Soccer Tour — See a Game Live

Wander Argentina offers exciting, safe and affordable tours to Argentine soccer games.

Tour Includes:

– Transport and accompaniment to the game.
– Tickets to the game (even for games in which only ‘club members’ are normally provided access)
– Expert explanations: bilingual guides explain the ins and outs of the game, translate chants and provide insider details on players and clubs
– Accompanied return from the stadium

Terms of online booking:

– Specific game days and times are usually not decided until a few days before the game. If game time is not confirmed upon booking please be flexible.
– If for some reason you cannot attend the elected game, please inform us as soon as possible. We will work with you to arrange to see another game.
-Price is determined by the cost of the match tickets

Upcoming games

To inquire about upcoming games, check our list of upcoming soccer games and send us a message at the bottom of the page, or go ahead and contact us through our contact form.

Football Argentina: The Classic Teams

Argentina’s First Division-Superliga (Super League) represents the best teams in the Argentine football.

Argentina’s First Division Championship is considered one of the best in the world of football, so it’s hard to imagine that the first organized game took place at Buenos Aires Cricket club in 1867.

In 1893 Argentina was the first country aside from the United Kingdom to establish a national football league, which has continued uninterrupted since.

In 1931, 18 broke off from the amateur league to form the country’s first professional league. Today, Argentina’s First Division league has 26 teams competing.

Table of Contents

The Big Five Teams

‘The Big Five’ are the country’s most popular teams. All these teams — Boca, River, Independiente, Racing and San Lorenzo are based in Buenos Aires, but have fans around the country.

Boca Juniors and River Plate are the two most popular teams. Boca Juniors are the most popular both in Buenos Aires and country-wide with 39% rabid football fans supporting them. Second are River Plate with 28% of the country’s supporters. Independiente has 6% of fans, San Lorenzo 5%, and Racing 3% according to a Gallop poll.

If you come to see football in Argentina, you have to pick a team, but be careful, once you pick a team you can’t change your mind!

Boca Juniors

Known as: Boca, Los Xeneizes, Los Bosteros (The Shit Boys)
Founded: 1905
Colors: Blue and Yellow
Stadium: Estadio Alberto J. Armando, La Bombonera (The Chocolate Box)
Titles: 33 Domestic Championships, 6 Copa Libertadores, 3 Intercontinental Cups

Along with River Plate, Boca is one of the titans of Argentine football. With a glittering history and huge fan base, the club and its stadium, the Bombonera, are world famous.

Based in the poor, but colorful neighborhood of La Boca, the team inspires a multitude of fanatical supporters.

While Boca Jrs. has never been relegated from Division A, fans place more importance on guts and commitment from their players than displays of pretty football.

Boca Jrs was the first team to win the new Super League trophy. For their fans, Boca Juniors is not just a football club, it’s a way of life.

Arch Rivals: River

River Plate

Known as: River, Los Millonarios (The Millionaires), Las Gallinas (The Chickens)
Founded: 1901
Colors: White and Red
Stadium: El Monumental
Titles: 36 Domestic Championships, 2 Copa Libertadores, 1 Intercontinental Cup

The Yin to Boca’s Yang, River Plate’s mythical white shirt with its diagonal red stripe incites just as much passion amongst supporters as the blue and yellow of their rivals.

Regarded by some as the greatest of all South American teams because of their trophy-laden history, River Plate pride themselves on their attractive, attacking style of football above all else.

They experienced the shame of being relegated to Division B in 2011 but have since bounced back, winning the Copa and Supercopa Argentina in 2017. Traditionally, fans come from the middle and upper classes, but you’ll find River supporters in all walks of life.

Arch Rivals: Boca

Independiente

Known as: Independiente, Los Diablos Rojos (Red Devils)
Founded: 1905
Colors: Red with Blue or White
Stadium: Estadio Libertadores de America (La Doble Visera)
Titles: 14 Domestic Championships, 7 Copa Libertadores, 2 Intercontinental Cups

A club that was previously known as ‘The King of the Cups‘ (until Boca overtook their number of international trophies), Independiente has a glorious past, and a present that can best be described as mediocre.

