2023 Categoría Primera B season

Torneo BetPlay Dimayor
Season2023
Dates2 February – 28 November 2023
ChampionsPatriotas (1st title)
PromotedPatriotas
Fortaleza
Matches played310
Goals scored681 (2.2 per match)
Top goalscorerTorneo I: Santiago Gómez (10 goals)
Torneo II: Jhonier Blanco (15 goals)
Biggest home winPatriotas 4–0 Boca Juniors
(9 March)
Fortaleza 5–1 Valledupar
(20 April)
Fortaleza 4–0 Real Cartagena
(19 May)
Leones 4–0 Orsomarso
(24 August)
Patriotas 4–0 Tigres
(11 October)
Biggest away winBarranquilla 0–5 Cortuluá
(8 March)
Highest scoringValledupar 5–3 Leones
(23 April)
← 2022
2024 →
Game between Bogotá FC and Atlético FC in the Primera B of Colombia 2023.

The 2023 Categoría Primera B season (officially known as the 2023 Torneo BetPlay Dimayor season for sponsorship reasons) was the 34th season of the Categoría Primera B since its founding as Colombia's second division football league. The season began on 2 February and ended on 28 November 2023.[1]

Patriotas won their first Primera B title as well as promotion to the top tier Categoría Primera A at the end of the season, defeating Fortaleza 3–2 on aggregate in the Grand Final. Runners-up Fortaleza were also promoted after placing first in the season's aggregate table.[2]

Format

The format for the 2023 Primera B season was approved at DIMAYOR's General Assembly session of 14 December 2022 and confirmed on 12 January 2023, keeping the system used in the previous season.

Two tournaments (Torneo I and Torneo II) with three stages each were played. In the first stage of both tournaments, the 16 teams played a single round-robin tournament with an additional matchday for regional derbies and home-and-away order reversed for the Torneo II. The top eight teams at the end of the sixteen rounds advanced to the semi-final stage, in which teams were drawn into two groups of four where they played each one of their rivals twice. The top team of each group advanced to the finals, playing a double-legged series with the winners advancing to the season's Grand Final.

The Grand Final to decide the season champions as well as the first promotion to Primera A, was a double-legged series contested at the end of the season by the winners of the season's two tournaments. If one team won both of the season's tournaments, the Grand Final would not be played and that team would be automatically crowned Primera B champions and promoted to the top flight. The second promotion spot to Primera A for the 2024 season would be decided in a promotion play-off between the Grand Final loser and the best-placed team of the season's aggregate table, other than the Grand Final winners. If the Grand Final losers were the same team that topped the aggregate table, that team would also earn promotion and the play-off would not be played.[3]

Teams

16 teams took part in the season. The previous season's champions Boyacá Chicó and the winners of the promotion play-off series Atlético Huila were promoted to Primera A for the 2023 season and were replaced in Primera B by Patriotas and Cortuluá, who were relegated from Primera A at the end of the 2022 season after finishing in the bottom two places of the top tier's relegation table.[4]

On 14 December 2022 the General Assembly of DIMAYOR approved a proposal by Cortuluá to move their home matches from Tuluá to Yumbo, Valle del Cauca Department, starting from this season.[5]

On 22 June 2023, and motivated by the lack of support from both the government and local private enterprises, the board of Valledupar voted 4–1 to move the club to Soacha and rebrand it, effectively folding the existing club. The move was confirmed at a General Assembly of DIMAYOR on 6 July 2023,[6] in which Real Soacha Cundinamarca was announced as the new club that replaced Valledupar for the second half of the season.[7]

