The 2023 CONCACAF Central American Cup group stage was played from 1 to 31 August 2023. A total of 20 teams competed in the group stage to decide the 8 places in the knockout stage of the 2023 CONCACAF Central American Cup.

Draw

The draw for the group stage was held on 8 June 2023 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 28 May 2023. +Pot 1 Team Olimpia 38 Saprissa 47 Comunicaciones 49 Alajuelense 51+Pot 2 Team Motagua 53 Xelajú 57 Herediano 58 Cobán Imperial 59+Pot 3 Team Real España 60 Independiente 61 Cartaginés 65 Olancho 67+Pot 4 Team Sporting San Miguelito 72 Águila 79 Universitario 95 FAS 109+Pot 5 Team Real Estelí 116 Diriangén 118 Jocoro 132 Verdes 177

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.

The draw resulted in the following groups:

+ Group ATeamA1 SaprissaA2 Cobán ImperialA3 CartaginésA4 UniversitarioA5 Jocoro+ Group BTeamB1 OlimpiaB2 XelajúB3 IndependienteB4 FASB5 Real Estelí+ Group CTeamC1 ComunicacionesC2 HeredianoC3 Real EspañaC4 ÁguilaC5 Diriangén+ Group DTeamD1 AlajuelenseD2 MotaguaD3 OlanchoD4 Sporting San MiguelitoD5 Verdes

Format

In the group stage, each group is 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 teams are ranked according to the following criteria (Regulations Article 12.10.1): Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss); Goal difference; Goals scored; If two or more teams are still tied after applying the above criteria, their rankings would be determined as follows: Head-to-head points in the matches played among the tied teams; Head-to-head goal difference in the matches played among the tied teams; Head-to-head goals scored in the matches played among the tied teams; The lowest number of fairplay points, based on the following criteria: Yellow card: plus 1 point; Second yellow card/indirect red card: plus 3 points; Direct red card: plus 4 points;; Yellow card and direct red card: plus 5 points; Drawing of lots by CONCACAF. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the quarter-finals of the knockout stage.

Schedule Matches in the competition are being played on either Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday as decided by CONCACAF. The schedule of each week is as follows (Regulations Article 2).

WeeksDatesMatchesWeek 11–3 August 2023Team 1 vs. Team 3, Team 5 vs. Team 2Week 28–10 August 2023Team 5 vs. Team 1, Team 2 vs. Team 4Week 315–17 August 2023Team 4 vs. Team 5, Team 2 vs. Team 3Week 422–24 August 2023Team 4 vs. Team 1, Team 3 vs. Team 5Week 529–31 August 2023Team 1 vs. Team 2, Team 3 vs. Team 4

Groups All match times are in EDT (UTC−4) and local times are in parentheses, as listed by CONCACAF.

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Notes

References

External links