| Founded | 1967; 58 years ago (1967) |
|---|---|
| First season | 1967 |
| Country | Perú |
| Number of clubs | 50 |
| Level on pyramid | 4 |
| Promotion to |  Liga 3 |
| Relegation to |  Ligas Departamentales |
| Current champions | Unión Minas (1st title) (2025) |
| Most championships | Atlético Torino (5 titles) |
| Broadcaster(s) | DirecTV |
| Current:2025 Copa Perú | |
TheCopa Perú is afootball tournament in Peru and the fourth-highest division of thePeruvian 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 thePeruvian Tercera División.
In 1965, with football activity practically paralyzed among the Lima teams because thePeru national football team was playing in the1966 FIFA World Cup qualification, four provincial teams agreed under the auspices of Orlando Balarezo, president ofAtlético Grau, to organize theCuadrangular de Campeones Provincianos, a football tournament in Lima among the provincial champions.
In 1966, the First Division was namedDescentralizado; teams from outside the capital ofLima 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.[1]
In 1974, the tournament ended at theRegional Stage and no Final took place. The departamental champions qualified for the1974 Reclasificatorio Regional with the last teams from the1973 Torneo Descentralizado that had to revalidate the category. At the end of the 1974 Reclasificatorio Regional, the teamsAlfonso Ugarte,Barrio Frigorífico,Carlos A. Mannucci,Deportivo Junín,Piérola,Unión Huaral,Unión Pesquero andWalter Ormeño were promoted to the1974 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 generaleconomic crisis going on during PresidentAlan 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 theFirst Division. In 2004, the tournament widened to 16 teams, so that teams from Lima could also compete. The winner and runner-up of theSecond 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, thePeruvian Football Federation officialized the creation of theLigas 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 andTumbes.
On August 23, 2022, it was announced that from 2023, the Copa Perú would only give promotion toLiga 2 due to the reforms of Peruvian football by the FPF.[2] In 2025, the Copa Perú was moved to the fourth tier, being replaced by theLiga 3.
The tournament has 5 stages. The first stage of the tournament is the District Stage (Spanish:Etapa Distrital), 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 (Spanish:Etapa Provincial), 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 (Spanish:Etapa Departamental), consisting of another league tournament, between July and September.
Starting in 2015 under the leadership of the newPeruvian 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 asLa Finalísima in Lima. The winner of the final group stage and the runner-up of the final group stage will be promoted to theLiga 2.
| Level | Stage |
|---|---|
4 | Etapa Nacional |
5 | Ligas Departamentales |
6 | Ligas Provinciales |
7 | Ligas Distritales Primera División |
8 | Ligas Distritales Segunda División |
| Year | Level | Promotion to | Relegation to |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967–1973 | 2 | Primera División | Etapa Regional (1967–2014) Ligas Departamentales Ligas Provinciales Ligas Distritales |
| 1974 | 3 | Reclasificatorio Regional | |
| 1975–1990 | 3 | Primera División | |
| 1991 | 3 | Torneo Zonal | |
| 1992–2022 | 2 | Primera División(Champion) Segunda División(Runner-up) | |
| 2023–2024 | 3 | Liga 2 | |
| 2025 | 4 | Liga 2(Champion) Liga 3(Best teams) |
| Region | Nº of titles | Clubs |
|---|---|---|
 La Libertad | 8 | Carlos A. Mannucci (2),Alfonso Ugarte de Chiclín (1),Los Espartanos (1),Libertad (1),Sport Pilsen (1),Deportivo UPAO (1),Universidad César Vallejo (1) |
 Piura | 8 | Atlético Torino (5),Atlético Grau (1),I.M.I. (1),Defensor La Bocana (1) |
 Lambayeque | 6 | Juan Aurich (2),Deportivo Cañaña (1),Aurich–Cañaña (1),Carlos Stein (1),Pirata (1) |
 Arequipa | 5 | Melgar (1),Sportivo Huracán (1),Atlético Universidad (1),Total Clean (1),Binacional (1) |
 Ancash | 4 | José Gálvez (2),Sport Áncash (1),Sport Rosario (1) |
 Junin | 3 | ADT (2),Sport Huancayo (1) |
 Cajamarca | 3 | UTC (2),ADA (1) |
 Tacna | 3 | Coronel Bolognesi (2),Bentín Tacna Heroica (1) |
 Cusco | 2 | Real Garcilaso (1),Deportivo Garcilaso (1) |
 Huánuco | 2 | León de Huánuco (2) |
 Ucayali | 2 | La Loretana (1),Sport Loreto (1) |
 Ica | 1 | Estudiantes de Medicina (1) |
 Lima | 1 | Juventud La Palma (1) |
 Loreto | 1 | Hungaritos Agustinos (1) |
 Moquegua | 1 | San Simón (1) |
 Pasco | 1 | Unión Minas (1) |
 San Martín | 1 | Unión Comercio (1) |
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| Friendly cups |
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| Youth |
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| Women's |
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