2024–25 Primera División de El Salvador

The 2024–25 Primera División de El Salvador, also known as the Liga Pepsi, is the 26th season and 50th and 51st Primera División tournament, El Salvador's top football division, since its establishment of an Apertura and Clausura format. Aguila and Alianza are the defending champions of the Apertura and Clausura tournament respectively. The league will consist of 11 teams. There will be two seasons conducted under identical rules, with each team playing a home and away game against the other clubs for a total of 20 games per tournament. At the end of each half-season tournament, the top six teams in that tournament's regular season standings will take part in the playoffs.

Primera División de El Salvador

Season	2024–25
Dates	27 July 2024 – 21 December 2024 (Apertura), 18 January 2025 – 2025 (Clausura)
Champions	Once Deportivo (2024 Apertura)
CONCACAF Central American Cup	Once Deportivo
Matches played	94
Goals scored	225 (2.39 per match)
Top goalscorer	Gustavo Moura (14 goals Apertura 2024)
Highest scoring	FAS 3-4 Águila
← 2023–24 2025–26 → All statistics correct as of 7 November 2024.

The champions of Apertura and Clausura will qualify for the CONCACAF Central American Cup, the third team to qualify is the team with better aggregate record. Should the same team win both tournaments, both runners-up will qualify for CONCACAF Central American Cup. Should the final of both tournaments features the same two teams, the semi-finalist with the better aggregate record will qualify for CONCACAF Central American Cup.

Teams

Promotion and relegation

A total of 11 teams will contest the league, including 10 sides from the 2023–24 Primera División and 1 promoted from the 2023–24 Segunda División.

Cacahuatique was promoted to the Primera División on July 1, 2024, after defeating Titan in a playoff match by a score of 4-3 in penalties, after the team were tied 1-1 after 120 minutes.^[1]

Santa Tecla was relegated to the 2024–25 Segunda División.^[2]

Jocoro withdrew from the league.

Notable events

Changes for 2024-2025 Season

On the 13th of June, 2024 The President of the Primera Division Samuel Gálvez announced changes for the Apertura 2024 and Clausura 2025 included the final being played over two legs instead just one game, the finals will be held at the finalist stadiums. The four foreign players quota will remain. One reserve or under 17 player must be played for 90 minutes per game.^[3]

Jocoro sold spot in primera division to Titan

It was announced on July 13, 2024 that Titan had made agreement with Jocoro to acquire their spot in the Primera division.^[4]

Primera division denys Joroco selling of spot, Only 11 teams will participate

FESFUT announced with Jocoro failure to meet the requirement to register in the Primera Division, they would lose their spot and therefore could sell their spot to Titan. Despite protest and pleas from Titan board to be allowed to take the spot and give a slight extension to the club for meet the requirement, on June 18, 2024 FESFUT President Humberto Sáenz Marinero announced the league will proceed with only 11 teams. ^[5]

FESFUT denied double legged final

On 29 September, it was announced by FESFUT that they had denied primera division decision to have two legged grand final, the grand final will remain one legged final ^[6]

Announcement no team will be relegated 2024–2025 season

On 24 October, 2024 it was announced by the primera division that no team will be relegated for the 2024–2025, after Jocoro FC license being suspended, and only 11 teams participating in the league, the league stated that one team will be promoted to make it even 12 teams again and no team will be relegated ^[7]

Grand Final to be played at Estadio Jorge "Mágico" González

On December 3, 2024 It was announced that the final will be playing in the Estadio Jorge "Mágico" González for the first time since 2004. ^[8]

Notable death from Apertura 2024 season and 2025 Clausura season

The following people associated with the Primera Division have died between the middle of 2024 and middle of 2025.