Independiente fans are notoriously demanding —they not only expect success on the pitch, they want beautiful football as well. These days, unfortunately, they more often than not go home disappointed.
Arch Rivals: Racing

4. Racing Club de Avellaneda

Known as: Racing, La Academia (The Academy)
Founded: 1903
Colors: Sky Blue and White
Stadium: El Cilindro de Avellaneda (The Cylinder of Avellaneda)
Titles: 7 Domestic Championships, 1 Copa Libertadores, 1 Intercontinental Cup

Once a club whose glory years were in the distant past, Racing has managed to maintain a huge group of stoic supporters and remains one of the Big Five teams of Argentine football.

It is said that the Racing faithful love to suffer, and suffer is what they have mostly done since 1967, with only one championship (the 2001 Apertura) in all that time until winning their eighteenth national league championship in 2019.

The team seems to be in constant danger of relegation to the second division, which has caused countless cases of premature baldness among fans. The club is known for producing many talented players, who often go on to represent big European clubs, and the Argentine national team.
Arch Rivals: Independiente

San Lorenzo de Almagro

Known as: San Lorenzo, El Ciclón (The Cyclone), Los Santos (The Saints), Los Cuervos (The Crows)
Founded: 1908
Colors: Blue and Red
Stadium: Estadio Pedro Bidegain (El nuevo Gasómetro)
Titles: 10 Domestic Championships

San Lorenzo is a powerhouse club with a big local fan base (including Pope Francis, a lifelong fan) and plenty of domestic glory; the only thing missing so far is international success.

The Saints are the pride of the working class Boedo neighborhood (not Almagro, as their name suggests), and fans are renowned for their passionate singing of a colorful array of club songs from the terraces.

They were once the owners of a majestic stadium, the Gasómetro, which unfortunately was torn down for financial reasons, and replaced by a supermarket. It is a team that almost has it all, but is just not quite Boca or River.
Arch Rivals: Huracán

Other Argentine Football Teams

Vélez Sársfield

Known as: Vélez, El Fortín (The Fortress)
Founded: 1910
Colors: White and Blue
Stadium: Estadio José Amalfitani, El Fortín (The Fortress)
Titles: 6 Domestic Championships, 1 Copa Libertadores, 1 Intercontinental Cup

In relation to the amount of success Vélez has enjoyed over the years, it has surprisingly few fans. This is perhaps the main factor preventing the club from being considered one of the ‘big’ Argentine teams.

Supporters are also considered to be particularly amargo (literally ‘bitter’) and usually prefer to see the glass as half empty. But surely if the team can return to winning ways and continue producing talented players, more fans will be tempted to jump on the Vélez bandwagon.
Arch Rivals: Ferro (2nd Division)

Huracán

Known as: El Globo/Globito(The Balloon)/ Los Quemeros (‘The Burners’)
Founded: 1908
Colors: White and Red
Stadium: Estadio Tomás A. Ducó (El Palacio)
Titles:13 Domestic Championships, Supercopa Argentina 2014
A humble team that finally gained a place among Argentina’s top football teams through sheer grit. Huracán has increased their profile and their games have been in high demand since they returned to the First Division in 2014 and won the Supercopa Argentina the next year.
Arch Rivals: San Lorenzo

Estudiantes de la Plata

Known as: Estudiantes, Los Pincharratas (The Rat-stabbers) or pinchas
Founded: 1905
Colors: Red and White
Stadium: Estadio Jorge Luis Hirschi
Titles: 4 Domestic Championships, 3 Copa Libertadores, 1 Intercontinental Cup

In the city of La Plata, Boca Juniors doesn’t exist. Neither does River Plate. That’s because in La Plata, the footballing world revolves around two teams only; Estudiantes and Gimnasia.

While support for the two clubs is fairly evenly split, it is Estudiantes who have won the big tournaments both locally and internationally, while their cousins Gimnasia have never actually won a major trophy.
Arch Rivals: Gimnasia de la Plata

Newell’s Old Boys

Known as: Newell’s, Los Leprosos (The Lepers)
Founded: 1903
Colors: Red and Black
Stadium: Estadio Newell’s Old Boys (El Coloso del Parque)
Titles: Five Domestic Championships

Much like in La Plata, the two teams of the city of Rosario define themselves by their mutual hatred of one another.

