2024 CONCACAF Central American Cup

The 2024 CONCACAF Central American Cup is the second edition of the CONCACAF Central American Cup, the first-tier annual international club football competition in the Central American region. It is contested by clubs whose football associations are affiliated with the Central American Football Union (UNCAF), a sub-confederation of CONCACAF.

2024 CONCACAF Central American Cup
Tournament details
Dates30 July – 4 December
Teams20 (from 7 associations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played56
Goals scored147 (2.63 per match)
Top scorer(s)Costa Rica Diego Campos
(6 goals)
2023
2025
All statistics correct as of 31 October 2024.

The winners of the 2024 CONCACAF Central American Cup will qualify directly for the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup Round of 16, while the second through sixth-place teams will qualify to Round One of the same competition.[1]

Teams

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Twenty teams from the seven UNCAF member associations qualified for the tournament based on results from their domestic leagues.[2][3][4] Eighteen slots are predetermined by CONCACAF and the remaining two slots were granted to Costa Rica and Nicaragua as the national associations whose clubs were finalists in the previous edition of the tournament.[5][6] The slot allocation for this edition was as follows:

  • Costa Rica: 3+1 berths
  • El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama: 3 berths
  • Nicaragua: 2+1 berths
  • Belize: 1 berth
Association Team Qualifying method
  Belize (1 berth) Port Layola 2023–24 Premier League tournament champions (2024 Closing) with better record in aggregate table.
  Costa Rica
(4 berths)
Saprissa 2023–24 Liga FPD Apertura and Clausura champions[7]
Herediano 2023–24 Liga FPD aggregate table best team not yet qualified[7]
Alajuelense 2023–24 Liga FPD aggregate table second-best team not yet qualified[7]
Guanacasteca 2023–24 Liga FPD aggregate table third-best team not yet qualified[7]
  El Salvador
(3 berths)
Águila 2023–24 Primera División Apertura champions[8]
Alianza 2023–24 Primera División Clausura champions[8]
Luis Ángel Firpo 2023–24 Primera División aggregate table best team not yet qualified
  Guatemala
(3 berths)
Comunicaciones 2023–24 Liga Nacional Torneo Apertura champions[9]
Municipal 2023–24 Liga Nacional Torneo Clausura champions[9]
Antigua 2023–24 Liga Nacional aggregate table best team not yet qualified[9]
  Honduras
(3 berths)
Olimpia 2023–24 Honduran Liga Nacional Apertura and Clausura champions
Marathón 2023–24 Honduran Liga Nacional aggregate table best team not yet qualified
Motagua 2023–24 Honduran Liga Nacional aggregate table second-best team not yet qualified
  Nicaragua
(3 berths)
Diriangén 2023–24 Liga Primera Apertura and Clausura champions
Managua 2023–24 Liga Primera aggregate table best team not yet qualified
Real Estelí 2023–24 Liga Primera aggregate table second-best team not yet qualified
  Panama
(3 berths)
Independiente 2023 Liga Panameña Torneo Clausura champions[10][11]
Tauro 2024 Liga Panameña Torneo Apertura champions[10][11]
San Francisco 2023 Liga Panameña Torneo Clausura and 2024 Liga Panameña Torneo Apertura aggregate table best team not yet qualified[10][11]

Draw

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The draw for the group stage was held on 6 June 2024 in Miami, Florida, United States. The 20 involved teams were previously seeded into five pots of four teams each based on their CONCACAF Club Ranking as of 3 June 2024.[4][12]

Pot 1
Team Rank
  Saprissa 41
  Olimpia 43
  Alajuelense 50
  Herediano 51
Pot 2
Team Rank
  Municipal 52
  Comunicaciones 54
  Antigua 55
  Motagua 56
Pot 3
Team Rank
  Tauro 58
  Marathón 59
  Independiente 60
  Guanacasteca 71
Pot 4
Team Rank
  San Francisco 77
  Alianza 80
  Real Estelí 83
  Águila 86
Pot 5
Team Rank
  Diriangén 98
  Luis Ángel Firpo 113
  Managua 146
  Port Layola 175

For the group stage, the 20 teams were drawn into four groups (Groups A–D) of five containing a team from each of the five pots. Teams from pot 1 were drawn first and were placed in the first position of their group, starting from Group A to Group D. The same procedure was followed for teams from pots 2, 3, 4 and 5, and they were placed in positions 2, 3, 4 and 5, respectively, within the group to which they were drawn. Each group must contain no more than two clubs from the same national association.[4]

Schedule

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The schedule of the competition is as follows.[1]

Stage Round First leg Second leg
Group Stage Matchday 1 30 July – 1 August
Matchday 2 6–8 August
Matchday 3 13–15 August
Matchday 4 20–22 August
Matchday 5 27–29 August
Knockout Quarterfinals 24–26 September 1–3 October
Semifinals and play-in 22–24 October 29–31 October
Finals 27 November 4 December

Group stage

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In the group stage, each group was played on a single home-and-away round-robin basis, with teams playing against each other once, for a total of four matches per team (two home and two away). The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the quarter-finals of the knockout stage.