class=notpageimage|
Locations of the 2023 Categoría Primera B teams
Club City Stadium Capacity
Atlético Cali Pascual Guerrero 33,130
Barranquilla Barranquilla Romelio Martínez 8,000
Boca Juniors de Cali Cali Pascual Guerrero 33,130
Bogotá Bogotá Metropolitano de Techo 8,000
Cortuluá Yumbo Municipal Raúl Miranda 3,500[8]
Cúcuta Deportivo Cúcuta General Santander 42,901
Deportes Quindío Armenia Centenario 20,716
Fortaleza Bogotá Metropolitano de Techo 8,000
Leones Itagüí Metropolitano Ciudad de Itagüí 12,000
Llaneros Villavicencio Bello Horizonte 15,000
Orsomarso Palmira Francisco Rivera Escobar 15,300
Patriotas Tunja La Independencia 20,630
Real Cartagena Cartagena Jaime Morón León 16,068
Real Santander Piedecuesta Villa Concha 5,500
Real Soacha Cundinamarca[i] Soacha Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento 8,000
Tigres Bogotá Metropolitano de Techo 8,000
Valledupar Valledupar Armando Maestre Pavajeau 11,000
Notes
  1. ^ Replaced Valledupar for the Torneo II.

Torneo I

First stage

Standings

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Llaneros 16 9 5 2 19 10 +9 32 Advance to the semi-finals
2 Patriotas 16 8 6 2 20 7 +13 30
3 Cúcuta Deportivo 16 7 7 2 19 12 +7 28
4 Deportes Quindío 16 8 4 4 17 12 +5 28
5 Cortuluá 16 7 6 3 22 16 +6 27
6 Real Cartagena 16 7 5 4 24 19 +5 26
7 Fortaleza 16 6 7 3 20 15 +5 25
8 Valledupar 16 5 6 5 18 21 −3 21
9 Real Santander 16 5 5 6 13 12 +1 20
10 Leones 16 4 6 6 26 28 −2 18
11 Bogotá 16 4 5 7 12 16 −4 17
12 Barranquilla 16 5 2 9 18 24 −6 17
13 Orsomarso 16 5 2 9 12 20 −8 17
14 Tigres 16 4 3 9 7 13 −6 15
15 Boca Juniors de Cali 16 2 6 8 14 22 −8 12
16 Atlético 16 1 7 8 16 30 −14 10
Source: Dimayor, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Goal difference, 3) Goals for, 4) Away goals for, 5) Away goals against, 6) Drawing of lots.

Results

Home \ Away ATL BAR BOC BOG COR CUC QUI FOR LEO LLA ORS PAT RCA RSA TIG VAL
Atlético — 0–3 1–1 — 1–1 — — — 4–3 — — 0–0 1–3 1–1 0–0 —
Barranquilla — — — — 0–5 0–1 — — 2–3 0–1 — 1–2 2–2 1–0 — 0–0
Boca Juniors de Cali 2–2 1–2 — 1–0 — — 1–2 0–0 — — 0–0 — 2–0 — 1–2 —
Bogotá 1–1 2–0 — — — — 0–0 0–0 4–3 — 3–0 — 0–2 — 0–1 —
Cortuluá — — 2–1 0–0 — 2–2 2–1 0–1 — 1–1 — — — 1–0 — 1–0
Cúcuta Deportivo 2–1 — 2–1 2–0 — — 0–0 — — 1–1 1–0 — — 2–0 1–0 —
Deportes Quindío 4–2 2–0 — — — — — 1–0 0–3 — 1–1 1–0 2–0 — 1–0 —
Fortaleza 2–1 3–1 — — — 1–1 — — — 1–1 3–1 1–1 — — 1–0 5–1
Leones — — 1–1 — 2–2 2–1 — 2–2 — 0–1 — 0–0 — 1–1 — 0–2
Llaneros 3–0 — 2–1 2–0 1–3 — 1–0 — — — 2–1 — 2–1 — 1–0 —
Orsomarso 1–0 1–3 — — 0–1 — 1–0 — 1–0 — — 0–1 0–2 — 2–0 —
Patriotas — — 4–0 2–0 1–1 0–0 — 3–0 — 1–0 — — — 1–0 — 0–0
Real Cartagena — 0–3 — — 2–0 2–2 — 0–0 2–2 — — 3–2 — 1–1 — 2–0
Real Santander — — 1–1 2–0 — 1–0 0–1 2–0 — 0–0 0–1 — — — — 3–1
Tigres — 1–0 — 0–0 3–0 — — — 0–1 — — 0–2 0–2 0–1 — 0–0
Valledupar 3–1 — 1–0 0–2 — 1–1 1–1 — 5–3 0–0 3–2 — — — — —
Source: Dimayor, Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Semi-finals

The eight teams that advanced to the semi-finals were drawn into two groups of four teams, with the top two teams from the first stage being seeded in each group. The two group winners advanced to the final.

