The 2023–24 Liga Guate, also known as Liga Guate Banrural for sponsorship reasons, was the 71st professional season of the top-flight football league in Guatemala. The season was divided into two championships—the 2023 Apertura and the 2024 Clausura—each in an identical format and each contested by the same 12 teams.
Competition format Same as previous years, the season was divided into two short tournaments: Torneo Apertura (opening) and Torneo Clausura (closing), each of which crowning its own champion. In May 2023, President of the Liga Nacional Rodolfo Puertas announced a change in the competition format for the 2023–24 season in order to reduce the number of games to be played, adopting one similar to that implemented in the 2020–21 season during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new format was approved on 13 June 2023 during the Ordinary Assembly of the Liga Nacional with the Apertura and Clausura tournaments being played under the same format consisting of a Classification phase, which was now played with two groups of 6 teams, and a Final phase, which remained unchanged.
The classification phase consisted of two groups of 6 teams each, which were formed based on the position of the teams in the cumulative table of the previous season, with the teams placed in odd position plus one promoted team in group A and the teams placed in even position plus the other promoted team in group B:
+ Group ATeam1Comunicaciones3Xelajú5Cobán Imperial7Xinabajul-Huehue9MalacatecoCoatepeque+ Group BTeam2Municipal4Antigua6Guastatoya8Achuapa10MixcoZacapa
Each team played twice against the opponents in their group on a home-and-away round-robin basis, but also played once against the 6 teams in the opposing group (intergroup matches) for a total of 16 matches per team. The top eight teams in an overall table at the conclusion of the classification stage advanced to the quarter-finals of the final stage.
The final phase was played on a single-elimination format and consisted of the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the finals. All rounds were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, with the higher-ranked team in the classification phase of each tie hosting the second leg. The quarter-final pairings were pre-determined based on the teams' final position in the classification phase. In the semi-finals the teams were re-seeded based also on their final position in the classification phase in order to determine the two pairings. The quarter-finals and semi-finals matchups were determined as follows:
Quarter-finals Match A: Third placed team vs. Sixth placed team Match B: Fourth placed team vs. Fifth placed team Match C: First placed team vs. Eighth placed team Match D: Second placed team vs. Seventh placed team
Semi-finals Match I: Second best placed semi-finalist vs. Third best placed semi-finalist Match II: Top-placed semi-finalist vs. Fourth best placed semi-finalist
Both champions of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments plus the best placed team on the aggregate table (excluding the two champions) at the end of the season qualified for the 2024 CONCACAF Central American Cup.
Teams
Promotion and relegation (pre-season) A total of 12 teams took part in this season: the top ten teams from the aggregate table of the 2022–23 season as well as the two promoted teams from the 2022–23 Primera División season, Coatepeque and Zacapa. Both teams were promoted as finalists in both the Apertura and Clausura tournaments of the 2022–23 Primera División,
Teams relegated to Primera División de Ascenso The two promoted teams replaced Santa Lucía and Iztapa, the bottom two teams in the aggregate table of the 2022–23 season, who were relegated to Primera División in the previous season.
Stadiums and locations Team City Stadium Capacity Achuapa El Progreso Winston Pineda 6,000 Antigua Antigua Guatemala Pensativo 10,000 Coatepeque Coatepeque Israel Barrios 20,000 Cobán Imperial Cobán Verapaz 15,000 Comunicaciones Guatemala City Doroteo Guamuch Flores 26,000 Guastatoya Guastatoya David Cordón Hichos 3,100 Malacateco Malacatán Santa Lucía 7,000 Mixco Mixco Santo Domingo de Guzmán 5,200 Municipal Guatemala City El Trébol 7,500 Xelajú Quetzaltenango Mario Camposeco 11,220 Xinabajul-Huehue Huehuetenango Los Cuchumatanes 5,340 Zacapa Zacapa David Ordoñez Bardales 8,500
Personnel and kits Team Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor(s) Achuapa Rónald Gómez Rigoberto Hernández Guza−Sport Antigua Dwight Pezzarossi José Mena Nino Coatepeque Silvio Fernández Pedro Samayoa Nevimar Cobán Imperial Adrián García Arias Janderson MG Sports Comunicaciones William Coito José Manuel Contreras Kelme Guastatoya Roberto Montoya Rubén Morales Guza−Sport Malacateco Gabriel Pereyra Jorge Sánchez Silver Sport Mixco Fabricio Benítez Jean Márquez JM12 Municipal Sebastián Bini Marlon Sequén Umbro Xelajú Amarini Villatoro Kenner Gutiérrez Kelme Xinabajul-Huehue Pablo Centrone Kristian Guzmán Orion Zacapa Gerson Voss Mafre Icuté Guza−Sport
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentTorneo AperturaAchuapa Walter ClaveríEnd of contract7 May 2023Pre-season Gabriel Pereyra25 May 2023Achuapa Hamilton LópezEnd of caretaker spell14 May 2023 Adrián García Arias31 May 2023Municipal José CardozoEnd of contract15 May 2023 Sebastián Bini29 May 2023Antigua Ramiro Cepeda29 May 2023 Ronald González1 June 2023Guastatoya Mario Acevedo2 June 2023 Roberto Montoya2 June 2023Zacapa Erick GonzálezMutual agreement19 September 20238th Martín García23 September 2023Antigua Ronald GonzálezSacked22 September 20232nd Dwight Pezzarossi22 September 2023Coatepeque Joaquín ÁlvarezMutual agreement4 October 202311th Paco Ramírez5 October 2023Torneo ClausuraCobán Imperial César MéndezSacked28 November 2023Pre-tournament Adrián García Arias9 December 2023Coatepeque Paco RamírezMutual agreement29 November 2023 Silvio FernándezDecember 2023Achuapa Adrián García AriasSigned by Cobán Imperial9 December 2023 Milton García29 December 2023Zacapa Martín GarcíaMutual agreement21 December 2023 Adrián Fernández22 December 2023Comunicaciones William CoitoMutual agreement26 December 2023 Iván Sopegno27 December 2023Zacapa Adrián FernándezMutual agreement17 February 202411th Héctor Vargas17 February 2024Achuapa Milton GarcíaSacked1 March 20249th Rónald Gómez5 March 2024Zacapa Héctor VargasMutual agreement11 March 202411th Julio Laínez11 March 2024 Julio LaínezSacked4 April 202412th Gerson Voss4 April 2024Comunicaciones Iván SopegnoDemoted to the youth levels18 April 20245th William Coito19 April 2024 Notes
Apertura The Apertura 2023 tournament began on 28 July and ended on 23 December 2023. Xelajú were the defending champions, having won the Clausura 2023 tournament at the previous season.
