Dimayor Assembly Keeps Four-Team Group Stage for Liga BetPlay II-2026

The meeting that many saw as the prelude to a major overhaul ended without any surprises. Dimayor wrapped up its assembly and the conclusion was clear: the Liga BetPlay II-2026 will continue to be played under the four-team group format, just as it was planned from the start of the championship.

This gathering was no routine formality. The national emergency declared after the earthquake had halted soccer activity in the country and forced league officials to sit down and review an increasingly tight calendar. On the table was an option that sounded tempting for easing the schedule crunch: trimming the final stages and shifting from the group format to a playoff system, closer to what other leagues in the region use.

In the end, the scale tipped toward continuity. The organization made that clear in its official statement:

Maintain the current format of the Liga BetPlay DIMAYOR II-2026, giving continuity to the competition system established since the start of the championship.Dimayor

In other words, no experiments in the middle of the tournament. The four-team groups, with all the controversy they carry season after season, are staying put once again.

The Cup Did Get Some Changes

Where the assembly did make changes was in the Copa Colombia. There, officials approved modifications that directly affect the road to the title. The round of 16 and the quarterfinals will be played as single-leg matches, while the semifinals and final will keep the two-legged format.

Home-field advantage in those knockout ties was not left to chance. If a matchup pits a Torneo BetPlay (second division) team against a Liga BetPlay side, the lower-division club will host. And if the tie is between two first-division clubs, home advantage will go to whichever team finished higher in the first-half reclassification table. That criterion was already written into the rulebook, and Dimayor decided to leave it as is.

Soccer Returns With Matchdays 2 and 4

With the format now settled, the FPC calendar is back in motion. On Wednesday, August 19, there is action in Medellín, where Aguilas hosts Llaneros, and in Cucuta, which takes on Internacional de Bogota.

Matchday six runs in full between Friday, August 21 and Sunday, August 23, with a slate that includes several of the season's headline names: Jaguares vs Chico, Alianza vs Pereira, Aguilas vs Millonarios, Tolima vs Bucaramanga, Santa Fe vs America, Medellin vs Cucuta, Fortaleza vs Nacional, Pasto vs Llaneros, Cali vs Internacional and Junior vs Once Caldas.

With the calendar cleared up and the rules settled for both the League and the Cup, the clubs turn their focus back to what really matters: piling up points and securing one of the eight spots that will fight for the title under the same system as always.