Yael Falcón Pérez To Officiate River Plate - Belgrano Final In Córdoba
Yael Falcón Pérez will referee river plate - belgrano when the Apertura Tournament final is played at the Mario Alberto Kempes Stadium in Córdoba on May 24, 2026. The single-match final puts the title on one night at a venue that holds 57,000.
River Plate and Belgrano arrive there through very different routes. River finished second in Group B with 29 points, then beat San Lorenzo on penalties after a 2-2 draw, defeated Gimnasia de La Plata 2-0 and edged Rosario Central 1-0 on Facundo Colidio’s penalty.
River Plate’s route to Córdoba
Chacho Coudet’s team also carried a recent edge into the final. River beat Belgrano 3-0 on April 5 in Matchday 13, with Tomás Galván scoring twice and Colidio adding the third.
That result matched a longer trend in the rivalry. River had also beaten Belgrano 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Copa de la Liga, when Salomón Rondón and Colidio scored for River and Lucas Passerini replied for Belgrano. Across 44 official matches, River held the clearer First Division head-to-head record, and the same referee had already overseen the April meeting in the regular season.
Belgrano’s Path Under Zielinski
Belgrano finished fifth in Zone B and turned the knockout rounds into a run to the final. Ricardo Zielinski’s side eliminated Talleres 1-0 in the round of 16, beat Unión 2-0 in the quarterfinals and then reached the final by beating Argentinos Juniors on penalties after a stoppage-time equalizer in La Paternal.
Belgrano entered the title match with four matches unbeaten after a setback at the end of the regular season. River, meanwhile, had gone five matches unbeaten across domestic and international competitions, setting up a final in which form, familiarity and one referee assignment all pointed into the same narrow corridor.
For both clubs, the stakes are simple: one match, one trophy, one night in Córdoba. The schedule leaves no room for recovery, and the 57,000-seat Kempes gives the final a scale that matches the rivalry.