• Manuel Ayala (ex Luis Angel Firpo player)
• Joel Estrada (ex FAS player)
• Jose Leandro Linares (ex FAS and Gatos de Monterrey player)
• Juan Ramon Martinez (ex Aguila, Atletico Marte, Juventud Olimpica and Once Municipal player)
• Eder Renderos (ex Luis Angel Firpo, UES and Audaz player)
• Julio Leiva (Guatemalan ex Aguila player) ^[9]
• Amadeo Machado (ex Aguila and Luis Angel Firpo player)
• Domingo Albil (Argentinian ex FAS, Alianza and Sonsonate player) ^[10]
• Héctor Alcides Piccioni (Argentinian ex FAS player) ^[11]
• Luis Ernesto Tapia (Panamanian ex Alianza, Atletico Marte, UES and Juventud Olimpica player) ^[12]
• Gerson Menjívar (ex Atletico Marte player)
• Óscar "Chino" Portillo (ex Dragon Player)
• Amilcar Humana (ex Aguila and Dragon Player)
• Manuel Antonio Solis Chinito (ex FAS player)
• TBD (ex TBD player)

Managerial changes

Before the start of the season

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
Aguila	Ernesto Corti	Contract finished,	May 27, 2024	Daniel Messina[13]	May 27, 2024	4th and Quarterfinalist (2024 Clausura)
Fuerte San Francisco	Nelson Ancheta	Contract Finished	May 27, 2024	Jorge Martinez Merino [14]	June 29, 2024	11th (2024 Clausura)
Dragon	Manuel Acevedo	Mutual Consent	June 7, 2024	Marvin Benítez	June 7, 2024	9th (2024 Clausura)
Isidro Metapan	Carlos Martinez Che	Returned to assistant coach role	June 18, 2024	Hector Omar Mejia	July 3, 2024	7th and Semi-Finalist (2024 Clausura)
Cacahuatique	Pablo Quiñones	Mutual Consent	July 4, 2024	Daniel Corti	July 9, 2024	None (2024 Clausura)

During the Apertura season

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
FAS	Ricardo Preza	Sacked	August 20, 2024	Agustin Castillo	August 20, 2024	7th (2024 Apertura)
Municipal Limeno	William Renderos Iraheta	Sacked	September 19, 2024	Abel Flores (Interim)	September 20, 2024	7th (2024 Apertura)
Dragon	Marvin Benítez	Resigned	September, 2024	Pablo Quiñones	September , 2024	12th (2024 Apertura)
Municipal Limeno	Abel Flores (Interim)	Interimship ended	October 5, 2024	Guillermo Rivera	October 5, 2024	6th (2024 Apertura)
Platense	Jorge Abrego	Mutual Consent	October 11, 2024	David Hernández (Interim)	October 11, 2024	11th (2024 Apertura)
Fuerte San Francisco	Jorge Merino	Mutual Consent	October 16, 2024	Ruben Alonso	October 18, 2024	9th (2024 Apertura)

Between the Apertura and Clausura season

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
Alianza	Jorge Rodríguez	Contract finished and did not renew	December 12, 2024	Ernesto Corti	December 15, 2024	5th (2024 Apertura)
Municipal Limeno	Guillermo Rivera	Contract finished and not renewed	December 23, 2024	Jose Romero	December 23, 2024	7th (2024 Apertura)
Once Deportivo	Erick Prado	End of contract	December 28, 2025	Fabio Gaston Larramendi	January 7, 2025	5th & Champion (2024 Apertura)
Isidro Metapan	Hector Mejia	Contract Finished	December 4, 2025	Erick Prado	January 4, 2025	5th (2024 Apertura)
TBD	TBD	End of interimship	January 4, 2025	TBD	January 4, 2025	5th (2024 Apertura)

Apertura 2024

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Águila	20	12	5	3	36	18	+18	41	Advance to Playoffs
2	Cacahuatique	20	13	1	6	24	16	+8	40
3	Luis Ángel Firpo	20	12	3	5	32	28	+4	39
4	Isidro Metapán	20	10	5	5	31	21	+10	35
5	Alianza	20	9	5	6	26	16	+10	32
6	Once Deportivo	20	9	5	6	26	23	+3	32
7	Municipal Limeño	20	7	6	7	24	22	+2	27
8	FAS	20	6	5	9	29	28	+1	23
9	Fuerte San Francisco	20	4	3	13	15	34	−19	15
10	Dragón	20	3	4	13	10	30	−20	13
11	Platense	20	1	6	13	11	28	−17	9

