• Second edition will be played between July and December 2024
• Draw to take place on June 6
• Fourteen clubs have already secured a berth in the 20-team tournament
• Six clubs will qualify for the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup

Miami, FL (Thursday, May 9, 2024) – Concacaf has confirmed important details regarding the 2024 Concacaf Central American Cup. The second edition of the regional cup competition, which serves as a qualifier for the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup and includes the participation of 20 of the best clubs in Central America, will be played between July and December 2024.

The 2024 Concacaf Central American Cup draw, which will determine the competition’s groups and each club’s path to the regional title, will be conducted on Thursday, June 6, in Miami, FL. Fans can follow the made-for-tv live event through the Confederation’s partner networks and the Concacaf YouTube Channel starting at 6:30 pm ET. 

COMPETITION FORMAT AND DATES

The 2024 Concacaf Central American Cup will kick off with a Group Stage comprised of four groups of five clubs each.  In this first round, clubs will play every club in their group once, for a total of four matches per club (two at home and two away) in the five scheduled weeks. 

Group Stage Week 1: July 30 – August 1, 2024
Group Stage Week 2: August 6-8, 2024
Group Stage Week 3: August 13-15, 2024
Group Stage Week 4: August 20-22, 2024
Group Stage Week 5: August 27-29, 2024

After the Group Stage, the first and second-place finishers in each group will advance to the Knockout Stage. The Knockout Stage will include home-and-away matches, starting with the Quarterfinals, followed by the Semifinals and Play-In, and the Final, where Central America’s new champion will be crowned. 

Quarterfinals: September 24-26 and October 1-3, 2024
Semifinals and Play-In: October 29-31and November 5-7, 2024
Final: November 26-28 and December 3-5, 2024

Furthermore, the semifinalists and the two play-in winners (six clubs in total) will qualify for the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup. The champion will also receive a bye to the Round of 16 of the Confederation’s 27-club competition. 

PARTICIPATING CLUBS

Twenty clubs from the Confederation’s seven Central American Member Associations will participate in the competition. These clubs have or will qualify based on their performance in their domestic leagues. 

Thus far, fourteen clubs have secured a berth. These clubs are, in alphabetical order per country:  

Costa Rica (3): CS Herediano, Deportivo Saprissa, and LD Alajuelense
El Salvador (2): CD Aguila and CD Luis Angel Firpo
Guatemala (2): CSD Municipal and Comunicaciones FC
Honduras (2): CD Olimpia and CD Marathon
Nicaragua (3): Diriangen FC, Managua FC and Real Esteli FC
Panama (2): CA Independiente and Tauro FC

The six remaining participating clubs (one from Belize, one from Costa Rica, one from El Salvador, one from Guatemala, one from Honduras,  and one from Panama) will be confirmed by June 2, 2024. 

DRAW PROCEDURES

On June 6, Concacaf will conduct the draw for the 2024 Concacaf Central American Cup Group Stage. The draw will be executed using a single-blind system involving five pots.

The 20 participating clubs will be distributed into five pots according to their Concacaf Club Ranking as of June 3, 2024. The five pots will be as follows:

Pot 1: Four highest-ranked clubs
Pot 2: Four next highest-ranked clubs
Pot 3: Four next highest-ranked clubs
Pot 4: Four next highest-ranked clubs
Pot 5: Four lowest-ranked clubs

The draw will begin by randomly selecting a sphere from Pot 1 and placing that club in Group A, position A1. This process will be replicated for all Pot 1 spheres, with clubs placed in sequential order in positions 1 of Groups B, C, and D.

The same procedure will be followed for Pots 2, 3, 4, and 5, using group positions 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively. At the end of the draw, each group will contain one club from each pot and no more than two clubs from the same Member Association.

Concacaf will publish the confirmed Pots in the days ahead of the official draw.