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification LLA FOR RCA QUI
1 Llaneros 6 4 1 1 9 5 +4 13 Advance to the Finals — 2–1 1–0 2–0
2 Fortaleza 6 4 0 2 11 3 +8 12 0–1 — 4–0 3–0
3 Real Cartagena 6 1 2 3 5 10 −5 5 2–1 0–1 — 1–1
4 Deportes Quindío 6 0 3 3 5 12 −7 3 2–2 0–2 2–2 —
Source: Dimayor, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) First stage position (only applies for the seeded team, if it is involved in a tie), 3) Goal difference, 4) Goals for, 5) Away goals for, 6) Away goals against, 7) Yellow cards, 8) Red cards, 9) First stage position.

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification PAT CUC VAL COR
1 Patriotas 6 1 5 0 6 4 +2 8[a] Advance to the Finals — 2–2 2–0 0–0
2 Cúcuta Deportivo 6 1 5 0 10 8 +2 8[a] 1–1 — 1–1 2–2
3 Valledupar 6 1 3 2 5 6 −1 6 1–1 1–1 — 0–1
4 Cortuluá 6 1 3 2 4 7 −3 6 0–0 1–3 0–2 —
Source: Dimayor, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) First stage position (only applies for the seeded team, if it is involved in a tie), 3) Goal difference, 4) Goals for, 5) Away goals for, 6) Away goals against, 7) Yellow cards, 8) Red cards, 9) First stage position.
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Patriotas ahead of Cúcuta Deportivo for being the group's seeded team.

Finals

Patriotas1–0Llaneros
  • Barragán 78'
 Report
Referee: Carlos Ortega
Llaneros0–0Patriotas
Report

Patriotas won 1–0 on aggregate.


 Torneo BetPlay DIMAYOR
2023–I winners 
Patriotas
Advance to the Grand Final

Top scorers

Rank Player Club Goals
1 Argentina Santiago Gómez Real Cartagena 10
2 Colombia Misael Martínez Valledupar 9
3 Colombia Carlos Lucumí Fortaleza 8
Colombia Dairon Valencia Valledupar
5 Colombia Johar Mejía Cortuluá 7
Colombia Néider Ospina Llaneros
Colombia Jefry Zapata Cúcuta Deportivo
8 Colombia Stiwart Acuña Barranquilla 6
Colombia Jonathan Agudelo Cúcuta Deportivo
Colombia Jhonier Blanco Fortaleza
Colombia Santiago Córdoba Patriotas
Colombia Jairo Ditta Cortuluá
Colombia Iván Rivas Patriotas
Colombia Alexis Serna Deportes Quindío

Source: Soccerway

Torneo II

First stage

Standings

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Fortaleza 16 12 3 1 24 9 +15 39 Advance to the semi-finals
2 Llaneros 16 7 6 3 19 10 +9 27
3 Cúcuta Deportivo 16 7 6 3 22 15 +7 27
4 Real Cartagena 16 7 6 3 20 15 +5 27
5 Barranquilla 16 7 5 4 20 19 +1 26
6 Leones 16 7 3 6 28 23 +5 24
7 Atlético 16 7 3 6 19 19 0 24
8 Boca Juniors de Cali 16 6 4 6 13 14 −1 22
9 Patriotas 16 6 3 7 19 19 0 21
10 Real Santander 16 5 6 5 18 19 −1 21
11 Deportes Quindío 16 4 6 6 13 18 −5 18
12 Cortuluá 16 4 5 7 17 15 +2 17
13 Bogotá 16 4 4 8 11 17 −6 16
14 Orsomarso 16 4 3 9 11 20 −9 15
15 Real Soacha Cundinamarca 16 2 8 6 13 19 −6 14
16 Tigres 16 2 3 11 12 28 −16 9
Source: Dimayor, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Goal difference, 3) Goals for, 4) Away goals for, 5) Away goals against, 6) Drawing of lots.

