Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala

Liga Nacional de Guatemala
Founded	1919; 105 years ago as amateur league; 1942; 82 years ago as professional league
Country	Guatemala
Confederation	CONCACAF
Number of teams	12
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Primera División de Ascenso
Domestic cup(s)	Copa de Guatemala
International cup(s)	CONCACAF Champions League; CONCACAF Central American Cup
Current champions	Comunicaciones (32nd title)
Most championships	Comunicaciones; (32 titles)
Most appearances	Jairo Arreola (651)
Top goalscorer	Juan Carlos Plata (302)
TV partners	Albavision; Claro Sports; Tigo Sports; Fox Deportes
Website	ligagt.org
	Current: 2023–24 Liga Nacional de Guatemala

Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala (National Football League of Guatemala), officially known as the Liga Guate Banrural for sponsorship reasons, formerly known as Liga Mayor "A" (Major League "A") is a professional football division in Guatemala, the highest one in the country. It is sanctioned by the Federación Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala. The champion and runner-up teams of the Liga Nacional's official tournaments qualify to participate in international competitions within their regional confederation. Twelve teams currently compete in the league. Comunicaciones is the most successful club in the league to date, having won 32 tournaments.^[1]

History

Its first official professional tournament took place in 1942, and succeeded what was known as the Liga Capitalina (League of the Capital), which was an amateur tournament that started in 1919. The 1942–43 tournament was played by seven teams in a double round-robin tournament. Three teams – Municipal, Tipografía Nacional, and Guatemala FC – finished tied for the first place after the two rounds. A playoff between the three teams was conducted to determine the winner, with Municipal earning their first national title.^[2]

Competition format

The league has had several different formats throughout its history; currently, the league season is divided into two tournaments. The Apertura, which is played in the fall, and the Clausura, which is played in the spring. The first 6 clubs in the standings at the end of each competition participate in the playoffs to determine the champion, 1st and 2nd place teams qualify directly to semi-finals, while the others have to play in the quarter-finals. The winners of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments participate in the CONCACAF Champions League.

At the end of 2008-2009 Apertura and Clausura tournaments the league expanded to 12 teams to compete in a larger versions of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments. Now the 12th placed team (the team with the fewest points) in the aggregated table standings (combined standings of both the Apertura and Clausura tournaments) is relegated to the Primera División de Ascenso (2nd division) automatically at the end of the Clausura tournament in late May. The teams that finish 10th and 11th in the aggregated table standings enter into a two-legged playoff with the second- and third-placed clubs of the Primera División de Ascenso. The playoff winners play in the top division while the losers spend the next season in the second division.

Current teams

Teams in Guatemala Department:
Comunicaciones
Mixco
Municipal

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Location of the 2023-24 Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala teams

Location of teams in Guatemala Department

Team	Home city	Stadium	Capacity
Achuapa	El Progreso, Jutiapa Department	Estadio Winston Pineda	6,000
Antigua	Antigua, Sacatepéquez Department	Estadio Pensativo	10,000
Coatepeque	Coatepeque, Quetzaltenango Department	Estadio Israel Barrios	20,000
Cobán Imperial	Cobán, Alta Verapaz Department	Estadio Verapaz	15,000
Comunicaciones	Guatemala City, Guatemala Department	Estadio Doroteo Guamuch Flores	26,000
Guastatoya	Guastatoya, El Progreso Department	Estadio David Cordón Hichos	3,100
Malacateco	Malacatán, San Marcos Department	Estadio Santa Lucía	7,000
Mixco	Mixco, Guatemala Department	Estadio Santo Domingo de Guzmán	1,000
Municipal	Guatemala City, Guatemala Department	Estadio El Trébol	7,500
Xelajú	Quetzaltenango, Quetzaltenango Department	Estadio Mario Camposeco	11,220
Xinabajul	Huehuetenango, Huehuetenango Department	Estadio Los Cuchumatanes	5,340
Zacapa	Zacapa, Zacapa Department	Estadio David Ordoñez Bardales	8,100

Champions

Liga Capitalina

Amateur Era

Ed.	Season	Champion	Runner-up
1	1919	Allies	Hércules
2	1920	Hércules	España
–	1921	No tournament due to the Juegos del Centenario
3	1922	Allies	Alemán
4	1923	La Joya	Allies
5	1924	USAC	Allies
6	1925	La Joya	Hércules
7	1926	USAC	Hércules
8	1927	Hércules	USAC
9	1928	USAC	Allies
10	1929	USAC	Tipografía Nacional
11	1930	USAC	Germania
12	1931	USAC	Germania
13	1932	Guatemala FC	Germania
14	1933	Escuela Politécnica	Tipografía Nacional
15	1934	Escuela Politécnica	Tipografía Nacional
16	1935	Cibeles	Quetzal
17	1936	Cibeles	Quetzal
18	1937	Quetzal	Tipografía Nacional
19	1938	Tipografía Nacional	Municipal
20	1939	Tipografía Nacional	Hércules
21	1940	Tipografía Nacional	Independiente
22	1941	Guatemala FC	Tipografía Nacional