List of Central American football champions

The CONCACAF Central American Cup is the top regional tournament for clubs from Central America.[1] Although, this tournament was first contested in 2023, multiple different former competitions have been played before to crown a regional champion. The official competitions that grant this title are the CONCACAF Champions Cup qualification stage (1964–1991), the UNCAF Interclub Cup (1999–2007) and the already mentioned CONCACAF Central American Cup (2023–present). Several clubs have also won the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the CONCACAF League and the CONCACAF Cup Winners Cup, however, these tournaments, although officials, also included teams from other regions from CONCACAF outside of Central America, therefore, not added to this list. There were other non-official tournaments played during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, such as the Copa Fraternidad[2] and the Torneo Grandes de Centro América,[3] being the most prominents.

Winners

Year Winners (number of titles) Runners-up
CONCACAF Champions Cup qualifying stage (1964–1998)
1964 Costa Rica Uruguay (1) Guatemala Municipal
1965 Costa Rica Saprissa (1) El Salvador Águila
1966 Not held
1967 El Salvador Alianza (1) Guatemala Aurora
1968 Guatemala Aurora (1) Honduras Olimpia
1969 No proper Central American stage programed; all rounds mixed with northern and/or Caribbean clubs
1970 Costa Rica Saprissa (2) Honduras Olimpia
1971 Central American stage for qualifying purposes only; no final programed. Both Comunicaciones (GUA) and Alajuelense (CRC) advanced to further stage
1972 No proper Central American stage programed; all rounds mixed with northern and/or Caribbean clubs
1973 Costa Rica Saprissa (3) Costa Rica Alajuelense
1974 Guatemala Municipal (1) El Salvador Alianza
1975 Costa Rica Saprissa (4) Guatemala Municipal
1976 El Salvador Águila (1) Nicaragua Diriangén
1977 Costa Rica Saprissa (5) Guatemala Municipal
1978 Guatemala Comunicaciones (1) Costa Rica Saprissa
1979 El Salvador FAS (1) Costa Rica Cartaginés (withdrew)
1980 Honduras Universidad (1) Honduras Marathón
1981–1985 No proper Central American stage programed; all rounds mixed with northern and/or Caribbean clubs
1986 Central American stage for qualifying purposes only; no final programed. Both Alajuelense (CRC) and Motagua (HON) advanced to further stage
1987 Honduras Olimpia (1) Costa Rica Saprissa
1988 Costa Rica Alajuelense (1) Honduras Olimpia
1989 Honduras Olimpia (2) Costa Rica Herediano
1990 Honduras Olimpia (3) El Salvador Luis Ángel Firpo
1991 Honduras Real España (1) Costa Rica Saprissa
1992–1996 No proper Central American stage programed; all rounds mixed with northern and/or Caribbean clubs
1997 Central American stage for qualifying purposes only; no final programed. All Comunicaciones (GUA), Luis Ángel Firpo (SLV) and Cartaginés (CRC) advanced to further stage
1998 Central American stage for qualifying purposes only; no final programed. All Saprissa (CRC), Luis Ángel Firpo (SLV) and Alajuelense (CRC) advanced to further stage
2008–2017 No proper Central American stage programed; all Central American clubs qualified through their domestic leagues and the CONCACAF League on-forward
UNCAF Interclub Cup (1999–2007)
1999 Honduras Olimpia (4) Costa Rica Alajuelense
2000 Honduras Olimpia (5) Costa Rica Alajuelense
2001 Guatemala Municipal (2) Costa Rica Saprissa
2002 Costa Rica Alajuelense (2) Panama Árabe Unido
2003 Costa Rica Saprissa (6) Guatemala Comunicaciones
2004 Guatemala Municipal (3) Costa Rica Saprissa
2005 Costa Rica Alajuelense (3) Honduras Olimpia
2006 Costa Rica Puntarenas (1) Honduras Olimpia
2007 Honduras Motagua (1) Costa Rica Saprissa
CONCACAF Central American Cup (2023–)
2023 Costa Rica Alajuelense (4) Nicaragua Real Estelí
2024 Costa Rica Alajuelense (5) Nicaragua Real Estelí
2025 Costa Rica Alajuelense (6) Guatemala Xelajú

Other versions

The CONCACAF League was a second-tier competition organized by CONCACAF between 2017 and 2022 which served as a method of qualification to the CONCACAF Champions League.[4] The tournament was open to Central American, Caribbean and Canadian clubs, however more than 80% of the berths in each tournament were allocated to Central American clubs. Although not officially a regional tournament, in the Central American lore, the winners of this cup have been considered "Central American champions";[5] even more because after all editions, all winners and finalists happened to be from Central America.