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Apertura 2024 Records

Records

• Best home records: TBD (00 points out of 33 points)
• Worst home records: TBD (00 points out of 33 points)
• Best away records : TBD (00 points out of 33 points)
• Worst away records : TBD (00 points out of 33 points)
• Most goals scored: TBD (00 goals)
• Fewest goals scored: TBD (00 goals)
• Fewest goals conceded : TBD (00 goals)
• Most goals conceded : TBD (00 goals)

Scoring

• First goal of the season: Gustavo Souza for Firpo against Platense, 6 minutes (Month day, 2024)
• First goal by a foreign player: Gustavo Souza for Firpo against Platense, 6th minutes (A, 2024)
• Fastest goal in a match: 5 Minutes
  • Luis Enrique Vasquez for Once Deportivo against Platense (August 2, 2024)
• Goal scored at the latest goal in a match: 94 minutes
  • TBD goal for TBD against TBD (Month day, 2024)
• First penalty Kick of the season: Julian Grueso for Cacahuatique against Firpo, 43rd minutes (August 4, 2024)
• Widest winning margin: 4 goals
  • TBD 5–1 TBD (August 20, 2023)
• First hat-trick of the season: Emiliano Villar for FAS against Alianza (November 16, 2024)
• First own goal of the season: Ronald Aparicio (Platense) for Aguila (August 26, 2024)
• Most goals in a match: 7 goals
  • FAS 3-4 Aguila (October 20, 2024)
• Most goals by one team in a match: 5 goals
  • TBD 5-3 TBD (Month day, 2024)
• Most goals in one half by one team: 4 goals
  • TBD 5-0 (5-3) TBD (1st half, Month day, 2024)
• Most goals scored by losing team: 3 goals
  • FAS 3-4 Aguila (October 20, 2024)
• Most goals by one player in a single match: 4 goals
  • Emiliano Villar for FAS against Alianza (November 16, 2024)
• Players that scored a hat-trick':
  • Emiliano Villar for FAS against Alianza (November 16, 2024)

Top Goalscorer (Apertura 2024)

No.	Player	Club	Goals
1	Gustavo Moura	LA Firpo	14
2	Emiliano Villar	FAS	11
3	Emerson Mauricio	Alianza	9
4	Alexander Marquez	Cacahuatique	8
5	Blas Sosa	Aguila	8
6	Yair Delgadillo	Isidro Metapan	7
7	Mauricio Cerritos	LA Firpo	6
8	Javier Ferman	Municipal Limeno	6
9	Steven Guerra	Isidro Metapan	6
10	Juan Carlos Argueta	Isidro Metapan	5
10	Isaac Esquivel	Isidro Metapan	5

Playoff

Quarterfinals

First legs

Once Deportivo	2-1	LA Firpo
Carlos Anzora pen.' (11) Kemal Malcolm 72'		Alberto Henríquez 35'

4 December 2024 (2024-12-04)

19:30 (UTC-6)

Estadio Cuscatlan, San Salvador

Referee: TBD

FAS	1-1	Aguila
Rafael Tejeda 53'		Edgar Medrano 92'

4 December 2024 (2024-12-04)

15:30 (UTC-6)

Estadio Óscar Quiteño, Santa Ana

Referee: Juan Francisco Quinteros

Alianza	1-1	Isidro Metapan
Ányelo Rodríguez pen.' (6)		Isaac Esquivel 87'

5 December 2024 (2024-12-05)

20:00 (UTC-6)

Estadio Cuscatlan, San Salvador

Referee: TBD

Municipal Limeno	0-1	Cacahuatique
Nil		Jorge Lara 38'

5 December 2024 (2024-12-05)

18:00 (UTC-6)

Estadio Jose Ramon Flores,Santa Rosa de Lima, La Union

Referee: TBD

Second legs

Isidro Metapan	0-0	Alianza
Nil		Nil

7 December 2024 (2024-12-07)

20:00 (UTC-6)

