2023 CONCACAF Central American Cup group stage

The 2023 CONCACAF Central American Cup group stage was played from 1 to 31 August 2023.[1] 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.[2]

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.[1][3]

Pot 1
Team Rank
Olimpia 38
Saprissa 47
Comunicaciones 49
Alajuelense 51
Pot 2
Team Rank
Motagua 53
Xelajú 57
Herediano 58
Cobán Imperial 59
Pot 3
Team Rank
Real España 60
Independiente 61
Cartaginés 65
Olancho 67
Pot 4
Team Rank
Sporting San Miguelito 72
Águila 79
Universitario 95
FAS 109
Pot 5
Team Rank
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.[4]

The draw resulted in the following groups:[5]

Group A
Pos Team
A1 Saprissa
A2 Cobán Imperial
A3 Cartaginés
A4 Universitario
A5 Jocoro
Group B
Pos Team
B1 Olimpia
B2 Xelajú
B3 Independiente
B4 FAS
B5 Real Estelí
Group C
Pos Team
C1 Comunicaciones
C2 Herediano
C3 Real España
C4 Águila
C5 Diriangén
Group D
Pos Team
D1 Alajuelense
D2 Motagua
D3 Olancho
D4 Sporting San Miguelito
D5 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):[2]

  1. Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss);
  2. Goal difference;
  3. Goals scored;
  4. If two or more teams are still tied after applying the above criteria, their rankings would be determined as follows:
    1. Head-to-head points in the matches played among the tied teams;
    2. Head-to-head goal difference in the matches played among the tied teams;
    3. Head-to-head goals scored in the matches played among the tied teams;
  5. The lowest number of fairplay points, based on the following criteria:
    1. Yellow card: plus 1 point;
    2. Second yellow card/indirect red card: plus 3 points;
    3. Direct red card: plus 4 points;;
    4. Yellow card and direct red card: plus 5 points;
  6. 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).[2][5][6]

Weeks Dates Matches
Week 1 1–3 August 2023 Team 1 vs. Team 3, Team 5 vs. Team 2
Week 2 8–10 August 2023 Team 5 vs. Team 1, Team 2 vs. Team 4
Week 3 15–17 August 2023 Team 4 vs. Team 5, Team 2 vs. Team 3
Week 4 22–24 August 2023 Team 4 vs. Team 1, Team 3 vs. Team 5
Week 5 29–31 August 2023 Team 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.[6]

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SAP CAR UNI COB JOC
1 Saprissa 4 3 1 0 10 0 +10 10 Advance to Quarter-finals 1–0 5–0
2 Cartaginés 4 2 1 1 8 3 +5 7 2–2 5–0
3 Universitario 4 1 3 0 6 3 +3 6 0–0 4–1
4 Cobán Imperial 4 1 1 2 4 7 −3 4 0–1 0–0
5 Jocoro 4 0 0 4 2 17 −15 0 0–4 1–4
Source: CONCACAF
Jocoro 1–4 Cobán Imperial
Acuña 65' (pen.) Report
Referee: Jefferson Escobar (Honduras)
Saprissa 1–0 Cartaginés
East 63' Report

Cobán Imperial 0–0 Universitario
Report
Jocoro 0–4 Saprissa
Report

Universitario 4–1 Jocoro
  • Rose 72', 90+1'
  • Clement 73'
  • Rodríguez 88'
Report Águila 53'
Estadio Universidad Latina, Penonomé
Referee: Bryan López (Guatemala)
Cobán Imperial 0–1 Cartaginés
Report López 43'

Cartaginés 5–0 Jocoro
Report
Universitario 0–0 Saprissa
Report
Estadio Universidad Latina, Penonomé
Referee: Ismael Cornejo (El Salvador)

Saprissa 5–0 Cobán Imperial
Report
Cartaginés 2–2 Universitario
Report Sánchez 35', 71'

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification IND EST OLI XEL FAS
1 Independiente 4 3 1 0 11 3 +8 10 Advance to Quarter-finals 2–1 5–0
2 Real Estelí 4 3 0 1 5 2 +3 9 1–0 1–0
3 Olimpia 4 2 1 1 7 4 +3 7 1–1 2–0
4 Xelajú 4 1 0 3 3 7 −4 3 1–3 2–1
5 FAS 4 0 0 4 3 13 −10 0 0–2 2–4
Source: CONCACAF
Real Estelí 1–0 Xelajú
A. Bonilla 19' Report
Referee: Fernando Morón (Panama)
Olimpia 1–1 Independiente
Benguché 65' Report Small 51'

Real Estelí 1–0 Olimpia
Medina 36' Report
Referee: Benjamín Pineda (Costa Rica)
Xelajú 2–1 FAS
Report Torres 72'

FAS 0–2 Real Estelí
Report Barrera 19' (pen.), 74'
Xelajú 1–3 Independiente
Cardona 6' Report

Independiente 2–1 Real Estelí
Report Bezerra 76'
FAS 2–4 Olimpia
Report

Olimpia 2–0 Xelajú
Report
Referee: Juan Gabriel Calderón (Costa Rica)
Independiente 5–0 FAS
  • Ávila 8'
  • Águila 63'
  • Small 65'
  • Serrano 79'
  • Valverde 88' (pen.)
Report
Referee: Melvin Matamoros (Honduras)

