# 2024 CONCACAF Central American Cup group stage

The 2024 CONCACAF Central American Cup group stage was played from 30 July to 29 August 2024. A total of 20 teams competed in the group stage to decide the 8 places in the knockout stage of the 2024 CONCACAF Central American Cup.

## Draw

The draw for the group stage was held on 6 June 2024 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 3 June 2024.
Pot 1 :
| Team | Rank |
| Saprissa | 41 |
| Olimpia | 43 |
| Alajuelense | 50 |
| Herediano | 51 |
Pot 2 :
| Team | Rank |
| Municipal | 52 |
| Comunicaciones | 54 |
| Antigua | 55 |
| Motagua | 56 |
Pot 3 :
| Team | Rank |
| Tauro | 58 |
| Marathón | 59 |
| Independiente | 60 |
| Guanacasteca | 71 |
Pot 4 :
| Team | Rank |
| San Francisco | 77 |
| Alianza | 80 |
| Real Estelí | 83 |
| Águila | 86 |
Pot 5 :
| Team | Rank |
| Diriangén | 98 |
| Luis Ángel Firpo | 113 |
| Managua | 146 |
| Port Layola | 175 |
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 A :
| Group A PosTeam A1 Herediano A2 Motagua A3 Tauro A4 San Francisco A5 Diriangén | Group B PosTeam B1 Alajuelense B2 Comunicaciones B3 Marathón B4 Alianza B5 Luis Ángel Firpo | Group C PosTeam C1 Olimpia C2 Antigua C3 Independiente C4 Águila C5 Port Layola | Group D PosTeam D1 Saprissa D2 Municipal D3 Guanacasteca D4 Real Estelí D5 Managua |

## Format

In the group stage, each group was 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 were 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 were played on either Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday as decided by CONCACAF. The schedule of each week was as follows (Regulations Article 2).
| Weeks | Dates | Matches |
| Week 1 | 30 July – 1 August 2024 | Team 1 vs. Team 3, Team 5 vs. Team 2 |
| Week 2 | 6–8 August 2024 | Team 5 vs. Team 1, Team 2 vs. Team 4 |
| Week 3 | 13–15 August 2024 | Team 4 vs. Team 5, Team 2 vs. Team 3 |
| Week 4 | 20–22 August 2024 | Team 4 vs. Team 1, Team 3 vs. Team 5 |
| Week 5 | 27–29 August 2024 | 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.

### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | HER | MOT | DIR | TAU | SFR |
| 1 | Herediano | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 10 | Advance to Quarter-finals | — | 1–1 | — | 1–0 | — |
| 2 | Motagua | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 7 | Advance to Quarter-finals | — | — | — | 4–1 | 3–2 |
| 3 | Diriangén | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 7 | | 0–1 | 2–1 | — | — | — |
| 4 | Tauro | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 8 | −4 | 3 | | — | — | 1–2 | — | 2–1 |
| 5 | San Francisco | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 1 | | 0–1 | — | 0–0 | — | — |

### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ALA | COM | MAR | ALI | LAF |
| 1 | Alajuelense | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 6 | +5 | 12 | Advance to Quarter-finals | — | 2–1 | 3–1 | — | — |
| 2 | Comunicaciones | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 7 | Advance to Quarter-finals | — | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | — |
| 3 | Marathón | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 6 | | — | — | — | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| 4 | Alianza | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 3 | | 1–2 | — | — | — | 5–2 |
| 5 | Luis Ángel Firpo | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 11 | −5 | 1 | | 3–4 | 1–1 | — | — | — |

### Group C

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ÁGU | ANT | OLI | CAI | PLA |
| 1 | Águila | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 1 | +9 | 10 | Advance to Quarter-finals | — | — | 2–0 | — | 5–1 |
| 2 | Antigua | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 8 | Advance to Quarter-finals | 0–0 | — | — | 2–1 | — |
| 3 | Olimpia | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 4 | +6 | 7 | | — | 1–1 | — | 3–0 | — |
| 4 | Independiente | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 3 | | 0–3 | — | — | — | 1–0 |
| 5 | Port Layola | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 16 | −13 | 0 | | — | 1–4 | 1–6 | — | — |

### Group D

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | SAP | EST | MUN | MAN | GUA |
| 1 | Saprissa | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 4 | +6 | 9 | Advance to Quarter-finals | — | — | 1–0 | — | 5–0 |
| 2 | Real Estelí | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 7 | Advance to Quarter-finals | 2–1 | — | — | 3–0 | — |
| 3 | Municipal | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | | — | 1–1 | — | — | 3–1 |
| 4 | Managua | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 4 | | 2–3 | — | 1–0 | — | — |
| 5 | Guanacasteca | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 4 | | — | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | — |