# 2019–20 Liga Nacional de Guatemala

The 2019–20 Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala season is the 22nd season of the Liga Nacional de Guatemala, the top football league in Guatemala, in which the Apertura and Clausura season is used. The season will begin in July 2019 and will end in May 2020.

## Team information

A total of 12 teams will contest the league, including 10 sides from the 2017–18 Liga Nacional and 2 promoted from the 2017–18 Primera División.
Deportivo Petapa and Chiantla were relegated to 2018–19 Primera División the previous season.
The relegated team was replaced by the 2018–19 Primera División winners. F.C. Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa and Deportivo Mixco.

### Promotion and relegation

Promoted from Primera División de Ascenso as of June 2019.
* Champions: F.C. Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa and Mixco
Relegated to Primera División de Ascenso as of June 2019.
* Last Place: Petapa and Chiantla

### Personnel and sponsoring

| Team | Chairman | Head Coach | Captain | Kitmaker | Shirt Sponsors |
| Antigua GFC | Víctor Hugo García | Juan Antonio Torres | TBD | TBD | Tigo, TBD |
| Coban Imperial | Jimmy Morales | Jorge Rodriguez | TBD | TBD | Tigo, TBD |
| Comunicaciones | Juan Garcia | Mauricio Tapia | TBD | Nino | Tigo, TBD |
| Guastatoya | Léster Rodríguez | Daniel Alberto Casas Lago | TBD | TBD | Tigo, TBD |
| Iztapa | Mario Mejía | Alberto Salguero | TBD | TBD | Tigo, TBD |
| Malacateco | Carlos Gutiérrez | Ronald Gomez | TBD | TBD | Tigo, TBD |
| Mixco | | Julio Gomez | TBD | TBD | Tigo, TBD |
| CSD Municipal | Gerardo Villa | Horacio Cordero | TBD | TBD | Tigo, TBD |
| F.C. Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa | TBD | Francisco Melgar | TBD | TBD | Tigo, TBD |
| Sanarate | Jahiro Otzoy | Rafael Díaz | TBD | TBD | Tigo, TBD |
| Siquinalá | Juan Pablo Godíne | Antonio Acosta | | Kelme | TBD |
| Xelajú MC | Francisco Santos | Walter Horacio González | TBD | TBD | Tigo, TBD |

## Managerial changes
### Beginning of the season

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| Iztapa | | Resigned | May 2019 | Alberto Salguero | May 2019 | th (Clausura 2018) |
| Guastatoya | Amarini Villatoro | Resigned | May 2019 | Daniel Alberto Casas Lago | May 2019 | th (Clausura 2018) |
| Sanarate | Ariel Sena | Contract finished | July 2019 | Rafael Díaz | July 2019 | th (Clausura 2018) |
| Coban Imperial | Fabricio Benitez | Resigned | May 2019 | Jorge Rodriguez | June 2019 | th (Clausura 2018) |
| Comunicaciones | William Coito Olivera | Resigned | May 2019 | Mauricio Tapia | May 2019 | th (Clausura 2018) |
| Santa Lucía Cotz | Ramiro Cepeda | Resigned | June 2019 | Francisco Melgar | June 2019 | th (Clausura 2018) |
| Siquinalá | Otto Rodriguez | Resigned | June 2019 | Antonio Acosta | June 2019 | th (Clausura 2018) |
| Antigua GFC | Juan Antonio Torres | Resigned | June 2019 | Roberto Montoya | June 2019 | th (Clausura 2018) |

### During the Apertura season

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| Municipal | Horacio Cordero | Resigned | August 2019 | Sebastián Bini | August 2019 | th (Clausura 2018) |
| Guastatoya | Daniel Casas | Sacked | September 2019 | Fabricio Benitez | September 2019 | th (Clausura 2018) |
| Mixco | Julio Gomez | Sacked | September 2019 | Walter Claverí | September 2019 | th (Clausura 2018) |
| Izatapa | Alberto Salguero | Sacked | September 2019 | Ramiro Cepeda | September 2019 | th (Clausura 2018) |
| Xelaju MC | Walter Horacio González | Resigned | November 2019 | TBD | November 2019 | th (Clausura 2018) |

### Between Apertura and Clausura seasons

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| TBD | TBD | Resigned | July 2019 | TBD | July 2019 | th (Clausura 2018) |

### During the Clausura season

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
| TBD | TBD | Resigned | July 2019 | TBD | July 2019 | th (Clausura 2018) |

## Apertura
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Cobán Imperial | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 34 | 23 | +11 | 41 | Advance to Playoffs (Semifinals) |
| 2 | Municipal | 22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 32 | 23 | +9 | 40 | Advance to Playoffs (Semifinals) |
| 3 | Comunicaciones | 22 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 33 | 21 | +12 | 39 | Advance to Playoffs (Quarterfinals) |
| 4 | Antigua GFC | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 30 | 23 | +7 | 37 | Advance to Playoffs (Quarterfinals) |
| 5 | Sanarate | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 27 | 24 | +3 | 37 | Advance to Playoffs (Quarterfinals) |
| 6 | Guastatoya | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 29 | 22 | +7 | 35 | Advance to Playoffs (Quarterfinals) |
| 7 | Malacateco | 22 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 29 | 24 | +5 | 31 | |
| 8 | Iztapa | 22 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 28 | 26 | +2 | 31 | |
| 9 | Xelajú | 22 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 26 | 27 | −1 | 28 | |
| 10 | Santa Lucía | 22 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 21 | 29 | −8 | 22 | |
| 11 | Mixco | 22 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 41 | −23 | 16 | |
| 12 | Siquinalá | 22 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 44 | −24 | 10 | |

