First National: how it will be played and how the promotions will be distributed in the toughest tournament in Argentina

The main tournament for the promotion of Argentine soccer and probably the most competitive in the country, that of the First National, will begin to trace its path for the 2023 season this Thursday, when the draw that will define the draw will take place at the premises of the Argentine Soccer Association. the two areas in which it will be held -one of the main novelties of the event- and also the complete fixture.

As has become customary in recent years, there will be changes to the way the tournament will be structured and run. The 37 participating teams will be divided into two groups (one of 19 and the other of 18). Each team will face all the rivals in its area at home and as a visitor, for which it will total 34 or 36 games before reaching the instance that will define the two promotions to the Professional Soccer League that the division will grant.

The two leaders of the zones will face each other in a single match on a neutral field that will consecrate the champion and first promoted. The teams that finish between second and eighth place in each group will access the first round of the Reduced for the second place in the LPF. The winners of that instance will be joined in the quarterfinals by the loser of the final for the first promotion.

The number of relegations and the way in which they will be resolved at the end of the season are the points that the leaders of the clubs have not yet finished agreeing on. In principle, there would be two and they would correspond to the teams that finished last in each of the zones. If so, this would allow an even number of participants to return by 2024, since next year there will be three relegations from the LPF and (it is presumed) one promotion from Primera B and another from Federal.

The contest will begin the last week of January (in that case, it would not be necessary to schedule dates during the week throughout the year) or the first of February and will have 37 groups that will represent the City of Buenos Aires (6) and 11 provinces: Buenos Aires (16), Mendoza (3), Córdoba (2), Chubut (2), Santiago del Estero (2), Santa Fe (1), Tucumán (1), Jujuy (1), Chaco (1), Between Rios (1) and San Juan (1).

Belgrano and Instituto will no longer be there, who this year achieved promotion to the Professional League, from which the relegated Aldosivi and Patronato will arrive, who will simultaneously play the Copa Libertadores for having won the Argentine Cup. Nor will Ramón Santamarina and Sacachispas be there, who fell to Federal and Primera B, respectively, but Racing de Córdoba and Defensores Unidos de Zárate will join, who will rise from those divisions.

The main tournament for the promotion of Argentine soccer and probably the most competitive in the country, that of the First National, will begin to trace its path for the 2023 season this Thursday, when the draw that will define the draw will take place at the premises of the Argentine Soccer Association.