Fans of Newell’s are traditionally more middle class, while Central supporters come from the lower classes. Historically, both teams have done very well for themselves, gaining nine Argentine championships for the city of Rosario, and turning out many great international players.
Arch Rivals: Rosario Central

Rosario Central

Known as: Central, Los Canallas (The scoundrels)
La Academia Rosarina (The Academy of Rosario)
Founded: 1889
Colors: Blue and Yellow
Stadium: Estadio Gigante de Arroyito
Titles: 4 Domestic championships

When not busy being bitter rivals of Newell’s, Central has found time to produce a great many exceptional players, earning them (like Racing), the nickname of ‘The Academy.’ Until their 2017 Copa Argentina win,

Rosario struggled in recent years to make an impact in the top division.

Favorite of Argentine icon, Che Guevara, Rosario Central is the only team outside Buenos Aires to win an international title.
Many years of the big games consisting of clasico fixtures against their cross-town enemies has them now at the top of their game.
Arch Rivals: Newell’s Old Boys

Argentinos Juniors

Known as: Argentinos Juniors, Bichos Colorados (Red Bugs)
Founded: 1904
Colors: Red and White
Stadium: Estadio Diego Armando Maradona
Titles: 2 Domestic Championships, 1 Copa Libertadores

A popular team with just two national titles, the glittering star of Argentinos Juniors’ trophy cabinet is no doubt the 1985 Copa Libertadores. A great producer of talent, they can take particular credit for handing a certain 15-year-old by the name of Diego Maradona his professional debut in 1976.

It was arguably the club’s most telling contribution to world football, and they made sure to remind everybody of the fact by naming their stadium after the mythical number 10.
Arch Rivals: Platense (2nd Division)

—by Dan Colasimone

Want to see a soccer game in Buenos Aires? → Check out our list of upcoming games.

Take a stadium tour of Argentina’s two most popular teams: River Plate & Boca Jrs. Stadium Tours

→ Getting a Hold of Tickets to Argentine Football Games

→ Which Games to Attend?

→ Choosing ‘Your’ Argentine Football Team

→ Lionel Messi, Argentina’s Soccer Messiah

Football Argentina: Getting a Hold of Tickets

The easiest way of getting a ticket to an Argentine football game is probably to purchase a ticket online from an agency.

Purchasing the tickets this way is a full tour that includes a bilingual guide and football expert and transport to and from the stadium.

The only downside with this method is that prices will be marked up from the cost at stadium counters. Considering exchange rates, even with such a mark up, this might just be the most convenient approach because getting tickets from the source can be an exercise in frustration.

Due to the popularity of their teams, prices to Boca Juniors and River Plate games are by far the most expensive. Suffice to say, because only ‘socios’ or ‘team members’ can purchase tickets, it is now impossible to buy Boca tickets the conventional way, and almost impossible for River tickets. Visitors will have to go through an agency unless you have a local friend that is a member and can get you tickets.

Most tourists visiting Argentina want to see the world famous Boca or River play a match, but there are many exciting Division I matches with equally rabid rivalries between the fans that are worth attending, as well as the Copa Libertadores, which has six local Argentine teams competing in the South American championship.

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Buying Tickets at the Stadium

— If you have more time than money, you can take a chance and go to the stadium before the match to buy a ticket (aside from Boca and River games, where that won’t work).

The problem here is that procedures vary depending on the importance of the match, or on other factors which often don’t make any sense at all. Sometimes tickets are available at the stadium ticket stalls a couple of weeks before the match in question, sometimes they only go on sale to the public the day before and big games featuring popular teams often do not offer tickets to the public.

Purchasing tickets at the stadium will work for most of the smaller teams, it’s just a matter of finding out when those tickets go on sale.

If it’s a big match, people will line up early in the morning to make sure they get a ticket. If you’re a hardcore enough fan to do this, make sure you get all the details beforehand — you don’t want to go on the wrong day, and stand in the wrong line!

Sometimes tickets to important games are sold in other venues as well, such as the Luna Park entertainment complex downtown.

For many matches, tickets should still be available right up until kickoff, but unless you have your finger on the pulse of Argentine football it can be hard to determine this beforehand. There are sometimes tickets for sale on Mercado Libre, Argentina’s version of Ebay and Viagogo, but, again, purchasers will need to know what a real ticket looks like and be around to accept the delivery, and we’ve heard a couple of cases of the tickets not being delivered.