Classification phase – Apertura 2023 The classification phase of the Apertura tournament ran from 28 July to 12 November 2023.
Standings
Results The match schedule was decided based on the draw which took place during the Ordinary Assembly of the Liga Nacional held on 13 June 2023.
Top goalscorers Players sorted first by goals scored, then by last name. José Carlos Martínez won the Torneo Apertura top scorer award (known as Juan Carlos Plata Trophy) after scoring 9 goals for Municipal. Rank Player Club Goals1 José Carlos MartínezMunicipal92 Dewinder BradleyAntigua8 Elíser QuiñonesAchuapa4 Pedro BáezMalacateco7 Luis TúnchezAchuapa6 Keyshwen ArboineComunicaciones5 José EspinozaZacapa Lynner GarcíaComunicaciones Esteban GarcíaMixco Erick LemusAchuapa Gabriel LeyesMuncicipal Ángel LópezMalacateco Yonathan MoránMalacateco Matías RotondiMunicipal
Final phase – Apertura 2023 The final phase of the Apertura tournament ran from 29 November to 23 December 2023.
Bracket
Quarter-finals
Guastatoya won 2–0 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals.
Comunicaciones won 5–2 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals.
Xelajú won 6–2 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals.
Zacapa won 3–1 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals.
Semi-finals
Zacapa won 4–2 on aggregate and advanced to the finals.
Tied 2–2 on aggregate, Comunicaciones won on penalties and advanced to the finals.
Finals
Comunicaciones won 2–1 on aggregate. As Torneo Apertura champions they qualified for the 2024 CONCACAF Central American Cup.
Clausura The Clausura 2024 tournament began on 19 January and ended on 19 May 2024. The defending champions were Comunicaciones, who had won the previous Apertura 2023 tournament.
Classification phase – Clausura 2024 The classification phase of the Apertura tournament ran from 19 January to 21 April 2024.
Standings
Results The match schedule was the same as the one drawn for the Torneo Apertura (with the order of the intergroup matches reversed).
Top goalscorers Players sorted first by goals scored, then by last name. Diego Casas (1,129 minutes played) and Matías Rotondi (1,292 minutes played) tied in goals scored with 9 goals each. Diego Casas won the Clausura 2024 goal scorer's award (known as Juan Carlos Plata Trophy) for having played fewer minutes. Rank Player Club Goals1 Diego CasasCobán Imperial9 Matías RotondiMunicipal3 Erick LemusAchuapa5 Ángel LópezMalacateco Nicolás MazzolaXinabajul-Huehue Jonatan MoránXelajú Tomás PizarroXinabajul-Huehue8 Juan Luis AnangonóComunicaciones4 Keyshwen ArboineZacapa Víctor AvalosCoatepeque Pedro BáezMalacateco Robin BetancourthGuastatoya Edwin Bol CocCobán Imperial Dewinder BradleyAntigua Roque CaballeroMixco Romario Luiz Da SilvaAntigua Denilson OchaetaCoatepeque Elíser QuiñonesAchuapa Óscar VillaGuastatoya
Final phase – Clausura 2024 The final phase of the Clausura tournament ran from 24 April to 19 May 2024.
Bracket
Quarter-finals
Mixco won 4–1 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals.
Comunicaciones won 3–0 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals.
Municipal won 6–3 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals.
Antigua won 3–1 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals.
Semi-finals
Tied 1–1 on aggregate, Antigua won on penalties and advanced to the finals.
Municipal won 3–0 on aggregate and advanced to the finals.
Finals
Municipal won 2–0 on aggregate. As Torneo Clausura champions they qualified for the 2025 CONCACAF Central American Cup.
Aggregate table The aggregate table was used to determine the third qualified team for the 2024 CONCACAF Central American Cup, besides the Apertura and Clausura champions, and the two relegated teams to the 2024–25 Primera División.
Notes
References
External links