Districts hold a small league tournament to determine its winners which will qualify for the next stage. The second stage is the Provincial Stage (), played in June and July. The District winners play in groups and the winners qualify for the next stage. The third stage is the Departmental Stage (), consisting of another league tournament, between July and September.

Starting in 2015 under the leadership of the new Peruvian Football Federation president Edwin Oviedo, all the Regions of Peru are represented in the National Stage, which is played under Regional using the POT System, intellectual property of MatchVision company. The new National Stage starts in the first week of September.

This new phase features the 50 teams that qualified from the Departmental Stage. Each team plays 3 games at home and 3 games away, for a total of 6 games against 3 different geographical rivals. The departmental stage winners only play against departmental runners-up, and vice versa. All the teams are positioned in one general table. After 6 matches, the team in places 1 to 8 are qualified directly to the Round of 16, while the teams in places 9 to 24 will play the Repechage phase. The teams in places 25 to 50 are eliminated.

The teams play a bracket tournament up to the Semi-finals. All four teams qualified to the semi-finals play a final group stage known as La Finalísima in Lima. The winner of the final group stage and the runner-up of the final group stage will be promoted to the Liga 2.

Stages Level Stage Etapa Nacional Ligas Departamentales Ligas Provinciales Ligas Distritales Primera División Ligas Distritales Segunda División

Division levels Year Level Promotion to Relegation to 1967–1973 Primera División Etapa Regional (1967–2014)Ligas DepartamentalesLigas ProvincialesLigas Distritales 1974 Reclasificatorio Regional 1975–1990 Primera División 1991 Torneo Zonal 1992–2022 Primera División Segunda División 2023–2024 Liga 2 2025 Liga 2 Liga 3

Champions Note: For the coaches who won the Copa Perú, see: RSSSF

Ed.SeasonChampionRunner-upWinning manager 1967Alfonso Ugarte de Chiclín Octavio Espinosa Ángel Fernández Roca 1968 Carlos A. Mannucci Sport Chorrillos Juan Honores 1969 Carlos A. Mannucci Melgar Miguel Ortega 1970 Atlético Torino Melgar César Cubilla 1971Melgar Unión Tumán Walter Milera 1972Atlético Grau León de Huánuco Guillermo Quineche 1973Sportivo Huracán Cienciano Carlos Puertas 1974 No champion crowned. It was only played until the Departamental Stage.(See: 1974 Reclasificatorio Regional) 1975 Atlético Torino Sportivo Huracán Carlos Bustinza 1976 Coronel Bolognesi Pesca Perú Luis Roth 1977 Atlético Torino Juventud La Palma Carlos Bustinza 1978 Juventud La Palma Pesca Perú Mario Gonzales Benites 1979 ADT Comercial Aguas Verdes José Chacaltana 1980 León de Huánuco Unión González Prada Julio Gómez 1981 UTC Juventud La Palma José Salas Jáuregui 1982Atlético Torino Atlético Grau Moisés Barack 1983 Sport Pilsen Deportivo Cañaña Felipe Díaz Cumpen 1984 Los Espartanos Alianza Atlético Vito Andrés Bártoli 1985 Hungaritos Agustinos Tejidos La Unión Henry Perales 1986 Deportivo Cañaña Félix Donayre Eduardo Rodríguez 1987Libertad Capitán Clavero Mario Catalá 1988–1992No champions crowned. It was only played until the Regional Stage.(See: 1992 Torneo Zonal) 1993 Aurich–Cañaña Aurora Horacio Baldessari 1994 Atlético Torino Aurora Diego Agurto 1995 La Loretana Sportivo Huracán Henry Perales 1996José Gálvez UTC Moisés Barack 1997 Juan Aurich Deportivo UPAO Luis Sanjinez Castillo 1998 I.M.I. Coronel Bolognesi Diego Agurto 1999 Deportivo UPAO Alfonso Ugarte José Ramírez Cubas 2000 Estudiantes de Medicina Coronel Bolognesi José Ramírez Cubas 2001 Sport Bolito Universidad Cesar Vallejo Ítalo Herrera Calderón 2002 Atlético Universidad Atlético Grau Elmer Lozada 2003Universidad Cesar Vallejo Deportivo Educación Andrés Esquerre 2004 Sport Áncash Deportivo Municipal Tito Chumpitaz 2005 José Gálvez Senati José Ramírez Cubas 2006Total Clean Hijos de Acosvinchos Roberto Arrelucea 2007 Juan Aurich Sport Águila Horacio Baldessari 2008 Sport Huancayo CNI José Ramírez Cubas 2009 León de Huánuco Tecnólogico Oswaldo Araujo Miguel Seminario 2010 Unión Comercio Alianza Unicachi Leonardo Morales 2011 Real Garcilaso Pacífico Freddy García 2012 UTC Alfonso Ugarte Rafael Castillo 2013San Simón Unión Huaral Luis Flores 2014 Sport Loreto Unión Fuerza Minera José Ramírez Cubas 2015 Defensor La Bocana Academia Cantolao Javier Atoche 2016 Sport Rosario Deportivo Hualgayoc Lizandro Barbarán 2017 Binacional Atlético Grau Luis Flores 2018 Pirata Alianza Universidad Juan Carlos Bazalar 2019 Carlos Stein Deportivo Llacuabamba Juan Carlos Bazalar 2020 2021 ADT Alfonso Ugarte Juan Carlos Bazalar 2022 Deportivo Garcilaso Comerciantes Roberto Tristán 2023 ADA San Marcos Roberto Arrelucea 2024 Bentín Tacna Heroica Cajamarca Jesús Álvarez 2025 Unión Minas ANBA Perú Jesús Álvarez 2026