Estadio Jorge Calero Suárez, Metapan

1-1. Isidro Metapan won 5-3 on penalties

LA Firpo	0-1	Once Deportivo
Styven Vasquez 42'		Josue Rivera 16'

8 December 2024 (2024-12-08)

15:00 (UTC-6)

Estadio Sergio Torres, Usulutan

Once Deportivo won 3-2 on Aggregate

Aguila	0-1	FAS
Nil		Rafael Tejeda 87'

8 December 2024 (2024-12-08)

15:00 (UTC-6)

Estadio Cuscatlan, San Salvador

FAS won 2-1 on Aggregate

Cacahuatique	0-1	Municipal Limeno
Nil		Bryan Paz 9'

8 December 2024 (2024-12-08)

15:00 (UTC-6)

Complejo Deportivo de Chapeltique, San Miguel

1-1. Cacahuatique won 3-1 on penalties

Semi-finals

First legs

FAS	2-1	Isidro Metapan
Emiliano Villar 35' Jonathan Nolasco 68'		Roberto Domínguez 45'

11 December 2024 (2024-12-11)

20:00 (UTC-6)

Estadio Óscar Quiteño, Santa Ana

Once Deportivo	1-1	Cacahuatique
Kemal Malcolm 58'		Wilker da Silva 19'

12 December 2024 (2024-12-12)

15:30 (UTC-6)

Estadio Simeón Magaña, Ahuachapan

Second legs

Isidro Metapan	0-0	FAS
Nil		Nil

14 December 2024 (2024-12-14)

19:00 (UTC-6)

Estadio Jorge Calero Suárez, Metapan

Referee: TBD

FAS won 2-1 on aggregate

Cacahuatique	1-1	Once Deportivo
Kelvin Hernandez 36'		Miguel Murillo 20'

15 December 2024 (2024-12-15)

14:45 (UTC-6)

Complejo Deportivo de Chapeltique, San Miguel

Referee: TBD

2-2. Once Deportivo won 5-3 on penalties

Final

FAS	1-2	Once Deportivo
Bryan Ríos 51'		Josue Rivera 64' Jomal Williams 95'

December 21, 2024 (2024-12-21)

18:00 UTC−6

Final

Estadio Jorge Magico Gonzalez, San Salvador

Attendance: TBD

FAS GK 1 Kevin Carabantes DF 30 Mathias Goyeni DF 4 Edson Melendez DF 22 Bryan Tamacas DF 28 Rudy Clavel MF 8 Jonathan Nolasco MF 5 Jose Portillo MF 29 Rodrigo Rivera FW 7 Rafael Tejada FW 26 Emiliano Villar FW 39 Bryan Rios 35' Substitutes: MF 2 Jose Guevara MF 14 Emerson Rivas DF 19 Martin Correra DF 57 Samuel Rosales FW 9 German Aguila Manager: Agustin Castillo

Once Deportivo GK 1 Gerson Lopez  44' DF 3 Miguel Murillo DF 4 Diego Chavez DF 29 Jorge Cruz DF 5 Carlos Anzora MF 8 Cesar Flores MF 10 Jomal Williams 95' MF 12 Angel Ortega MF 17 Eduardo Gonzalez MF 32 Julio Paulino FW 26 Josue Rivera 64' Substitutes: GK 51 Cesar Melara  44' MF '22 Giovanni Avila MF 6 Efrain Carcamo DF 19 Luis Vasquez DF 11 Kemal Malcolm Manager: Erick Prado

Apertura 2024 champions
Once Deportivo 1st title

Clausura 2025

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Águila	4	3	1	0	8	2	+6	10	Advance to Playoffs
2	Luis Ángel Firpo	3	3	0	0	6	1	+5	9
3	Alianza	4	2	0	2	7	4	+3	6
4	Cacahuatique	4	1	3	0	3	2	+1	6
5	Platense	4	2	0	2	5	5	0	6
6	Isidro Metapán	3	1	2	0	3	1	+2	5
7	Fuerte San Francisco	4	1	2	1	3	4	−1	5
8	Municipal Limeño	4	0	3	1	1	4	−3	3
9	FAS	3	1	0	2	2	6	−4	3
10	Once Deportivo	3	0	1	2	2	5	−3	1
11	Dragón	4	0	0	4	0	6	−6	0

