Friendly matches were common between clubs from Argentina and Uruguay in the early 1900s due to the close proximity of the nations. Inevitably, a match to decide which national champions were the best formulated; the trophy of the competition was donated by Ricardo Aldao, then president of both, club
Gimnasia y Esgrima (BA) and dissident association "Federación Argentina de Football". As such, the competition was named after his donation. The first edition, organized in 1913, was to be contested between
Estudiantes from Argentina and
River Plate from Uruguay. However, the match was suspended due to heavy rain and never rescheduled. The first champion of the competition was not crowned until 1916, when
Nacional of Montevideo beat
Racing de Avellaneda 2–1. players (
Antonio Sastre at left and
Arsenio Erico) with the Copa Aldao trophy in 1938|alt= Originally, a single-legged format was adopted, with the match played in Argentina and Uruguay in alternative year. Since then, the competition was played two-legged exception made of the 1942 edition, when the second leg was not played and the trophy was not awarded. Schedule problems forced teams of both countries to quit the Aldao Cup during the 1950s, thus the competition was discontinued until 1959. One last attempt was made to rekindle the championship in 1955 in a match between
Nacional and
River Plate. However, the final was not disputed until four years later and the second leg was never played; therefore, the title was not officially proclaimed. As a result, to the schedule congestion of the growing national leagues (as well as the creation of the new continental club tournament, the
Copa Libertadores de América) the Copa Aldao became redundant and was never played again. == List of champions ==