Atlético Junior

For other uses, see Junior (disambiguation).

Club Deportivo Popular Junior F.C. S.A.^[1] (Latin American Spanish: [ˈʝunjoɾ]), commonly known as Junior de Barranquilla, by its old name Atlético Junior or simply as Junior, is a Colombian professional football team based in Barranquilla, capital of the department of Atlantico, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. Junior is the main Caribbean team in the top flight of Colombian football. As of 2022, they sit in the 25th place of the best South American teams.^{[citation needed]}

Junior

Full name	Club Deportivo Popular Junior Fútbol Club S.A.
Nickname(s)	Los Tiburones (The Sharks) El Equipo Tiburón (The Shark Team) Los Rojiblancos (The Red-and-Whites) Los Quilleros (The Quilleros) Los Reyes de la Costa (The Kings of the Coast) Los Curramberos (The Curramberos) Tu Papá (Your Dad)
Founded	7 August 1924; 100 years ago (1924-08-07) (as Juventud Infantil)
Ground	Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez
Capacity	46,692
Owner	Fuad Char
President	Antonio Char
Manager	Alfredo Arias
League	Categoría Primera A
2024	Primera A, 6th of 20
Website	juniorfc.co
Home colours Away colours Third colours

The club was founded on 7 August 1924. Known as Los Tiburones (The Sharks), or El Equipo Tiburón (The Shark Team). Junior have won the Colombian professional football championship ten times (1977, 1980, 1993, 1995, 2004 Finalización, 2010 Apertura, 2011 Finalización, 2018 Finalización, 2019 Apertura, and 2023 Finalización). Some of the most notable players that have played for the club include Heleno de Freitas, Garrincha, Dida, Juan Ramón Verón, Efraín Sánchez, Carlos "El Pibe" Valderrama, Iván Valenciano, Teófilo Gutiérrez, Carlos Bacca, Julio César Uribe, Giovanni Hernández, Sebastián Viera and Luis Díaz.

History

In the early 1920s a team named Juventus came into being at the Colegio Salesiano in the San Roque neighborhood of Barranquilla, made up primarily of Italian immigrants. Soon after its launch the name was changed to the Spanish Juventud, though both translate the same in English: youth. In August 1924 some of the younger members of Juventud along with other young men from San Roque created an offshoot of Juventud: Juventud Infantil.

Around the 1940s (and the club's name was shortened to simply Junior) they became known as one of the country's best clubs. In 1945 the players of Junior were selected to represent Colombia at the South American Championship (now known as the Copa América), finishing a respectable fifth (though losing 7–0 to Uruguay and 9–1 to Argentina along the way). In 1949 they were again selected to represent Colombia (finishing last place) but this time their decision to play would have its consequences.

In 1948 Junior were founder members of División Mayor del Fútbol Profesional Colombiano (commonly known as the Dimayor). Their debut match as a professional outfit came at home on 15 August 1948, against Deportivo Cali, which ended in a 2–0 victory for the home side. Early the following year they were again chosen to play as the de facto Colombia national team. Because of ongoing strife between Adefutbol (the original amateur Colombian football association) and the Dimayor, Junior were threatened with expulsion from the Dimayor if they participated. They went ahead and did so and were initially given a two-year suspension from the league. This was later reduced to one year and they returned to the Dimayor for the 1950 season.

This was the golden age of Colombian football commonly referred to as El Dorado, a time when the Dimayor was a "rebel league" unaffiliated with FIFA and many high-profile players from around the world broke their contracts and came to play. Junior were no exception, picking up players from Brazil, Argentina, Hungary and the Czech Republic in these years. But El Dorado eventually came to an end for Colombian football.

A way ahead surfaced in the mid-1960s when a rift had again developed in Colombian football, this time between Adefutbol and the newly created Federación Colombiana de Fútbol, an organization devoted to developing professional football in the country. Adefutbol was still the official body in the eyes of FIFA and organized the national team in this period and additionally Colombian clubs did not enter the Copa Libertadores. Peace was finally made and the bulk of the amateur team that had attempted to qualify for the England World Cup signed up for Junior, who returned to the Dimayor in 1966. Junior have remained in the top level ever since.

