''Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala'' (National

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

League of Guatemala), formerly known as Liga Mayor "A" (Major League "A") is a professional football division in

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

, the highest one in the country. It is sanctioned by the ''

Federación Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala The National Football Federation of Guatemala ( es, Federación Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala), known as Fedefut Guate or FENAFUTG, is the governing body of football in Guatemala. It organizes the football league, Liga Nacional de Guatemala, Pr ...

''. The champion and runner-up teams of the Liga Nacional's official

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

s qualify to participate in international competitions within their regional confederation. Twelve teams currently compete in the league.

Municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

and

Comunicaciones Comunicaciones Fútbol Club S.A., better known as Comunicaciones F.C. or Comunicaciones, are a football club based in Guatemala City. They compete in the Liga Nacional, the top tier of Guatemalan football. The most popular and successful footba ...

are the two most successful clubs in the league to date, having won 31 tournaments respectively.

History

Its first official professional tournament took place in

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in wh ...

, and succeeded what was known as the ''Liga Capitalina'' (League of the Capital), which was an amateur tournament that started in

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the c ...

. The 1942-43 tournament was played by seven teams in a double

round-robin tournament A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero ...

. Three teams –

Tipografía Nacional Tipografía Nacional is a football club based in Guatemala City, Guatemala. It was one of the most traditional teams in the country in the 20th Century, and it remains the fourth-most successful club in the history of Guatemalan football in term ...

, and ''Guatemala FC'' – finished tied for the first place after the two rounds. A

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

between the three teams was conducted to determine the winner, with Municipal earning their first national title.

Competition Format

The league has had several different formats throughout its history; currently, the league season is divided into two tournaments. The

Apertura The ' and ' tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is div ...

, which is played in the fall, and the

Clausura The ' and ' tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is div ...

, 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 The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

. At the end of 2008-2009

and

tournaments the league expanded to 12 teams to compete in a larger versions of the

and

tournaments. Now the 12th placed team (the team with the fewest points) in the aggregated table standings (combined standings of both the

and

tournaments) is

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

to the

Primera División de Ascenso The Primera División de Ascenso is the second highest level of football in Guatemala. Formerly, it was known as ''Liga Mayor "B"''. It is sanctioned by the National Football Federation of Guatemala The National Football Federation of Guatemala ( ...

(2nd division) automatically at the end of the

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

. The playoff winners play in the top division while the losers spend the next season in the second division.

Current teams

Champions in Guatemalan Football History

Champions were: Amateur and Professional Champions.

Top Goalscorers

References

External links

Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala

at FIFA

- prensalibre.com - ''Prensa Libre'' newspaper, Guatemala.
guatefutbol.com

League Summary
at Soccerway {{DEFAULTSORT:Liga Nacional De Futbol De Guatemala

1 Sports leagues established in 1919