CONCACAF Central American Cup

CONCACAF Central American Cup
Organizer(s)UNCAF
CONCACAF
Founded2023 (2023)
RegionCentral America
Teams20
Qualifier forCONCACAF Champions Cup
Related competitionsCONCACAF Caribbean Cup
Leagues Cup
Current champion(s)Costa Rica Alajuelense
(3rd title)
Most championshipsCosta Rica Alajuelense
(3 titles)
BroadcasterCONCACAF (YouTube)
WebsiteOfficial website
2026 CONCACAF Central American Cup

The CONCACAF Central American Cup (Spanish: Copa Centroamericana de CONCACAF) 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.[1]

Alajuelense is the only champion in the tournament's history, winning all three editions.[2]

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 would be held for teams from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean beginning in 2023. The CONCACAF Central American Cup replaced the CONCACAF League as the sole method of qualification to CONCACAF Champions Cup for teams from Central America.[3]

Competition format

The tournament is structured into a group phase and a knockout phase. During the group phase, the 20 teams are split into four groups of five. Teams play one game against each team in their group and the top two teams in each group advance to the knockout phase. The knockout phase consists of four rounds plus a play-in round for the losers of the quarterfinals.[4]

The two play-in round and four quarterfinal winners qualify for the CONCACAF Champions Cup. The Central American Cup winner receives a first round bye and advances directly to the Champions Cup Round of 16 while the other qualifying teams enter Round One.[4]

Qualification

A total of 20 teams representing all seven Central American Football Union members qualify based on the results of their domestic league seasons.[4] The qualification criteria for 18 of the berths is as follows:

Nation League Participants
Costa Rica Costa Rica Liga FPD 3 clubs
El Salvador El Salvador Primera División de Fútbol de El Salvador 3 clubs
Guatemala Guatemala Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala 3 clubs
Honduras Honduras Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional de Honduras 3 clubs
Panama Panama Liga Panameña de Fútbol 3 clubs
Nicaragua Nicaragua Liga Primera de Nicaragua 2 clubs
Belize Belize Premier League of Belize 1 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.[5] For the 2024 and 2025 edition, Costa Rica and Nicaragua were awarded an extra slot by having clubs that reached the finals of the 2023 and 2024 CONCACAF Central American Cup.[6] For the 2026 edition, Costa Rica and Guatemala were awarded an extra slot by having clubs that reached the finals of the 2025 CONCACAF Central American Cup.

Results

Year Champions Results Runners-up Venue
2023 Costa Rica Alajuelense 3–0 Nicaragua Real Estelí Nicaragua Estadio Independencia, Estelí
1–1 Costa Rica Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela
2024 Costa Rica Alajuelense 1–1 Nicaragua Real Estelí Nicaragua Estadio Independencia, Estelí
2–1 Costa Rica Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela
2025 Costa Rica Alajuelense 1–1 Guatemala Xelajú Costa Rica Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela
1–1
(4–3 p)		 Guatemala Cementos Progreso Stadium, Guatemala City

Performances

Performance by club
Club Titles Runners-up Years won Years runners-up
Costa Rica Alajuelense
3
0
2023, 2024, 2025
–
Nicaragua Real Estelí
0
2
–
2023, 2024
Guatemala Xelajú
0
1
–
2025
Performance by nation
Nation Titles Runners-up Total
 Costa Rica303
 Nicaragua022
 Guatemala011

All-time standings

As of 3 December 2025
Only top-10 showing (2023–present)
NoClubGPWDLGFGADfPts
1Costa Rica Alajuelense30181025326+2764
2Nicaragua Real Estelí2410863026+438
3Costa Rica Saprissa2010643616+2036
4Honduras Motagua249873632+435
5Costa Rica Herediano2081023327+634
6Honduras Olimpia169523515+2032
7Panama Independiente167362322+124
8Costa Rica Cartaginés166463020+1022
9Panama Sporting San Miguelito127141714+322
10Guatemala Comunicaciones165652220+221

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Concacaf launches Concacaf Champions Cup". www.CONCACAF.com. CONCACAF. 6 June 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  2. ↑ "Alajuelense tops Xelajú on PKs to win third Central American Cup trophy". Concacaf. 1 December 2025. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  3. ↑ "Concacaf announces expanded Champions League starting in 2024". MLSSoccer.com. 21 September 2021. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 "Concacaf announces qualification criteria for Confederation's expanded Champions League starting in 2024". Concacaf. 1 June 2022. Archived from the original on 1 June 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  5. ↑ "Concacaf announces qualification criteria update for 2023 Concacaf Central American Cup". Concacaf. 3 August 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  6. ↑ "Concacaf confirms important details for 2024 Concacaf Central American Cup". Concacaf. 9 May 2024. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
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