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.
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.
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.
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.
Qualification A total of 20 teams representing all seven Central American Football Union members qualify based on the results of their domestic league seasons. The qualification criteria for 18 of the berths is as follows: Nation League Participants Costa Rica Liga FPD 3 clubs El Salvador Primera División de Fútbol de El Salvador 3 clubs Guatemala Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala 3 clubs Honduras Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional de Honduras 3 clubs Panama Liga Panameña de Fútbol 3 clubs Nicaragua Liga Primera de Nicaragua 2 clubs 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. 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. 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
YearChampionsResultsRunners-upVenue2023 Alajuelense3–0 Real Estelí Estadio Independencia, Estelí1–1 Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela2024 Alajuelense1–1 Real Estelí Estadio Independencia, Estelí2–1 Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela2025 Alajuelense1–1 Xelajú Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela1–1 Cementos Progreso Stadium, Guatemala City
Performances +Performance by clubClubTitlesRunners-upYears wonYears runners-up Alajuelense2023, 2024, 2025 Real Estelí2023, 2024 Xelajú2025
+Performance by nation NationTitlesRunners-upTotal303022011
All-time standings As of 3 December 2025 Only top-10 showing (2023–present) No Club GP W D L GF GA Df Pts 1 Alajuelense 30 18 10 2 53 26 +27 64 2 Real Estelí 24 10 8 6 30 26 +4 38 3 Saprissa 20 10 6 4 36 16 +20 36 4 Motagua 24 9 8 7 36 32 +4 35 5 Herediano 20 8 10 2 33 27 +6 34 6 Olimpia 16 9 5 2 35 15 +20 32 7 Independiente 16 7 3 6 23 22 +1 24 8 Cartaginés 16 6 4 6 30 20 +10 22 9 Sporting San Miguelito 12 7 1 4 17 14 +3 22 10 Comunicaciones 16 5 6 5 22 20 +2 21
See also UNCAF Women's Interclub Championship CONCACAF Champions Cup CONCACAF Caribbean Cup CONCACAF League Leagues Cup
References
External links Official website