Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala explained

Liga Guate Banrural
Country:	Guatemala
Confed:	CONCACAF
Founded:	as amateur league
Relegation:	Primera División de Ascenso
Levels:	1
Teams:	12
Domest Cup:	Copa de Guatemala
Confed Cup:	CONCACAF Champions Cup CONCACAF Central American Cup
Champions:	Municipal (32nd title)
Most Successful Club:	Comunicaciones Municipal (32 titles)
Most Appearances:	Jairo Arreola (651)
Top Goalscorer:	Juan Carlos Plata (302)
Tv:	Albavision Claro Sports Tigo Sports Fox Deportes
Current:	2024–25 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 and Municipal are the most successful club in the league to date, having won 32 tournaments each.^[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.

2024–25 Season Clubs

Team	Home city	Stadium	Capacity
Achuapa	El Progreso, Jutiapa Department	Estadio El Cóndor	6,000
Antigua	Antigua, Sacatepéquez Department	Estadio Pensativo	10,000
Cobán Imperial	Cobán, Alta Verapaz Department	Estadio Verapaz	15,000
Comunicaciones	Guatemala City, Guatemala Department	Estadio Cementos Progreso	17,000
Guastatoya	Guastatoya, El Progreso Department	Estadio David Cordón Hichos	3,100
Malacateco	Malacatán, San Marcos Department	Estadio Santa Lucía	7,000
Marquense	San Marcos, San Marcos Department	Estadio Marquesa de la Ensenada	11,000
Mixco	Mixco, Guatemala Department	Estadio Santo Domingo de Guzmán	7,000
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 Ordóñez Bardales	8,100

Managers

Current Liga Nacional managers
Manager	Nationality	Club
Rónald Gómez		Achuapa
Javier López		Antigua
Roberto Montoya		Cobán Imperial
Willy Coito Olivera		Comunicaciones
Iván Sopegno		Guastatoya
Roberto Hernández		Malacateco
Érick González		Marquense
Fabricio Benítez		Mixco
Sebastián Bini		Municipal
Amarini Villatoro		Xelajú
Pablo Centrone		Xinabajul
Adrian Arias		Zacapa

Important matches

Comunicaciones vs Municipal - "El Clásico Chapín"
Comunicaciones vs Antigua - "El Clásico Provincial"
Antigua vs Mixco - "El Clásico del Valle"
Comunicaciones vs Xelajú - "El Clásico del Oeste"
Marquense vs Xelajú - "El Clásico del Occidente"
Marquense vs Malacateco - "Derbi de San Marcos"
Cobán Imperial vs Zacapa - "Clásico del Norte"

Champions

Liga Capitalina

Amateur Era

width=px	Ed.	width=130px	Season	width=170px	Champion	width=170px	Runner-up
	1919	Allies	Hércules
	1920	Hércules	España
	1921	No tournament due to the Juegos del Centenario
	1922	Allies	Alemán
	1923	La Joya	Allies
	1924		Allies
	1925	La Joya	Hércules
	1926		Hércules
	1927	Hércules	USAC
	1928		Allies
	1929
	1930		Germania
	1931		Germania
	1932	Guatemala FC	Germania
	1933	Escuela Politécnica
	1934	Escuela Politécnica
	1935	Cibeles	Quetzal
	1936	Cibeles	Quetzal
	1937	Quetzal
	1938
	1939		Hércules
	1940		Independiente
	1941	Guatemala FC