Results

Home \ Away ATL BAR BOC BOG COR CUC QUI FOR LEO LLA ORS PAT RCA RSA RSC TIG
Atlético — — 2–0 0–2 — 1–0 2–2 0–0 — 0–0 0–1 — — — 1–2 —
Barranquilla 3–1 — 1–0 2–0 — — 4–1 1–1 — — 2–1 — 0–0 — — 0–0
Boca Juniors de Cali 1–2 — — — 1–0 1–0 — — 2–2 0–0 — 0–0 — 0–0 1–0 —
Bogotá — — 1–0 — 1–1 0–2 — — — 0–0 — 0–1 — 1–2 0–0 1–0
Cortuluá 0–1 1–1 — — — — — — 0–1 2–0 3–0 3–1 0–1 — — 3–0
Cúcuta Deportivo — 1–2 — — 1–1 — — 1–0 2–2 — — 4–3 2–0 1–1 2–0 —
Deportes Quindío — — 2–3 1–0 2–1 0–1 — — — 0–0 0–1 — — 1–1 1–1 —
Fortaleza — — 1–0 2–1 2–0 — 1–0 — 3–1 — — 1–0 1–0 2–0 — —
Leones 1–2 2–0 — 1–0 — — 0–0 — — — 4–0 — 1–2 — 3–2 1–2
Llaneros — 3–0 — — 1–0 1–1 — 1–2 4–3 — — 0–1 — 2–0 3–0 —
Orsomarso — — 0–1 2–0 — 1–2 0–0 0–1 — 0–2 — — — 2–2 0–0 —
Patriotas 2–1 2–0 — — — — 1–2 0–2 1–3 — 1–0 — 0–0 — — 4–0
Real Cartagena 3–1 1–2 3–2 3–3 — — 2–0 — — 1–1 1–0 — — — — 1–1
Real Santander 0–2 4–1 — — 2–2 0–0 — — 2–1 — — 2–1 0–1 — — 1–2
Real Soacha Cundinamarca — 1–1 — — 0–0 — — 2–2 1–2 — — 1–1 1–1 0–1 — 2–0
Tigres 2–3 — 0–1 0–1 — 2–2 0–1 2–3 — 0–1 1–3 — — — — —
Source: Dimayor, Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Semi-finals

The eight teams that advanced to the semi-finals were drawn into two groups of four teams, with the top two teams from the first stage being seeded in each group. The two group winners will advance to the final.

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification FOR LEO BOC RCA
1 Fortaleza 6 4 1 1 10 7 +3 13 Advance to the Finals — 2–1 2–1 3–0
2 Leones 6 3 2 1 13 9 +4 11 3–0 — 3–2 2–1
3 Boca Juniors de Cali 6 1 2 3 9 11 −2 5 1–1 3–3 — 2–1
4 Real Cartagena 6 1 1 4 5 10 −5 4 1–2 1–1 1–0 —
Source: Dimayor, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) First stage position (only applies for the seeded team, if it is involved in a tie), 3) Goal difference, 4) Goals for, 5) Away goals for, 6) Away goals against, 7) Yellow cards, 8) Red cards, 9) First stage position.

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification CUC LLA BAR ATL
1 Cúcuta Deportivo 6 4 1 1 7 4 +3 13 Advance to the Finals — 3–2 1–0 1–0
2 Llaneros 6 3 2 1 10 7 +3 11 1–0 — 4–2 1–0
3 Barranquilla 6 1 2 3 4 7 −3 5 0–1 0–0 — 2–1
4 Atlético 6 0 3 3 4 7 −3 3 1–1 2–2 0–0 —
Source: Dimayor, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) First stage position (only applies for the seeded team, if it is involved in a tie), 3) Goal difference, 4) Goals for, 5) Away goals for, 6) Away goals against, 7) Yellow cards, 8) Red cards, 9) First stage position.