Footnotes

A. In this year the tournament ended at the Departamental Stage and no Final took place. The departamental champions qualified for the 1974 Reclasificatorio Regional with the last teams from the 1973 Torneo Descentralizado that had to revalidate the category. At the end of the 1974 Reclasificatorio Regional, the teams Alfonso Ugarte, Barrio Frigorífico, Carlos A. Mannucci, Deportivo Junín, Piérola, Unión Huaral, Unión Pesquero and Walter Ormeño were promoted to the 1974 Torneo Descentralizado. B. From 1988 to 1992, no Final tournaments were held. Regional champions entered the Peruvian Primera División’s Regional tournaments.

Titles by club RankClubTitlesRunners-upSeasons wonSeasons runner-upAtlético Torino 5 — 1970, 1975, 1977, 1982, 1994 —Coronel Bolognesi 2 2 1976, 2001 1998, 2000León de Huánuco 2 1 1980, 2009 1972UTC 2 1 1981, 2012 1996ADT 2 — 1979, 2021 —Carlos A. Mannucci 2 — 1968, 1969 —José Gálvez 2 — 1996, 2005 —Juan Aurich 2 — 1997, 2007 —Atlético Grau 1 3 1972 1982, 2002, 2017Juventud La Palma 1 2 1978 1977, 1981Melgar 1 2 1971 1969, 1970Sportivo Huracán 1 2 1973 1975, 1995Deportivo Cañaña 1 1 1986 1983 Universidad César Vallejo 1 1 2003 2001Deportivo UPAO 1 1 1999 1997ADA 1 — 2023 —Alfonso Ugarte de Chiclín 1 — 1967 —Atlético Universidad 1 — 2002 —Aurich–Cañaña 1 — 1993 —Bentín Tacna Heroica 1 — 2024 —Binacional 1 — 2017 —Carlos Stein 1 — 2019 —Defensor La Bocana 1 — 2015 —Deportivo Garcilaso 1 — 2022 —Estudiantes de Medicina 1 — 2000 —Hungaritos Agustinos 1 — 1985 —I.M.I. 1 — 1998 — La Loretana 1 — 1995 —Libertad 1 — 1987 —Los Espartanos 1 — 1984 —Pirata 1 — 2018 —Real Garcilaso 1 — 2011 —San Simón 1 — 2013 —Sport Áncash 1 — 2004 —Sport Huancayo 1 — 2008 —Sport Loreto 1 — 2014 —Sport Pilsen 1 — 1983 —Sport Rosario 1 — 2016 —Total Clean 1 — 2006 —Unión Comercio 1 — 2010 —Unión Minas 1 — 2025 —

Titles by region RegionNº of titles Clubs La Libertad 8Carlos A. Mannucci (2), Alfonso Ugarte de Chiclín (1), Los Espartanos (1), Libertad (1), Sport Pilsen (1), Deportivo UPAO (1), Universidad César Vallejo (1) Piura 8Atlético Torino (5), Atlético Grau (1), I.M.I. (1), Defensor La Bocana (1) Lambayeque 6Juan Aurich (2), Deportivo Cañaña (1), Aurich–Cañaña (1), Carlos Stein (1), Pirata (1) Arequipa 5Melgar (1), Sportivo Huracán (1), Atlético Universidad (1), Total Clean (1), Binacional (1) Ancash 4José Gálvez (2), Sport Áncash (1), Sport Rosario (1) Junin 3ADT (2), Sport Huancayo (1) Cajamarca 3UTC (2), ADA (1) Tacna 3Coronel Bolognesi (2), Bentín Tacna Heroica (1) Cusco 2Real Garcilaso (1), Deportivo Garcilaso (1) Huánuco 2León de Huánuco (2) Ucayali 2La Loretana (1), Sport Loreto (1) Ica 1Estudiantes de Medicina (1) Lima 1Juventud La Palma (1) Loreto 1Hungaritos Agustinos (1) Moquegua 1San Simón (1) Pasco 1Unión Minas (1) San Martín 1Unión Comercio (1)

See also

Football in Peru