The 2023 CONCACAF Central American Cup group stage was played from 1 to 31 August 2023.[1] 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.[2]
The draw for the group stage was held on 8 June 2023 in Miami, Florida. 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.[1][3]
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.[4]
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).:[2]
Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss);
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).[2][5][6]
^ abJocoro played their home matches at Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula (Honduras) instead of their regular stadium Complejo Deportivo Municipal Tierra de Fuego, Jocoro which did not meet CONCACAF requirements.[7]
^The Cartaginés v Universitario match, originally scheduled at 18:00 EDT,[6] was re-scheduled to 20:00 EDT in order to allow both matchday 5 matches to be played simultaneously.
^ abFAS played their home matches at Estadio Las Delicias, Santa Tecla (originally scheduled at Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador[6] which underwent renovations) instead of their regular stadium Estadio Óscar Quiteño, Santa Ana which did not meet CONCACAF requirements.[8]
^The Independiente v FAS match, originally scheduled at 20:00 EDT,[6] was re-scheduled to 22:00 EDT in order to allow both matchday 5 matches to be played simultaneously.
^The Sporting San Miguelito vs Verdes match, originally scheduled at 18:00 EDT,[6] was delayed until 18:45 EDT due to adverse weather conditions (thunderstorm).[10][11]
^CONCACAF Champions Cup [@TheChampions] (16 August 2023). "¡Comienza el juego!" [The game is on!] (Tweet) (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 August 2023 – via Twitter.