2024 Concacaf Central American Cup: All You Need to Know

MIAMI — The 2024 Concacaf Central American Cup kicks off on July 30, as the 20 best clubs play to be crowned champions in early December.

The tournament will also determine six spots in the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup. Costa Rican side LD Alajuelense are the defending champions.

Here is everything you need to know about the 2024 Concacaf Central American Cup.

What

The 2024 Concacaf Central American Cup is the latest edition of Concacaf’s Central American club competition and will involve 20 teams.

The participating nations are as follows:

• Port Layola FC (Belize)
• LD Alajuelense (Costa Rica)
• AD Guanacasteca (Costa Rica)
• CS Herediano (Costa Rica)
• Deportivo Saprissa (Costa Rica)
• CD Aguila (El Salvador)
• Alianza FC (El Salvador)
• CD LA Firpo (El Salvador)
• Antigua GFC (Guatemala)
• Comunicaciones FC (Guatemala)
• CSD Municipal (Guatemala)
• CD Marathon (Honduras)
• FC Motagua (Honduras)
• CD Olimpia (Honduras)
• Diriangen FC (Nicaragua)
• Managua FC (Nicaragua)
• Real Esteli FC (Nicaragua)
• Club Atletico Independiente (Panama)
• San Francisco FC (Panama)
• Tauro FC (Panama)

For more information on how each club qualified, click HERE.

When 

The 2024 Concacaf Central American Cup will begin with the group stage on July 30 and culminate with the second leg of the finals in December. Here are the dates by phase:

• Group Stage: July 30 to August 29
• Quarterfinals: September 24 to October 1
• Semifinals and Play-In: October 29 to November 5
• Finals: November 26 to December 3

The competition’s complete match schedule is available HERE.

History 

In September 2021, Concacaf announced that from 2023 onwards, three regional cup competitions (Leagues Cup, Central American Cup, and Caribbean Cup) will be played in the fall of each year. These competitions will determine certain qualification spots for the Concacaf Champions Cup.

For Central America, the Confederation introduced a 20-club tournament with a group stage, followed by a direct elimination knockout stage.

LD Alajuelense of Costa Rica won the inaugural edition, 4-1 on aggregate, over Real Esteli of Nicaragua. Semifinalists Independiente (Panama) and Herediano (Costa Rica), as well as Play-In winners Comunicaciones (Guatemala) and Saprissa (Costa Rica), earned the remaining berths in the 2024 CCC.

Champions

• LD Alajuelense (Costa Rica): 2023

Format

For the Group Stage, teams have been split into four groups of five, as determined by a draw on June 6. Each team will play home and away at every group opponent, with the top two moving on to the knockout stage.

The following are the groups for the 2024 Concacaf Central American Cup group stage:

Group A

CS Herediano

FC Motagua

Tauro FC

San Francisco FC

Diriangen FC

Group B

LD Alajuelense

Comunicaciones FC

CD Marathon

Alianza FC

CD Luis Angel Firpo

Group C

CD Olimpia

Antigua GFC

CA Independiente

CD Aguila

Port Layola FC

Group D

Deportivo Saprissa

CSD Municipal

AD Guanacasteca

Real Esteli FC

Managua FC

The group winners and runners-up will be ranked 1-4 and 5-8, respectively. The highest-ranked group winner will play the lowest-ranked runner-up (1vs8, 2vs7, 3vs6, and 4vs5), and the four highest-ranked clubs will host the second-leg matches.

For the Semifinals and Play-In matches, matchups will be determined based on the competition’s bracket. The highest-ranked club in each matchup, according to the competition's table, will host the second-leg matches.

Qualification for the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup

The four clubs that reach the semifinals will automatically qualify for the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup. The remaining two spots will be contested between the four eliminated teams in the quarterfinals.