# 2023 CONCACAF Central American Cup group stage

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

## 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.
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.
The draw resulted in the following groups:
Group A :
| Group A PosTeam A1 Saprissa A2 Cobán Imperial A3 Cartaginés A4 Universitario A5 Jocoro | Group B PosTeam B1 Olimpia B2 Xelajú B3 Independiente B4 FAS B5 Real Estelí | Group C PosTeam C1 Comunicaciones C2 Herediano C3 Real España C4 Águila C5 Diriangén | Group D PosTeam 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):
* 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 are being played on either Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday as decided by CONCACAF. The schedule of each week is as follows (Regulations Article 2).
| 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.

### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 | Advance to Quarter-finals | — | — | 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 | — |

### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 | Advance to Quarter-finals | — | — | 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 | — | — |

### Group C

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 | Advance to Quarter-finals | 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 | — | — | — |

### Group D

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 | Advance to Quarter-finals | — | — | 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 | — | — | — |