Year Winners (number of titles) Runners-up
CONCACAF League (2017–2022)
2017 Honduras Olimpia (1) Costa Rica Santos de Guápiles
2018 Costa Rica Herediano (1) Honduras Motagua
2019 Costa Rica Saprissa (1) Honduras Motagua
2020 Costa Rica Alajuelense (1) Costa Rica Saprissa
2021 Guatemala Comunicaciones (1) Honduras Motagua
2022 Honduras Olimpia (2) Costa Rica Alajuelense

Non-official competitions

These tournaments were exhibition association football cups played between Central American clubs, not necessarily by the domestic cup or league holders, but more often by invitation.[6]

Year Winners (number of titles) Runners-up
Championship of Central America and the Caribbean (1961)
1961 Costa Rica Alajuelense (1) El Salvador Águila
Copa Fraternidad (1971–1984)
1971 Guatemala Comunicaciones (1) Costa Rica Saprissa
1972 Costa Rica Saprissa (1) Guatemala Aurora
1973 Costa Rica Saprissa (2) El Salvador Águila
1974 Guatemala Municipal (1) Costa Rica Saprissa
1975 El Salvador Platense (1) Guatemala Aurora
1976 Guatemala Aurora (1) Guatemala Comunicaciones
1977 Guatemala Municipal (2) Guatemala Comunicaciones
1978 Costa Rica Saprissa (3) Costa Rica Cartaginés
1979 Guatemala Aurora (2) Honduras Real España
1980 Honduras Broncos (1) El Salvador Alianza
1981 Honduras Real España (1) Honduras Olimpia
1982 Honduras Real España (2) Guatemala Xelajú
1983 Guatemala Comunicaciones (2) Guatemala Aurora
1984 Final round abandoned
Torneo Grandes de Centro América (1996–1998)
1996 Costa Rica Alajuelense (1) Costa Rica Saprissa
1997 El Salvador Alianza (1) Costa Rica Saprissa
1997–98 Costa Rica Saprissa (1) Guatemala Municipal
Copa Premier Centroamericana (2019)
2019–20 Honduras Real España (1) Honduras Olimpia

Titles by club

Club Titles Winning years
Official only (Includes CONCACAF League)
Costa Rica Saprissa 7 1965, 1970, 1973, 1975, 1977, 2003, 2019
Honduras Olimpia 7 1987, 1989, 1990, 1999, 2000, 2017, 2022
Costa Rica Alajuelense 7 1988, 2002, 2005, 2020, 2023, 2024, 2025
Guatemala Municipal 3 1974, 2001, 2004
Guatemala Comunicaciones 2 1978, 2021
Costa Rica Uruguay 1 1964
El Salvador Alianza 1 1967
Guatemala Aurora 1 1968
El Salvador Águila 1 1976
El Salvador FAS 1 1979
Honduras Universidad 1 1980
Honduras Real España 1 1991
Costa Rica Puntarenas 1 2006
Honduras Motagua 1 2007
Costa Rica Herediano 1 2018
Including non-officials
Costa Rica Saprissa 11 1965, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1997–98, 2003, 2019
Costa Rica Alajuelense 9 1961, 1988, 1996, 2002, 2005, 2020, 2023, 2024, 2025
Honduras Olimpia 7 1987, 1989, 1990, 1999, 2000, 2017, 2022
Guatemala Municipal 5 1974, 1974, 1977, 2001, 2004
Honduras Real España 4 1981, 1982, 1991, 2019–20
Guatemala Comunicaciones 4 1971, 1978, 1983, 2021
Guatemala Aurora 3 1968, 1976, 1979
El Salvador Alianza 2 1967, 1997
Costa Rica Uruguay 1 1964
El Salvador Platense 1 1975
El Salvador Águila 1 1976
El Salvador FAS 1 1979
Honduras Universidad 1 1980
Honduras Broncos 1 1980
Costa Rica Puntarenas 1 2006
Honduras Motagua 1 2007
Costa Rica Herediano 1 2018

See also

References

  1. ^ "Concacaf confirms important details for 2024 Concacaf Central American Cup". CONCACAF.com. CONCACAF. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  2. ^ "Copa Fraternidad". RSSSF.org. RSSSF. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  3. ^ "UNCAF Club Championships". RSSSF.org. RSSSF. Retrieved 29 December 2025.
  4. ^ "Concacaf Reveals Champions League Expansion, New Format Starting in Fall 2023". SI.com. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  5. ^ "Los 103 años del Club Sport Herediano". buzonderodrigo.com. Buzón de Rodrigo. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Copa Confraternidad y el Torneo Grandes de Centroamérica, dos competencias cuya organización será siempre cuestionada". DiarioMas.hn. La Tribuna. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
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