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification HER COM RES ÁGU DIR
1 Herediano 4 3 1 0 8 4 +4 10 Advance to Quarter-finals 3–2 2–0
2 Comunicaciones 4 3 0 1 9 4 +5 9 1–2 3–1
3 Real España 4 1 1 2 6 6 0 4 3–0 0–0
4 Águila 4 1 0 3 2 9 −7 3 1–4 1–0
5 Diriangén 4 0 2 2 1 3 −2 2 1–1 0–1
Source: CONCACAF
Comunicaciones 3–1 Real España
Report Carter 33'
Diriangén 1–1 Herediano
Copete 15' Report Faerron 52'
Referee: Nelson Salgado (Honduras)

Herediano 2–0 Águila
Godínez 22', 84' Report
Diriangén 0–1 Comunicaciones
Report Aguilar 40'
Referee: Adonai Escobedo (Mexico)

Herediano 3–2 Real España
Report
Águila 1–0 Diriangén
Cerén 90+2' Report

Águila 1–4 Comunicaciones
Salazar 45+1' Report
Real España 0–0 Diriangén
Report

Real España 3–0 Águila
Rocca 48', 64', 70' Report
Comunicaciones 1–2 Herediano
Aguilar 22' Report

Group D

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification ALA MOT SSM OLA VER
1 Alajuelense 4 4 0 0 10 1 +9 12 Advance to Quarter-finals 5–1 1–0
2 Motagua 4 3 0 1 9 5 +4 9 2–0 1–0
3 Sporting San Miguelito 4 2 0 2 6 3 +3 6 0–1 4–0
4 Olancho 4 1 0 3 3 6 −3 3 0–2 3–2
5 Verdes 4 0 0 4 2 15 −13 0 0–3 0–5
Source: CONCACAF
Alajuelense 1–0 Olancho
Suárez 61' Report
Verdes 0–5 Motagua
Report
Referee: Josué Ugalde (Costa Rica)

Verdes 0–3 Alajuelense
Report
Referee: Melvin Matamoros (Honduras)
Motagua 2–0 Sporting San Miguelito
Y. Mejía 21', 60' Report

Sporting San Miguelito 4–0 Verdes
Report
Referee: Juan Gabriel Calderón (Costa Rica)
Motagua 1–0 Olancho
Y. Mejía 54' Report

Olancho 3–2 Verdes
Report
  • Burgos 6'
  • López 68'
Sporting San Miguelito 0–1 Alajuelense
Report A. López 90+2'

Olancho 0–2 Sporting San Miguelito
Report
Alajuelense 5–1 Motagua
Report Auzmendi 15'

Notes

  1. ^ a b Jocoro played their home matches at Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula (Honduras) instead of their regular stadium Complejo Deportivo Municipal Tierra de Fuego, Jocoro which did not meet CONCACAF requirements.[7]
  2. ^ The Cartaginés v Universitario match, originally scheduled at 18:00 EDT,[6] was re-scheduled to 20:00 EDT in order to allow both matchday 5 matches to be played simultaneously.
  3. ^ a b FAS played their home matches at Estadio Las Delicias, Santa Tecla (originally scheduled at Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador[6] which underwent renovations) instead of their regular stadium Estadio Óscar Quiteño, Santa Ana which did not meet CONCACAF requirements.[8]
  4. ^ The Independiente v FAS match, originally scheduled at 20:00 EDT,[6] was re-scheduled to 22:00 EDT in order to allow both matchday 5 matches to be played simultaneously.
  5. ^ a b Águila played their home matches at Estadio Las Delicias, Santa Tecla (originally scheduled at Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador[6] which underwent renovations) instead of their regular stadium Estadio Juan Francisco Barraza, San Miguel which did not meet CONCACAF requirements.[9]
  6. ^ The Sporting San Miguelito vs Verdes match, originally scheduled at 18:00 EDT,[6] was delayed until 18:45 EDT due to adverse weather conditions (thunderstorm).[10][11]

References

  1. ^ a b "Draw details announced for inaugural Concacaf Central American Cup". CONCACAF. 18 May 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "CONCACAF Central American Cup 2023 Regulations" (PDF). CONCACAF. 17 July 2023 [Approved on 24 February 2023]. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  3. ^ "Concacaf Club Ranking as of May 28, 2023". CONCACAF. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  4. ^ "Concacaf confirms 2023 Central American Cup draw details". CONCACAF. 2 June 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Draw delivers groups for inaugural Concacaf Central American Cup". CONCACAF. 8 June 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g "Schedule and stadiums confirmed for 2023 Concacaf Central American Cup". CONCACAF. 16 June 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  7. ^ Gutiérrez, Omar (17 July 2023). "Jocoro jugará la Copa Centroamericana en Honduras, FAS y Águila sin sede" [Jocoro will play the Central American Cup in Honduras, FAS and Águila without venue] (in Spanish). El Mundo. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  8. ^ Gutiérrez, Omar (22 July 2023). "FAS tendrá como sede el estadio Las Delicias para jugar la Copa Centroamericana 2023" [FAS will have Las Delicias stadium as their venue for the 2023 Central American Cup] (in Spanish). El Mundo. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  9. ^ Gutiérrez, Omar (22 July 2023). "Águila anuncia que el estadio Las Delicias será su sede para la Copa Centroamericana 2023" [Águila announces that Las Delicias stadium will be their venue for the 2023 Central American Cup] (in Spanish). El Mundo. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  10. ^ "Copa Centroamericana 2023: Partido de Sporting vs Verdes se retrasa" [2023 Central American Cup: Sporting vs Verdes match delayed] (in Spanish). RPC. 16 August 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  11. ^ CONCACAF Champions Cup [@TheChampions] (16 August 2023). "¡Comienza el juego!" [The game is on!] (Tweet) (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 August 2023 – via X (formerly Twitter).