### Results

* Home \ Away
* Antigua GFC
* Santa Lucía
* Cobán Imperial
* Comunicaciones
* Guastatoya
* Iztapa
* Malacateco
* Municipal
* Mixco
* Sanarate
* Siquinalá
* Xelajú

### Attendances

Comunicaciones drew the highest average home attendance in the Apertura.
| # | Football club | Home games | Average attendance |
| 1 | Comunicaciones | 11 | 8,312 |
| 2 | Antigua GFC | 11 | 7,782 |
| 3 | CSD Municipal | 11 | 7,578 |
| 4 | Cobán Imperial | 11 | 7,012 |
| 5 | Xelaju MC | 11 | 6,674 |
| 6 | Santa Lucía | 11 | 5,389 |
| 7 | Deportivo Sanarate | 11 | 5,336 |
| 8 | Deportivo Siquinalá | 11 | 3,163 |
| 9 | Deportivo Guastatoya | 11 | 3,012 |
| 10 | Deportivo Mixco | 11 | 2,769 |
| 11 | Deportivo Malacateco | 11 | 2,456 |
| 12 | Deportivo Iztapa | 11 | 1,253 |

## Clausura
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Comunicaciones | 13 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 26 | 15 | +11 | 28 | Advance to Playoffs (Semifinals) |
| 2 | Municipal | 13 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 17 | 12 | +5 | 23 | Advance to Playoffs (Semifinals) |
| 3 | Guastatoya | 13 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 10 | +3 | 21 | Advance to Playoffs (Quarterfinals) |
| 4 | Iztapa | 13 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 19 | 18 | +1 | 20 | Advance to Playoffs (Quarterfinals) |
| 5 | Antigua GFC | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 15 | 11 | +4 | 19 | Advance to Playoffs (Quarterfinals) |
| 6 | Siquinalá | 13 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 17 | 17 | 0 | 16 | Advance to Playoffs (Quarterfinals) |
| 7 | Mixco | 13 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 15 | |
| 8 | Santa Lucía | 13 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 13 | 18 | −5 | 15 | |
| 9 | Xelajú | 13 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 12 | 15 | −3 | 13 | |
| 10 | Malacateco | 13 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 14 | −5 | 13 | |
| 11 | Sanarate | 13 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 17 | −4 | 12 | |
| 12 | Cobán Imperial | 13 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 15 | −7 | 10 | |

### Results

* Home \ Away
* Antigua GFC
* Santa Lucía
* Cobán Imperial
* Comunicaciones
* Guastatoya
* Iztapa
* Malacateco
* Municipal
* Mixco
* Sanarate
* Siquinalá
* Xelajú

### Playoffs
## Aggregate table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Comunicaciones | 35 | 19 | 10 | 6 | 59 | 36 | +23 | 67 | CONCACAF League preliminary round |
| 2 | Municipal | 35 | 18 | 9 | 8 | 49 | 35 | +14 | 63 | CONCACAF League round of 16 |
| 3 | Guastatoya | 35 | 16 | 8 | 11 | 42 | 32 | +10 | 56 | |
| 4 | Antigua GFC | 35 | 16 | 8 | 11 | 42 | 35 | +7 | 56 | CONCACAF League preliminary round |
| 5 | Cobán Imperial | 35 | 14 | 9 | 12 | 42 | 38 | +4 | 51 | |
| 6 | Iztapa | 35 | 14 | 9 | 12 | 47 | 44 | +3 | 51 | |
| 7 | Sanarate | 35 | 15 | 7 | 13 | 40 | 41 | −1 | 49 | |
| 8 | Malacateco | 35 | 12 | 8 | 15 | 38 | 34 | +4 | 44 | |
| 9 | Xelajú | 35 | 9 | 14 | 12 | 38 | 42 | −4 | 41 | |
| 10 | Santa Lucía | 35 | 8 | 13 | 14 | 34 | 47 | −13 | 37 | |
| 11 | Mixco | 35 | 8 | 7 | 20 | 32 | 55 | −23 | 31 | Relegated to Primera División de Ascenso |
| 12 | Siquinalá | 35 | 6 | 8 | 21 | 37 | 61 | −24 | 26 | Relegated to Primera División de Ascenso |
* ↑ As Clausura champions (GUA2)
* ↑ As Apertura champions (GUA1)
* ↑ As runners-up with better aggregate record (GUA3)

## List of foreign players in the league

This is a list of foreign players in 2019-2020 season. The following players:
* have played at least one apertura game for the respective club.
* have not been capped for the Guatemala national football team on any level, independently from the birthplace. Archived 2018-07-29 at the Wayback Machine
A new rule was introduced a few season ago, that clubs can only have five foreign players per club and can only add a new player if there is an injury or player/s is released.