Updated to match(es) played on 2 February 2025. Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Clausura 2025 Records

Records

• Best home records: TBD (00 points out of 33 points)
• Worst home records: TBD (00 points out of 33 points)
• Best away records : TBD (00 points out of 33 points)
• Worst away records : TBD (00 points out of 33 points)
• Most goals scored: TBD (00 goals)
• Fewest goals scored: TBD (00 goals)
• Fewest goals conceded : TBD (00 goals)
• Most goals conceded : TBD (00 goals)

Scoring

• First goal of the season: Carlos Salazar for Alianza against Limeno, 46 minutes (January 19, 2025)
• First goal by a foreign player: Carlos Salazar for Alianza against Limeno, 46 minutes (January 19, 2025)
• Fastest goal in a match: 27 Seconds
  • Edgar Valladares for Platense against Aguila (January 26, 2025)
• Goal scored at the latest goal in a match: 86 minutes
  • Leonardo Menjivar goal for Alianza against Limeno (January 19, 2025)
• First penalty Kick of the season: Bryan Paz for Platense against LA Firpo, 20th minutes (January 20, 2025)
• Widest winning margin: 4 goals
  • Dragon 4-0 Once Deportivo (February 16, 2025)
• First hat-trick of the season: TBD for TBD against TBD (Month day, 2025)
• First own goal of the season: TBD (TBD) for TBD (Month day, 2025)
• Most goals in a match: 5 goals
  • Alianza 4-1 Limeno (January 19, 2025)
• Most goals by one team in a match: 4 goals
  • Alianza 4-1 Limeno (January 19, 2025)
• Most goals in one half by one team: 4 goals
  • Alianza 4-1 Limeno (2nd half, January 19, 2025)
• Most goals scored by losing team: 3 goals
  • TBD 3–5 TBD (August 19, 2025)
• Most goals by one player in a single match: 4 goals
  • TBD for TBD against TBD (Month day, 2025)
• Players that scored a hat-trick':
  • TBD for TBD against TBD (Month day, 2025)

List of foreign players in the league

This is a list of foreign players in the 2024–25 season. The following players:

1. Have played at least one game for the respective club.
2. Have not been capped for the El Salvador national football team on any level, independently from the birthplace

A new rule was introduced this season, that clubs can have four foreign players per club and can only add a new player if there is an injury or a player is released and it is before the close of the season transfer window.

Águila

• Gonzalo Ramirez
• Blas Sosa
• Dionatan Machado
• Carlos Salazar
• Edgar Medrano
• Diego Gregori

Alianza

• Mitchel Mercado
• Sebastián Julio
• Ányelo Rodríguez
• Anthony Sosa
• Ramiro Rocca
• Carlos Salazar
• Julián Grueso

Cachuatique

• Elías Umeres
• Germán Aguila
• Wilker da Silva
• Julián Grueso
• Jorge Lara

Dragon

• Yair Arboleda
• Kevin Moreno
• Manuel Chala
• Yerson Tobar
• Samuel Campaña
• José Miguel Medrano
• Gonzalo Ramirez
• Kevin Telmo Smaldone
• Tobias Quintana

FAS

• Germán Aguila
• Edgar Medrano
• Elcarlos Junior
• Martin Correra
• Mathias Goyeni
• Emiliano Villar
• Jorge Ramos

Firpo

• Marcelo Argüello
• Wilber Arizala
• Guilherme Silva
• Jonathan Santana
• Gustavo Souza

Fuerte San Francisco

• Luis Acuna
• Camilo Delgado
• Andres Murillo Rentería
• Colorado Murray
• Yosimar Rodríguez
• Gabriel Negueba
• Wilker da Silva

