Who Is the RG2 Charreria Team? Potosí's 2026 National Champions

Who won the 2026 Nacional Charro? The RG2 charreria team

The RG2 charreria team of San Luis Potosí is the 2026 national champion of Mexican charrería: it won the AAA final of the LXXXII Congreso y Campeonato Nacional Charro with 412 points on Sunday night, Nov. 1, 2026, at the Arena Potosí. Defending champion Rancho El Soyate of Zacatecas was second with 406, and Hacienda Santa Mónica "Hierro Santo" of Campeche was third with 350.

The Mexican Charrería Federation (FMCH) calls it RG2's third national crown. The host team won it at home, in front of its own crowd, at the end of a championship that ran for three weeks.

If you're new to the sport, start with our guide to the 2026 national championship, then come back here for how the final was won.

How RG2 won the final, suerte by suerte

A charrería team final is one charreada: every team runs through the same suertes (events), and the judges' points add up to one score. Here is RG2's sheet as the FMCH published it.

That adds up to exactly 412. Two things stand out.

• The opening and the manganas. Raya Quiroz's 37 in the cala set the tone, and Aceves Aceves added a pial plus six manganas (three on foot, three on horseback) worth 150 points between them.
• The tail-pulling. Three coleadores scoring 93 in the colas gave RG2 a cushion in the middle of the charreada.

The paso de la muerte that settled it

Before the last suerte, RG2 had 395 points, 11 behind El Soyate's final 406. Sánchez Zamora made the paso de la muerte on his second pass around the ring, the FMCH reports, and its 17 points carried RG2 to 412.

That's why the paso can decide a title. It comes last, a clean pass is worth real points, and a missed one is worth nothing, so a close final can swing on a single jump.

Give the horses their credit

The official reports name the charros, not the horses, but none of these points happen without them.

• The cala is the horse's exam: the start, the sliding stop, the spins and backing up. A 37 says a lot about how the horse is schooled.
• The colas need a fast horse that runs right alongside the steer.
• The manganas a caballo ask the horse to stay calm and placed while a mare gallops past and the rope flies.
• The paso de la muerte depends on two animals: the charro's own horse, ridden bareback to match the speed of a loose mare, and the mare herself, driven by three riders along the arena wall.

What AAA and AA mean

The FMCH groups men's teams by level. AAA is the top category: its final crowns the national team champion, which is the title RG2 won.

AA is the next level down, with its own final and its own national champion. In 2026 it also stayed in San Luis Potosí: Rancho San Carlos "La Estancia" won with 290, even though the FMCH says its paso de la muerte was disqualified (its lead was already too big for that to matter).

The escaramuzas, teams of eight women riding side-saddle, compete for their own title on a separate scoresheet. Our escaramuza explainer covers how they're judged.

How a team final runs: the nine suertes

A team charreada follows a set order. In plain terms:

1. Cala de caballo: one rider shows the horse's training.
2. Piales en el lienzo: roping a running mare's hind legs from horseback.
3. Colas en el lienzo: throwing a steer by the tail at a gallop.
4. Jineteo de toro: riding a bull until it stops bucking.
5. Terna en el ruedo: a header and a heeler rope a bull in the ring.
6. Jineteo de yegua: riding a bucking mare.
7. Manganas a pie: roping a galloping mare's front legs while on foot.
8. Manganas a caballo: the same, from horseback.
9. Paso de la muerte: jumping from your own horse onto a loose mare at a gallop.

Each suerte has a points scale and penalties, and that's a whole article in itself. For the details, read how charrería is scored.

Who is RG2?

RG2 is a San Luis Potosí team that has spent the past few seasons at the top of the sport.

• 2023: it won the LXXIX Nacional Charro, also held in San Luis Potosí, with 359 points over Tres Regalos "A" of Quintana Roo (347) and El Soyate (267). Líder Empresarial called it the second national title for a San Luis Potosí team, after La Potosina de Charros won in Monterrey in 1957.
• 2024: the FMCH introduced RG2 as the defending national champion, chasing back-to-back titles.
• Sept. 13, 2026: it won the XXV Circuito Excelencia Charra final at the Monumental Lienzo Charro in Pachuca with 412 points, ahead of El Soyate (344).
• Nov. 1, 2026: its third national title, according to the FMCH. The sources we read don't give the year of the second, so we won't guess.

The core is steady. Raya, Aceves Aceves, Ibarra, Aceves Sánchez and León León all scored for RG2 in both the Pachuca final and the national final.

The club's escaramuza, Charras RG2, reached the national final too. It finished fifth with 318.50 and had the best puntas (the two riders' opening sliding stops) of the final, at 25.00.

The other 2026 national champions

• AA podium: Capilla de Guadalupe, Jalisco (228) and Regionales de Texcoco "B" (204).
• Escaramuza podium: Tlajomulco "Rancho El Herradero" of Jalisco (326.50) and Reencuentro of Chihuahua (323.50). A point and a half separated first and second.
• Charro completo: see our profile of Julio Coss y León. The Pialadero name above is the one the FMCH's closing report gives.

What to watch next

• The RG2–El Soyate rivalry. RG2 beat El Soyate in the 2023 national final, in Pachuca in September and again on Nov. 1. El Soyate topped the 2026 AAA qualifying table with 423 points, with RG2 second on 383 as of Oct. 17, so this rivalry is worth following.
• A title defense. RG2 heads into 2027 as champion. Watch the Excelencia Charra circuit and the FMCH calendar for where the team turns up first.
• The horses. When the official results don't name the mounts, team and fan posts often do. Look for the cala horse and the paso horses.

Going to your first charreada? A quick checklist:

• Watch the cala closely: it's the best window into the horse's training.
• Keep a running total during the manganas, the biggest block of points.
• Check the score before the paso de la muerte. In a close final, that's the moment.
• Learn the terms first in our glossary, and compare charrería with other sports in disciplines.