Group A

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification HER MOT DIR TAU SFR
1   Herediano 4 3 1 0 4 1 +3 10 Advance to Quarter-finals 1–1 1–0
2   Motagua 4 2 1 1 9 6 +3 7 4–1 3–2
3   Diriangén 4 2 1 1 4 3 +1 7 0–1 2–1
4   Tauro 4 1 0 3 4 8 −4 3 1–2 2–1
5   San Francisco 4 0 1 3 3 6 −3 1 0–1 0–0
Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results (points, goal difference, goals scored); 5) Fair play points; 6) Drawing of lots.

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification ALA COM MAR ALI LAF
1   Alajuelense 4 4 0 0 11 6 +5 12 Advance to Quarter-finals 2–1 3–1
2   Comunicaciones 4 2 1 1 5 4 +1 7 2–1 1–0
3   Marathón 4 2 0 2 4 5 −1 6 1–0 1–0
4   Alianza 4 1 0 3 6 6 0 3 1–2 5–2
5   Luis Ángel Firpo 4 0 1 3 6 11 −5 1 3–4 1–1
Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results (points, goal difference, goals scored); 5) Fair play points; 6) Drawing of lots.

Group C

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification ÁGU ANT OLI CAI PLA
1   Águila 4 3 1 0 10 1 +9 10 Advance to Quarter-finals 2–0 5–1
2   Antigua 4 2 2 0 7 3 +4 8 0–0 2–1
3   Olimpia 4 2 1 1 10 4 +6 7 1–1 3–0
4   Independiente 4 1 0 3 2 8 −6 3 0–3 1–0
5   Port Layola 4 0 0 4 3 16 −13 0 1–4 1–6
Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results (points, goal difference, goals scored); 5) Fair play points; 6) Drawing of lots.

Group D

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SAP EST MUN MAN GUA
1   Saprissa 4 3 0 1 10 4 +6 9 Advance to Quarter-finals 1–0 5–0
2   Real Estelí 4 2 1 1 6 3 +3 7 2–1 3–0
3   Municipal 4 1 1 2 4 4 0 4 1–1 3–1
4   Managua 4 1 1 2 4 7 −3 4 2–3 1–0
5   Guanacasteca 4 1 1 2 3 9 −6 4 1–0 1–1
Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results (points, goal difference, goals scored); 5) Fair play points; 6) Drawing of lots.

Knockout stage

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The knockout stage will be played on a single-elimination tournament with the following rules:[2]

  • Each tie is played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. The home team of the second leg in each tie was determined separately for each round as follows (Regulations Article 12.11):
    • In the quarter-finals, the group winners hosted the second leg.
    • In the semi-finals and play-in, the higher-ranked teams based on total points accumulated in the group stage and the quarterfinals hosted the second leg.
    • In the finals, the higher-ranked team based on total points accumulated in the group stage, quarterfinals and semi-finals will host the second leg.
  • In the quarter-finals and semi-finals, if tied on aggregate, the away goals rule would be used. If still tied, the penalty shoot-out would be directly used to determine the winners (Regulations Article 12.10.2).
  • In the play-in and finals, if tied on aggregate, the away goals rule would also be used. If still tied, 30 minutes of extra time would be played but the away goals scored during this time would not serve as a tie-breaking criteria. If still tied after extra time, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (Regulations Article 12.10.3).

Qualified teams

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Group Winners Runners-up
A   Herediano   Motagua
B   Alajuelense   Comunicaciones
C   Águila   Antigua
D   Saprissa   Real Estelí

Seeding

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Teams were seeded 1–8 based on results in the group stage and assigned a position in a fixed bracket. For example, the first semi-final was contested between the winner of the 1 vs. 8 quarter-final and the winner of the 4 vs. 5 quarter-final. For each round, the host of the second leg was determined based on performance in all previous rounds, including the group stage.