In 1977 Junior won their first Colombian championship, finishing first place in the Apertura. They won further championships in 1980, 1993, 1995, the 2004-II (Finalización), the 2010-I (Apertura), the 2011-II (Finalizacion), the 2018-II (Finalización), the 2019-I (Apertura) and the 2023-II (Finalización). They also won Copa Colombia in 2015 and 2017. Junior have appeared in the Copa Libertadores eighteen times (reaching the semi-finals in 1994), the Copa Sudamericana 8 times (reaching the final in 2018), and the Copa CONMEBOL 1 time.^{[citation needed]}

Symbols

Current badge with 10 stars

Flag of Atlético Junior (2011–2018)

Each star represents a league championships the team has won

Badge

The team's badge has a Swiss shaped; proportionally 6 wide by 8 tall, divided into two horizontal stripes. The inferior stripe is divided into nine alternating vertical red and white stripes. The superior part is an horizontal dark blue stripe where the stars are placed. Each of the five-pointed stars represents a league championships the team has won. Superimposed on the vertical bars of red and white, is a horizontal white stripe that reads JUNIOR.

Flag

Junior's flag is composed of 9 horizontal stripes, 5 red and 4 white ones which alternate, the superior and the inferior ones are red. Overlapped on top of the strips there is a blue triangle. This triangle occupies all the wide of the flag on its vertical side. The white five-pointed stars are superimposed on the triangle, symbolizing the Colombian championships won.

Honours

Domestic

• Categoría Primera A
  • Winners (10): 1977, 1980, 1993, 1995, 2004–II, 2010–I, 2011–II, 2018–II, 2019–I, 2023–II
• Copa Colombia
  • Winners (2): 2015, 2017
• Superliga Colombiana
  • Winners (2): 2019, 2020

Continental

• Copa Sudamericana
  • Runners-up (1): 2018

Performance in CONMEBOL competitions

• Copa Libertadores: 18 appearances

1971: Group stage 1978: Group stage 1981: Group stage 1984: Group stage 1994: Semifinals 1996: Quarterfinals 2000: Round of 16 2001: Round of 16 2005: Round of 16

2010: Preliminary round 2011: Round of 16 2012: Group stage 2017: Third stage 2018: Group stage 2019: Group stage 2020: Group stage 2021: Group stage 2024: Round of 16

• Copa Sudamericana: 10 appearances

2004: Quarterfinals 2015: Second stage 2016: Quarterfinals 2017: Semi-finals 2018: Runners-up

2020: Quarterfinals 2021: Round of 16 2022: Group stage 2023: First stage 2025: Preliminary round

• Copa CONMEBOL: 1 appearance

1992: Quarter-finals

Players

Current squad

As of 20 July 2025^[2][3][4]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  URU Mauro Silveira 2 DF  COL Howell Mena 3 DF  COL Edwin Herrera 4 DF  COL José Cuenú 5 DF  COL Daniel Rivera 6 MF  COL Didier Moreno (vice-captain) 8 FW  COL Yimmi Chará 9 FW  PAR Guillermo Paiva 13 MF  COL Jhon Vélez 15 DF  COL Yeferson Moreno 17 FW  COL Fredy Salazár 19 FW  COL Stiwart Acuña 20 FW  COL Déiber Caicedo 21 FW  COL Joel Canchimbo 22 MF  COL Jesús Rivas 23 FW  COL Stiven Rodríguez 24 MF  COL Miguel Agámez 25 MF  COL Carlos Esparragoza

No. Pos. Nation Player 26 DF  COL Yeison Suárez 27 DF  COL Jhon Navia 28 MF  COL Guillermo Celis 29 FW  COL Teófilo Gutiérrez 30 GK  COL Jefersson Martínez 31 GK  COL Jaime Acosta 32 GK  COL Sebastián Araujo 33 DF  URU Lucas Monzón 34 DF  COL Jhonier Guerrero 66 DF  PAR Cristian Báez 70 FW  COL Carlos Bacca (captain) 77 MF  COL Diego Mendoza 80 MF  COL Fabián Ángel 88 FW  COL Bryan Castrillón 90 FW  COL Jesús Díaz 98 DF  COL Jermein Peña 99 FW  COL José Enamorado

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  COL Howell Mena (at Llaneros) — MF  COL Kevin Padilla (at Fortaleza CEIF) — FW  COL Ferlys García (at Barranquilla)

World Cup players

The following players were chosen to represent their country at the FIFA World Cup while contracted to Junior de Barranquilla.

