1949 Argentine Primera División

The 1949 Argentine Primera División was the 58th season of top-flight football in Argentina. The season began on April 24 and ended on February 16, 1950.

Atlanta and Ferro Carril Oeste returned to Primera, while Lanús was relegated. Racing won its 10th league title.

For the first time, the AFA established as mandatory the use of squad numbers for Primera División matches. Displayed on players' backs, shirts had to be numbered from 2 to 11 so this rule was not mandatory for goalkeepers. The system entered into force since the 9th fixture on June 26.

Relegation system had been established in Argentina in 1937, when it was ruled that the worst placed teams would be relegated to Second Division. Due to the 1948 players' strike demanding better working conditions, relegations were suspended until the conflict was solved. As the championship continued normally and the Ministry of Labour ruled the maximum salary for football players would be mn$ 1,500, several players emigrated in search of better opportunities, most to Colombia which was not affiliated to FIFA by then. Some of the most notable footballers that emigrated were Adolfo Pedernera, Alfredo Di Stéfano, Pipo Rossi, Antonio Sastre, René Pontoni, and Julio Cozzi.

Relegations came back for the 1949 season, with only one team to be relegated. Nevertheless, few weeks before the championship ended, the AFA established that in case of Boca Juniors (which made the worst performance in the club's history) or Huracán finished in the last position, relegations would be annulled. This decision was based on the poor campaign of both teams in the tournament. In the last fixture, Boca beat Lanús 5–1 and could avoid relegation. As Huracán defeating arch-rival Banfield 1–0, Lanús and Huracán finished in the last position, with 26 points each. As goal difference did not count, they had to play a series to define which team would be relegated to the Second Division.