The Copa Presidente is the top knock-out football tournament in El Salvador. The first edition was played in 1999, resulting champion C.D. Águila of El Salvador. From 2000 to 2006, the competition was played two more times with Atlético Balboa and Once Municipal winning the cup. After a lengthy hiatus that began in 2006, was restored in 2016 The cup is currently sponsored by Claro and thus officially known as the Copa Claro. The Cup tournament is played as a separate tournament from the league (played between First, Second and Third Division).
History The Copa Presidente was created at the behest of the dictator Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, who provided the trophy and had it named after him. not contested until the 1990s when CONCACAF ordered that El Salvador must have a mandatory national cup in order to gain access to intercontinental competitions and ruled that the regional cups competed for before were insufficient. In 2014, the tournament was briefly brought back played between Águila and FAS. However, the cup turned out to be a one-off event.
Re-launch On June 16, 2016 it was announced that a new cup competition would be played during Apertura 2016 and Clausura 2017. The tournament will involve 12 teams from the First Division, plus 10 of the Second Division and 10 of the Third Division for a total of 32 participants. The teams will be placed into 8 groups of 4. The 8 group winners, plus the 8 group runners-up, move on to the new round (round of 16). The cup will be called Copa Claro for sponsorship reason and the winner will receive 15,000 dollars.
In 2025, Yamil Bukele, the director of the National Institute of Sports of El Salvador, announced that the Copa Presidente would return the following year.
List of finals
Copa Presidente (1939–2013)
+YearChampionScoreRunner-up Goalscorers for the Champion Goalscorers for the runner upManager1930–31CD 331–0Firpo1931–32CD 330–0 (4–2 pen.)Aguilas1932–1938 Hiatus1938–39Corsario del Puerto Libertard4–0El 44 (Santa Ana)1939–1990 Hiatus1990–91Atletico Marte2–1LA Firpo Nildeson Misael Rodriguez Mauricio Cienfuegos Armando Contreras Palma1991–1999 Hiatus1999–2000ÁguilaLuis Ángel Firpo Adrián Mahía (2) Paul Cominges Celio Rodríguez (2) Hugo Coria2000-2005 Hiatus2005–06Atlético BalboaIndependiente Nacional 1906 Nelson Reyes (2)None Jorge García2006–07Once MunicipalÁguila Mario Deras None Nelson Ancheta2007–2014 Hiatus
Copa Presidente / Independencia (2014)
YearChampionScoreRunner-up Goalscorers for the Champion Goalscorers for the runner upManager2014–15ÁguilaFAS Sean Fraser Ronaille Calheira None Daniel Messina
Copa Claro (2016–2019)
Year Champion Score Runner-up Manager 2016–17 Santa Tecla FAS Ernesto Corti 2017–18 Hiatus 2018–19 Santa Tecla Audaz Sebastián Abreu 2018–2025 Hiatus
Copa Presidente (2026–present)
Year Champion Score Runner-up Manager 2026
List of Participants
Club Winners Runners-up Winning years Águila 2 1 1999–2000, 2014–15Santa Tecla 2 – 2016–17, 2018–19 Once Municipal 1 – 2006–07 Atlético Balboa 1 – 2005–06Atlético Marte 1 –1990–91FAS - 2Luis Ángel Firpo – 2 Independiente Nacional 1905 – 1Audaz – 1
References
External links http://www.elsalvador.com/noticias/2006/11/23/deportes/dep1.asp El Salvador - List of Cup Finals, RSSSF.com