Buying Soccer Tickets from a Scalper

— If it’s the day of a big game, and you don’t yet have a ticket, one other option is to try to pick one up from an ‘unauthorized’ (read: illegal) vendor outside the stadium in the hours leading up to the match. Do so at your own peril, though. It might just work, but you also might end up — as many have before — with a bunk ticket, just as can happen buying from individuals online .

Scalpers are found in the parks and streets outside the stadium shouting out ‘¡Boletos!’ (Tickets!). Ticket prices will be substantially marked up, probably more so if you are a foreigner, but that is to be expected going through an intermediary. Try to use your good judgment on the legitimacy of the tickets, which are increasingly plastic cards instead of paper tickets. Talk to several of the vendors to compare prices — if they see you talking to the competition, they will probably drop the price a little too.

The scalper will undoubtedly assure you until he’s blue in the face that the ticket is real, but be careful. If he won’t let you inspect the ticket before you buy, forget it. Very carefully check the details written on the ticket. Is it the right game? The right date? An adult ticket? If you’re buying more than one, make sure they’re all the same.

If you’re with a friend who has a legitimate ticket, you can use it to compare. You may do everything right and still find out the ticket is a fake when you get to the stadium entrance. If you’re desperate enough to see the match, and you think it’s worth the risk of throwing your money away, buying from a scalper (for non Boca games) is a final resort that may actually work.

*updated: 2019

⇒ Purchase a Tour to a Soccer Game Online

Football Argentina: Which Games to Attend?

Which Soccer Games to See in Buenos Aires

WA-football-bombenera-josé porras — photo: José Porras

If trying to sort out which soccer match to go see in Buenos Aires, it obviously depends on scheduling, the length of your stay and the availability of tickets. Any game featuring Argentina’s top soccer teams is an exciting event but some matches are more coveted than others, particularly games between historic rivals.

Assuming you had all options available to you, and you’re a neutral supporter, the games could be prioritized in the following order:

Boca-River

The ‘Superclasico’ of Argentine football, and a unique experience that is worth blowing your budget on. An event you’ll never forget even if you’re not a football fan, and if you are, it’s something akin to Nirvana. It’s preferable to see it at the home stadium, the Bombonera in La Boca, but unfortunately it is extremely difficult for visitors to get tickets, and prices reach up to around US$500 per person.

Argentina-Brazil

You may not find the same level of fanatical fans as at a club game, but when two of South American football’s oldest and fiercest national rivals go head to head with squads bursting to the brim with superstar talent, footballing history is made every time.

Any Boca Juniors Game at Boca’s Bombonera Stadium

Although Boca Juniors and River Plate rival each other for the highest number of supporters in Argentina, Boca’s Bombonera, or ‘chocolate box’ home stadium is unique in world football.

It is comparatively small to other stadiums, with steep stands full of rabid supporters in one of the most colorful neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, the atmosphere at big matches is pure shock and awe. For the last few years, Boca has not sold tickets publicly — only those who are ‘socios,’ or Boca Jr. team members can get tickets, so these days it takes a near miracle for visitors to see games in the Bombonera.

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Any game at River Plate’s Home Stadium, Monumental

River Plate fans are just as fanatical as their Boca rivals.

Although their stadium is slightly less intimate, it’s the biggest in the country and more than worth a visit. River Plate’s stadium has a newly renovated midfield premium box seat section with only 109 seats. Like Boca Juniors, River Plate also has a ‘members only’ policy for ticket sales which gives preferential treatment to ‘club members,’ so they can be difficult to for visitors to acquire.

Other Top Tier Matches Between Rival Teams

If none of the above games are available to you during your stay, there are plenty of alternatives that are sure to leave you satisfied.

Argentine football is full of historical grudge matches. The colorful local rivalries between other big five teams include:

• Racing vs Independiente
• Newell’s Old Boys vs Rosario Central
• San Lorenzo vs Huracán

To see a complete list of rival teams see our post on Argentina’s classic football teams.

Any match played by the national team is a momentous event as well.

Finally, don’t disregard a trip to any of the match ups during a regular weekend of fixtures of any Argentine Super League team, or intra-continental affairs against clubs from elsewhere in South America.