Finals

Cúcuta Deportivo1–0Fortaleza
 Report
Referee: Nolberto Ararat
Fortaleza2–0Cúcuta Deportivo
 Report
Referee: Diego Ulloa


 Torneo BetPlay DIMAYOR
2023–II winners 
Fortaleza
Advance to the Grand Final

Top scorers

Rank Player Club Goals
1 Colombia Jhonier Blanco Fortaleza 15
2 Colombia Santiago Córdoba Patriotas 9
Argentina Santiago Gómez Real Cartagena
4 Colombia Andrés Carabalí Atlético 8
Colombia Mateo Zuleta Leones
6 Colombia Ferney Angulo Boca Juniors de Cali 7
Colombia Juan Sebastián Herrera Leones
Argentina Lucas Ríos Cúcuta Deportivo
9 Colombia Yeison Fuentes Leones 6
Colombia Sebastián Navarro Fortaleza

Source: Soccerway

Grand Final

Patriotas3–1Fortaleza
 Report
Referee: David Espinosa
Fortaleza1–0Patriotas
 Report
Referee: Luis Delgado

Patriotas won 3–2 on aggregate.


 Torneo BetPlay DIMAYOR
2023 champions 
Patriotas
1st title

Aggregate table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion
1 Fortaleza (P) 48 28 11 9 69 38 +31 95 Promotion to Categoría Primera A
2 Llaneros 46 23 15 8 57 33 +24 84
3 Cúcuta Deportivo 46 20 19 7 59 41 +18 79
4 Patriotas (C, P) 42 17 15 10 49 32 +17 66 Promotion to Categoría Primera A
5 Real Cartagena 44 16 14 14 54 54 0 62
6 Leones 38 14 11 13 67 60 +7 53
7 Cortuluá 38 12 14 12 43 38 +5 50
8 Deportes Quindío 38 12 13 13 35 42 −7 49
9 Barranquilla 38 13 9 16 42 50 −8 48
10 Real Santander 32 10 11 11 31 31 0 41
11 Real Soacha Cundinamarca 38 8 17 13 36 46 −10 41
12 Boca Juniors de Cali 38 9 12 17 36 47 −11 39
13 Atlético 38 8 13 17 39 56 −17 37
14 Bogotá 32 8 9 15 23 33 −10 33
15 Orsomarso 32 9 5 18 23 40 −17 32
16 Tigres 32 6 6 20 19 41 −22 24
Source: Dimayor
Rules for classification: 1) Points, 2) Goal difference, 3) Goals for, 4) Away goals for, 5) Away goals against, 6) Drawing of lots.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Promotion play-off

Since the season runners-up Fortaleza also ended up as the best-placed team in the aggregate table, they earned automatic promotion to the Categoría Primera A and the promotion play-off was not played.

See also

References

  1. ^ "La Dimayor anunció el calendario completo de los torneos colombianos para el 2023, menos liga femenina" [Dimayor announced the full schedule of Colombian tournaments for 2023, except for the women's league] (in Spanish). Colombia.com. 27 December 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  2. ^ "Patriotas se corona campeón del torneo de ascenso y regresa a la primera división" [Patriotas are crowned champions of the promotion tournament and return to the first division] (in Spanish). Caracol Radio. 29 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  3. ^ "¡Por el ascenso! Mira aquí el formato de juego en el Torneo BetPlay Dimayor" [For promotion! Check out here the format of play in the Torneo BetPlay Dimayor] (in Spanish). Win Sports. 12 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  4. ^ "¡Unos ríen y otros lloran! Huila y Boyacá volvieron a la A, mientras que Patriotas y Cortuluá descendieron en el 2022" [Some laugh and others cry! Huila and Boyacá returned to the A, while Patriotas and Cortuluá were relegated in 2022] (in Spanish). Win Sports. 7 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  5. ^ "Dimayor dio luz verde para el cambio de sede del Cortuluá" [Dimayor greenlit Cortuluá's home stadium change] (in Spanish). Infobae. 14 December 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Valledupar FC se despidió: adiós a 20 años de historia" [Valledupar FC bidded farewell: goodbye to 20 years of history] (in Spanish). El Pilón. 24 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  7. ^ "¡Es un hecho! Soacha será la casa de un equipo de fútbol masculino" [It's a fact! Soacha will be the home of a men's football team] (in Spanish). Periodismo Público. 7 July 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  8. ^ "Cortuluá estrenará casa: Yumbo arregló la grama e iluminación del estadio" [Cortuluá will premiere a home: Yumbo fixed the stadium's grass and lighting] (in Spanish). Blu Radio. 12 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.