Isidro Metapán

• Luca Orozco
• Javier Cetre
• Diego Gregori
• Yair Delgadillo
• Juan Mosquera
• David Livingston

Municipal Limeno

• Lucas dos Santos
• Juan Diego Lasso
• German Mejia
• Joel Almeida
• Aldo Magaña
• Sebastián Julio
• Nico González

Once Deportivo

• Manuel Murrillo
• Kevin Martin
• Kemal Malcolm
• Jomal Williams

Platense

• Matheus da Silva
• Magno Costa Fernandes
• Argenis Alba
• Sandro Melgarejo
• Nayan Andrés Bello
• Jhonathon Urrutia
• Julian Silvestre

(player released beginning the Apertura season, Never played a game) (player released during the Apertura season) (player released between the Apertura and Clausura seasons) (player released during the Clausura season) (Injured and ruled out for the rest of the season) (player naturalized for the Clausura season) (player released beginning the Clausura season, Never played a game)

References

1. "¡Cacahuatique es nuevo equipo de Primera División!" [Cacahuatique is the new team in the first division]. elsalvador.com (in Spanish). 1 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
2. "Santa Tecla se despide de la Primera Division tras caer ante Firpo" [Santa Tecla says goodbye to the first division after losing to Firpo]. elsalvador.com (in Spanish). elgrafico.com. 7 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
3. "Oficial: la final del Apertura 2024 se jugará a ida y vuelta" [Official: the final of the Apertura 2024 will be played over two legs]. elsalvador.com (in Spanish). 13 June 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
4. "¡Oficial! Titán es equipo de la Primera División!" [Official ! Titan is the new team in the first division]. diarioelsalvador.com (in Spanish). diarioelsalvador.com. 13 July 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
5. "FESFUT niega solicitud del Titán para jugar en Primera División" [FESFUT denies inscription of Titan to play in the Primera Division]. El Grafico.com (in Spanish). El Grafico.com. 18 July 2024. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
6. "Final única se mantiene en la Liga Mayor de fútbol" [one leg final will maintain in the first division]. El Salvador.com (in Spanish). El Salvador.com. 28 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
7. "Confirmado: No habrá descenso en la Primera División esta temporada" [Confirmed no relegation will occur in this primera division season]. Elgrafico.com (in Spanish). Elgrafico.com. 24 October 2024. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
8. "La final del Apertura 2024 será en el "Mágico" González" [The final of Apertura 2024 will be at Magico Gonzalez]. Elsalvador.com (in Spanish). Elsalvador.com. 3 December 2024. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
9. "Mataron al DT Julio Ariz Leiva, el "Rey de los Ascensos", con 15 balazos en Guatemala" [Murder of coacg Julio Ariz Leiva, The king of promotions, with 15 shots in Guatemala]. LaNacion.com (in Spanish). LaNacion.com. 20 August 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
10. "Fallecio-el-argentino-Domingo-Jorge-Albil" [Death of Argentinian Domingo Jorge Albil]. elgrafico.com (in Spanish). elgrafico.com. October 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
11. "Fallecio exfigura del FAS Hector Piccioni" [Official ! Death of ex star of FAS Hector Piccioni]. elgrafico.com (in Spanish). elgrafico.com. 29 October 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
12. "Fallece Luis Ernesto "Cascarita" Tapia, leyenda de Alianza" [Official ! Death of Luis Ernesto 'Cascarita' Tapia, Alianza Legend]. elgrafico.com (in Spanish). elgrafico.com. 13 November 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
13. "Daniel Messina No lo pense dos veces en acepatar regresar al Aguila" [Daniel Messina did not think twice to accept returning to Aguila]. elgrafico.com (in Spanish). 27 May 2024. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
14. "El mexicano Jorge Martinez nuevo entrenador del Fuerte San Francisco" [The Mexican Jorge Martinez new coach of Fuerte San Francisco]. elgrafico.com (in Spanish). 27 May 2024. Retrieved 2 June 2024.

External links

• (Official website)
• (El Grafico)
• (El Salvador.com)
• (La Prense Grafica)