Football in Guatemala

Football is the most popular sport in Guatemala and is run by the Federación Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala. The association administers the national football team, as well as the Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala.[1][2]

Football in Guatemala
CountryGuatemala
Governing bodyLiga Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala
National team(s)Men's national team Women's national team
National competitions
Club competitions
International competitions
CONCACAF Champions League
CONCACAF League
FIFA Club World Cup
CONCACAF Gold Cup (National Team)
CONCACAF Nations League (National Team)
FIFA World Cup (National Team)
CONCACAF Women's Championship (National Team)
FIFA Women's World Cup (National Team)

Local tournaments

The first clubs of the country were established in the capital Guatemala City, where a second football club was founded with Olympic FC at the beginning of the 20th century. These two teams started the first competition with the Copa Centroamericana between 28 August and 30 October 1904, and they were conceded exclusively between these two teams, who competed ten times against each other. With six wins and a draw against three defeats, the younger Olympic FC won this first match. The second competition took place between October 1905 and February 1906 and was contested by a total of three teams. Once again, Olympic FC went through, but the Guatemala FC "defended" second place in front of the newly added team of the Gay SC. After that, other tournaments were played out as of 1911 under the new name Copa Manuel Estrada Cabrera. The first tournament won the Gay SC, but in the years 1913 and 1914 the Guatemala FC finally entered the winner list

Soon football reached the second largest city in the country, Quetzaltenango, where Quetzaltenango FC was founded in May 1906.[3]

In 1919 the League Capitalina was launched and the first Campeonato Nacional was played, which was won by the Hércules FC.

With the establishment of the Campeonato de Liga for the season 1942/43, professional football was introduced in Guatemala. Since then the country's football has been dominated by the two major rivals from Guatemala City, CSD Comunicaciones and CSD Municipal, who have won the championship title 59 times already (until the end of the 2015/16 season, Comunicaciones was successful 30 times, Municipal 29 Times). In the third place follows by a long distance the Aurora F.C., which also plays in the capital, and between 1964 and 1992/93 a total of eight times came to champions. The best team outside the capital is Club Xelajú MC from Quetzaltenango, which has five titles.

International competitions

Club football

CSD Municipal won the CONCACAF Champions Cup in 1974. Four years later, the arch-rival Comunicaciones F.C. was also delighted with this triumph, although it was only one of three season winners. However, because the tournament of the year 1978 was not carried out anymore, all three teams were declared as equivalent tournament champions.

Comunicaciones won the final in the first tournament in 1962, where they also failed against the Mexican neighbor Chivas Guadalajara as well as seven years later against Cruz Azul. Municipal reached the final once again in 1995 and failed in this case against the Costa Rican club Deportivo Saprissa.

National team

The Guatemalan national soccer team celebrated their best result so far with fourth place at the 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The only notable title the national team won was the 1967 CONCACAF Championship against neighbors Mexico.

The qualification for a FIFA World Cup has not yet been achieved, but the Olympics have been played, in 1968, 1976, and 1988, achieving its best result in its first participation by arriving to the quarter finals.

League system
Level League(s)/Division(s)
1 Liga Nacional
12 clubs
↓↑ 2 clubs
2 Primera División
20 clubs divided in 2 series of 10
↓↑ 3 clubs
3 Segunda División
40 clubs divided in 5 series of 8 clubs
4 Tercera División
92 clubs divided in 16 series, one of 7 clubs, ten of 6 clubs, two of 5 clubs, one of 4 clubs and two of 3 clubs

References
  1. "Yanks Abroad: Bernardo Carries On in Guatemala". Jon Arnold. 23 September 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  2. Hennessy-Fiske, Molly (30 June 2008). "Guatemalan women kick aside constraints in the U.S." latimes.com. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  3. Guterman, Tulio. "Génesis del fútbol en Guatemala (1902-1921)". Retrieved 14 April 2017.
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