The following was the seeding for the quarter-finals round only:[13]

Seed Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Matchups
1 B   Alajuelense 4 4 0 0 11 6 +5 12 Match QF1
2 C   Águila 4 3 1 0 10 1 +9 10 Match QF3
3 A   Herediano 4 3 1 0 4 1 +3 10 Match QF4
4 D   Saprissa 4 3 0 1 6 2 +4 9 Match QF2
5 C   Antigua 4 2 2 0 7 3 +4 8 Match QF2
6 A   Motagua 4 2 1 1 9 6 +3 7 Match QF4
7 D   Real Estelí 4 2 1 1 6 3 +3 7 Match QF3
8 B   Comunicaciones 4 2 1 1 5 4 +1 7 Match QF1
Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Away goals scored; 5) Wins; 6) Away wins; 7) Disciplinary points (1 point for yellow card, 3 points for second yellow card/indirect red card, 4 points for direct red card, 5 points for yellow card and direct red card); 8) Drawing of lots (Regulations Article 12.11.4).[2]

Bracket

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The bracket was decided based on the quarter-finals seeding.


Quarter-finals

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The first legs were played on 24–26 September, and the second legs were played on 1–3 October 2024.[13]

Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Comunicaciones  2–3  Alajuelense1–21–1
Antigua  3–0  Saprissa0–03–0
Real Estelí  2–1  Águila2–10–0
Motagua  2–2 (a)  Herediano2–20–0

Play-in

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The first legs were played on 22 and 23 October, and the second legs were played on 29 and 30 October 2024.[14]

Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Comunicaciones  2–4  Saprissa1–11–3
Motagua  4–2  Águila2–02–2

Semi-finals

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The first legs were played on 22 and 24 October, and the second legs were played on 30 and 31 October 2024.[14]

Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Antigua  0–1  Alajuelense0–00–1
Real Estelí  2–2 (a)  Herediano0–02–2

Finals

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Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Real Estelí  F  Alajuelense27 Nov4 Dec

Top goalscorers

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  Team eliminated for this round.
  Team inactive for this round.
As of 30 October 2024
Rank Player Team GS1 GS2 GS3 GS4 GS5 QF1 QF2 PI1 PI2 SF1 SF2 F1 F2 Total
1   Diego Campos   Alajuelense 2 1 2 1 6
2   Agustín Auzmendi   Motagua 2 1 1 4
  Diego Casas   Comunicaciones 1 1 1 1
  Javon East   Saprissa 1 1 1 1
  Santiago Gómez   Antigua 1 1 2
6   José Ardón   Antigua 3 3
  Byron Bonilla   Real Estelí 2 1
  Gustavo Souza   Luis Ángel Firpo 1 1 1
  Styven Vásquez   Luis Ángel Firpo 2 1

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Concacaf confirms important details for 2024 Concacaf Central American Cup". Miami: CONCACAF. 9 May 2024. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "CONCACAF Central American Cup 2024 Regulations" (PDF). CONCACAF. 11 June 2024.
  3. ^ "Alianza FC, San Francisco complete Central American Cup field". Miami: CONCACAF. 23 May 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  4. ^ a b c "Concacaf confirms 2024 Concacaf Central American Cup participating clubs and draw pots". CONCACAF. 3 June 2024.
  5. ^ "Honduras pierde una plaza a la Copa Centroamericana 2024 con Nicaragua" [Honduras loses a place in the 2024 Central American Cup to Nicaragua] (in Spanish). Tegucigalpa: El Heraldo. 23 November 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Nicaragua tendrá tres cupos para la próxima Copa Centroamericana gracias al Real Estelí" [Nicaragua will have three slots for the next Central American Cup thanks to Real Esteli] (in Spanish). La Prensa. 23 November 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d "NORMAS DE COMPETICIÓN TEMPORADA 2023–2024" (PDF) (in Spanish). UNAFUT. 25 July 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  8. ^ a b "BASES DE COMPETENCIA DE LA PRIMERA DIVISION DE FUTBOL PROFESIONAL TEMPORADA 2023-2024" (PDF) (in Spanish). Salvadoran Football Federation. 11 August 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  9. ^ a b c Acevedo, Josue (19 May 2024). "Qué equipos representarán a Guatemala en la Copa Centroamericana 2024" [Which teams will represent Guatemala in the 2024 Central American Cup?] (in Spanish). Agencia Guatemalteca de Noticias. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  10. ^ a b c "REGLAMENTO COMPETENCIA LPF TEMPORADA - 2023" (PDF). lpf.com.pa (in Spanish). Liga Panameña de Fútbol. 27 December 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  11. ^ a b c "REGLAMENTO DE COMPETENCIAS TEMPORADA 2024" (PDF). lpf.com.pa (in Spanish). Liga Panameña de Fútbol. 14 March 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  12. ^ "Concacaf Club Ranking as of June 3, 2024". CONCACAF. 3 June 2024.
  13. ^ a b "Concacaf confirms 2024 Concacaf Central American Cup Quarterfinal pairings and schedule". CONCACAF. 30 August 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  14. ^ a b "2024 Concacaf Central American Cup Semifinals and Play-In matchups and schedule confirmed". CONCACAF. 4 October 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
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