• Carlos Hoyos (1990)
• Alexis Mendoza (1994)
• José María Pazo (1994)
• Luis Carlos Perea (1994)
• Carlos Valderrama (1994)
• Iván René Valenciano (1994)
• Jorge Bolaño (1998)
• Alberto Rodríguez (2018)

Club captains

• Hermenegildo Segrera (1966–1971)
• Dulio Miranda (1972–1973)
• Gabriel Berdugo (1974–1982)
• Dulio Miranda (1983–1985)
• Alexis Mendoza (1985–1990)
• Gabriel Martínez (1990–1992)
• Carlos Valderrama (1993–1995)
• Jorge Bolaño (1996–1999)
• Marquinho (1999–2004)
• Roberto Peñaloza (2004–2005)
• Hayder Palacio (2005–2007)
• Giovanni Hernández (2008–2012)
• Sebastián Viera (2012–2023)
• Carlos Bacca (2023–present)

Personnel

Technical staff

Position	Staff
Manager	Alfredo Arias[5]
Assistant manager	Juan Manuel López[5]
Fitness coach	Ignacio Berriel[5]

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Notable players

Most appearances

Rank	Player	Appearances
1.	Sebastián Viera	627
2.	Dulio Miranda	445
3.	Hayder Palacio	432
4.	Alexis Mendoza	417
5.	José María Pazo	392
6.	Gabriel Berdugo	379
7.	Víctor Pacheco	367
8.	Jesús Rubio	363
9.	Luis Grau	341
10.	Othon Dacunha	333

Most goals

As of 19 December 2024

Rank	Player	Goals
1.	Ivan Valenciano	180
2.	Carlos Bacca	131
3.	Teófilo Gutiérrez	94
4.	Víctor Ephanor	86
5.	Nelson Silva Pacheco	81
6.	Víctor Pacheco	78
7.	Martín Arzuaga	70
8.	Vladimir Hernández	65
9.	Orlando Ballesteros	56
10.	Marcos Cardoso	55

Historic players

• Carlos Babington
• Edgardo Bauza
• Juan Carlos Delménico
• Carlos Ischia
• Omar Pérez
• Walter Ribonetto
• Fabián Sambueza
• Juan Ramón Verón
• Paulo César Caju
• Cassiano
• Dida
• Garrincha
• Heleno de Freitas
• Quarentinha
• Víctor Ephanor
• Cristián Montecinos
• José Amaya
• Alfredo Arango
• Martín Arzuaga
• Carlos Bacca
• Orlando Ballesteros
• Gabriel Berdugo
• Jorge Bolaño
• Miguel Ángel Borja
• Déiber Caicedo
• Víctor Campaz
• Víctor Cantillo
• Yimmi Chará
• José Luis Chunga
• Víctor Cortés
• Gustavo Cuéllar
• Luis Díaz
• José Enamorado
• Fernando Fiorillo
• Gabriel Fuentes
• Miguel Ángel Guerrero
• Teófilo Gutiérrez
• Giovanni Hernández
• Vladimir Hernández
• William Knight
• Homer Martínez
• Roberto Meléndez
• Alexis Mendoza
• Dulio Miranda
• Didier Moreno
• Luis Narváez
• Víctor Pacheco
• Hayder Palacio
• José María Pazo
• Rafael Perez
• Marlon Piedrahita
• Efraín "El Caimán" Sánchez
• Iván Valenciano
• Carlos "El Pibe" Valderrama
• Alex "Didi" Valderrama
• Béla Sárosi
• Román Torres
• Julio César Uribe
• Lorenzo Carrabs
• Julio Comesaña
• Santiago Mele
• Héctor Gerardo Méndez
• Nelson Silva Pacheco
• Sebastián Viera
• Luis Daniel "Cariaco" González

International players

The following players, despite not having been able to establish themselves as idols, had a stage as internationals with their national teams.

• Daniel Carnevali
• Santiago Santamaría
• Luis Carlos Perea
• René Higuita
• Carlos Hoyos
• Juan Fernando Quintero
• Matías Fernández
• Nelson Tapia
• Román Torres
• Alberto Rodríguez

Managers

Main article: List of Junior F.C. managers

Affiliated clubs

• Barranquilla - Currently in the second division