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CONCACAF Central American Cup

Secondary continental football tournament for clubs in Central America

Summary

Secondary continental football tournament for clubs in Central America

FieldValue
nameCONCACAF Central American Cup
imagesize250px
founded
regionCentral America
number of teams20
qualifier forCONCACAF Champions Cup
related compsCONCACAF Caribbean Cup
Leagues Cup
current championsCRC Alajuelense
(3rd title)
most successful clubCRC Alajuelense
(3 titles)
broadcastersCONCACAF (YouTube)
websiteOfficial website
current2025 CONCACAF Central American Cup
Americany
organisersUNCAF
CONCACAFlogo=CONCACAF Central American Cup logo.png

Leagues Cup (3rd title) (3 titles) CONCACAF|logo=CONCACAF Central American Cup logo.png}}

The CONCACAF Central American Cup () is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top regional tournament for clubs from Central America. It serves as a qualification method for the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Alajuelense is the only champion in the tournament's history, winning all three editions played so far.

History

On 21 September 2021, CONCACAF announced plans for an expansion of the CONCACAF Champions League tournament from 16 to 27 teams beginning in 2024. As part of the restructuring, regional qualification tournaments will be held for teams from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean beginning in 2023. The CONCACAF Central American Cup will replace CONCACAF League as the sole method of qualification to CONCACAF Champions Cup for teams from Central America.

Competition format

The tournament will be structured into a group phase and a knockout phase. During the group phase, the 20 teams will be split into four groups of five. Teams will play one game against each team in their group and the top two teams in each group will advance to the knockout phase. The knockout phase will consist of four rounds plus a play-in round for the losers of the quarterfinals.

The two play-in round and four quarterfinal winners qualify for the CONCACAF Champions Cup. The Central American Cup winner will receive a first round bye and advance directly to the Champions Cup Round of 16 while the other qualifying teams enter Round One.

Qualification

A total of 20 teams representing all seven Central American Football Union members will qualify based on the results of their domestic league seasons. The qualification criteria for 18 of the berths is as follows:

NationLeagueParticipants
Costa RicaLiga FPD3 clubs
El SalvadorPrimera División de Fútbol de El Salvador3 clubs
GuatemalaLiga Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala3 clubs
HondurasLiga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional de Honduras3 clubs
PanamaLiga Panameña de Fútbol3 clubs
NicaraguaLiga Primera de Nicaragua2 clubs
BelizePremier League of Belize1 club

For the 2023 edition, Costa Rica and Honduras were awarded an extra slot by having clubs that reached the finals of the 2022 CONCACAF League. For the 2024 edition, Costa Rica and Nicaragua were awarded an extra slot by having clubs that reached the finals of the 2023 CONCACAF Central American Cup.

Results

YearChampionsResultsRunners-upVenue
2023CRC Alajuelense3–0NCA Real EstelíNCA Estadio Independencia, Estelí
1–1CRC Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela
2024CRC Alajuelense1–1NCA Real EstelíNCA Estadio Independencia, Estelí
2–1CRC Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela
2025CRC Alajuelense1–1GUA XelajúCRC Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela
1–1
GUA Cementos Progreso Stadium, Guatemala City

Performances

ClubTitlesRunners-upYears wonYears runners-up
CRC Alajuelense2023, 2024, 2025
NIC Real Estelí2023, 2024
GUA Xelajú2025
NationTitlesRunners-upTotal
303
022
011

All-time standings

: As of 3 December 2025 : Only top-10 showing (2023–present)

NoClubGPWDLGFGADfPts
1CRC Alajuelense30181025326+2764
2NCA Real Estelí2410863026+438
3CRC Saprissa2010643616+2036
4HON Motagua249873632+435
5CRC Herediano2081023327+634
6HON Olimpia169523515+2032
7PAN Independiente167362322+124
8CRC Cartaginés166463020+1022
9PAN Sporting San Miguelito127141714+322
10GUA Comunicaciones165652220+221

References

References

  1. (June 6, 2023). "Concacaf launches Concacaf Champions Cup". CONCACAF.
  2. (1 December 2025). "Alajuelense tops Xelajú on PKs to win third Central American Cup trophy".
  3. (21 September 2021). "Concacaf announces expanded Champions League starting in 2024".
  4. (1 June 2022). "Concacaf announces qualification criteria for Confederation's expanded Champions League starting in 2024".
  5. (3 August 2022). "Concacaf announces qualification criteria update for 2023 Concacaf Central American Cup".
  6. (9 May 2024). "Concacaf confirms important details for 2024 Concacaf Central American Cup".
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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