Rugby team

Junior

Club · Colombia · Primera A

«The Sharks»

381 Matches

153 wins

109 draws

119 losses

496–420 Goals

+76 Difference

1.3 Scored per game

Form D L D L D D

Junior grew out of a neighbourhood, Rebolo, where Micaela Lavalle de Mejía gathered a group of local boys in 1924 and gave them a side to play for. The name shifted before it settled: Juventud Infantil first, then Juventud Junior once the team reached the top flight in 1929, and finally just Junior, trimmed down so nobody stumbled over the pronunciation. From 1948, when Colombian football turned professional, the club played as Atlético Junior.

The record since then reads twelve national championships, the last two coming in 2025 and the 2026 Apertura. Two Copa Colombia titles and two Superligas sit alongside them. A Copa Libertadores semi-final in 1994 remains the other high mark. None of it came free of trouble: money problems pushed Junior out of the professional league altogether in 1953, and the club did not return until 1966.

Home is the Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, holding 46,692 for league football and now being rebuilt toward 60,000–65,000 seats. Iván Valenciano remains the club's leading scorer, Sebastián Viera its most-capped player, and Carlos Valderrama and Carlos Bacca both wore the shirt before finding wider fame; Luis Díaz came up through the academy. The Char family, led by Fuad Char, has owned and financed the club for years.

Latest results

All matches

6 Sep	Primera A	Jaguares H	3:3	D
30 Aug	Primera A	Santa Fe H	1:1	D
27 Aug	Primera A	America de Cali A	2:4	L
24 Aug	Primera A	Once Caldas H	1:1	D
16 Aug	Primera A	Chico A
12 Aug	Primera A	Deportivo Pereira H

Standing

Primera A

Group stage · Apertura

#	Team	M	W	D	L	Goals	Pts
1	Atlético Nacional	19	13	1	5	35:15	40
2	Junior	19	11	2	6	31:24	35
3	Deportivo Pasto	19	10	4	5	29:25	34
4	America de Cali	19	10	3	6	25:15	33
5	Once Caldas	19	8	9	2	31:22	33

Full table

Team statistics

matches counted: 381

381 Matches

153 wins

109 draws

119 losses

496–420 Goals

+76 Difference

1.3 Scored per game

Season results matches counted: 381

153 109 119

wins draws losses

Scored and conceded last matches

scored — above the line conceded — below the line

Metric	Total	Home	Away
Matches	381	191	190
Scored	496	312	184
Conceded	420	188	232
Scored per game	1.3	1.6	1.0
Conceded per game	1.1	1.0	1.2
Difference	+76	+124	−48

Key players

by appearances over the last year

Jefersson Justino Martínez Valverde Goalkeeper 37 Matches

Mauro Santiago Silveira Lacuesta Goalkeeper 36 Matches

Juan David Ríos Henao Midfielder 35 Matches

Luis Muriel Forward 35 Matches

Joel Kanchimbo Forward 35 Matches

Edwin Herrera Defender 34 Matches

Guillermo Paiva Forward 33 Matches

Cristian Darío Barrios Puertas Midfielder 32 Matches

Squad of Junior

by appearances over the last year

Number	Player	Position	Matches
30	Jefersson Justino Martínez Valverde	Goalkeeper	37
1	Mauro Santiago Silveira Lacuesta	Goalkeeper	36
14	Juan David Ríos Henao	Midfielder	35
10	Luis Muriel	Forward	35
21	Joel Kanchimbo	Forward	35
3	Edwin Herrera	Defender	34
9	Guillermo Paiva	Forward	33
77	Cristian Darío Barrios Puertas	Midfielder	32
26	Yeison Abelardo Súarez Vásquez	Defender	31
20	Gianhenson Sarmiento	Midfielder	30
88	Bryan David Castrillón Gómez	Forward	30
29	Teófilo Antonio Gutiérrez Roncancio	Forward	30
22	Jesús David Rivas Hernández	Midfielder	30
24	Jean Carlos Pestaña Hernández	Defender	30
5	Daniel Rivera	Defender	29
34	Jhomier Javier Guerrero González	Defender	25
80	Fabián Steven Ángel Bernal	Midfielder	24
98	H. Pena	Defender	23
18	Kevin Andrés Pérez Pérez	Midfielder	22
8	Yimmi Javier Chará Zamora	Midfielder	22
33	Lucas Gabriel Monzón Lemos	Defender	22
34	Daniel Socarras	Defender	20
28	Guillermo León Celis Montiel	Midfielder	17
70	Carlos Bacca	Forward	17
6	Dylan Villareal	Midfielder	16
38	Andres Schmalbach	Midfielder	14
7	Harold Rivera	Midfielder	13
27	Jhon Ronny Navia Mina	Defender	7
19	Francisco David Fydriszewski	Forward	5
16	Carlos Perez	Midfielder	4
98	Jermein Peña	Defender	3
25	Déiber Caicedo	Forward	3
23	Pablo Antonio Ortíz Cabezas	Defender	2
12	Jaime Acosta	Goalkeeper	1

Show full squad

Fixtures of Junior

6 Sep Jaguares H 3:3 D
30 Aug Santa Fe H 1:1 D
27 Aug America de Cali A 2:4 L
24 Aug Once Caldas H 1:1 D
16 Aug Chico A
12 Aug Deportivo Pereira H
2 Aug Millonarios H 0:1 L
29 Jul Barranquilla A 3:3 D

Honours of Junior

Categoría Primera A 1977, 1980, 1993, 1995, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2018, 2019, 2023, 2025, 2026 12
Copa Colombia 2015, 2017 2
Superliga de Colombia 2019, 2020 2