Overview
- The full list of 50 qualifiers, made up of champions and runners-up from Peru’s 25 departmental leagues, was published between Monday, August 31 and Tuesday, September 1.
- The Etapa Nacional opens the weekend of September 12–13 with a six-match, geographically grouped first phase in which each team plays three home and three away games.
- After the six matchdays organizers will compile a single unified table and the top 32 teams will advance to the knockout rounds.
- Knockout seeding will pair the top 16 from the unified table as seeded heads of series against teams ranked 17–32 and proceed through rounds of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and a final.
- The 2026 rules narrow promotion: the champion moves up to Liga 2, the runner-up secures a place in Liga 3, and teams finishing 3rd–10th enter the Tradición Copera for an additional Liga 3 opportunity, while the cut from 64 to 50 teams concentrates competition and raises travel and financial pressure on provincial clubs.