Concacaf confirms key details for 2025 Concacaf Central American Cup  | OneFootball

Miami, FL – Concacaf has confirmed key details about the 2025 Concacaf Central American Cup. The third edition of this regional cup tournament, which serves as a qualifier for the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup and features 20 of the top clubs in Central America, will take place from July to December 2025.

The official draw for the 2025 Central American Cup, which will determine the groups for the tournament’s first round and each club’s path to the regional title, will be conducted on Tuesday, June 3, in Miami, FL. Fans can follow the made-for-TV event on Concacaf’s YouTube Channel starting at 6:30 pm ET.

COMPETITION FORMAT AND DATES

The tournament will begin with a Group Stage comprising 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 29-31, 2025 Group Stage Week 2: August 5-7, 2025 Group Stage Week 3: August 12-14, 2025 Group Stage Week 4: August 19-21, 2025 Group Stage Week 5: August 26-28, 2025

After the Group Stage, the top two finishers in each group will advance to the Knockout Stage. This stage will feature home-and-away matches, beginning with the Quarterfinals, followed by the Semifinals and Play-In, and concluding with the Final, where Central America’s champion will be crowned.

Quarterfinals: September 23-25 and September 30 - October 2, 2025 Semifinals and Play-In: October 21-23 and 28-30, 2025 Final: November 25-27 and December 2-4, 2025

Additionally, the semifinalists and the two play-in winners (a total of six clubs) will qualify for the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup. The champion will also receive a bye to the Round of 16 in the Confederation’s 27-club competition.

PARTICIPATING CLUBS

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

Thus far, 13 clubs have secured a berth. These clubs are, in alphabetical order, per country:

Belize (1): Verdes FC Costa Rica (3): CS Herediano, LD Alajuelense and Deportivo SaprissaEl Salvador (2): CD Hércules and CD Águila Guatemala (2): CSD Xelajú and CSD Municipal Honduras (2): FC Motagua and CD Olimpia Nicaragua (2): Cacique Diriangén FC and Real Estelí FC Panama (1): Club Atlético Independiente

The 7 remaining participating clubs (Costa Rica: 1, El Salvador:1, Guatemala: 1, Honduras: 1, Nicaragua: 1, Panama: 2) will be confirmed by May 30, 2025.

DRAW PROCEDURES

On Tuesday, June 3, Concacaf will conduct the tournament’s Group Stage draw. 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 2, 2025, 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 on the days before the official draw.

LD Alajuelense is the current Concacaf Central American Cup champion. The Costa Rican side secured its second consecutive title by defeating Nicaragua's Real Estelí in last year’s final (3–2 on aggregate).