Saprissa and Cartaginés meet in Central American Cup | OneFootball

MIAMI – The 2025 Central American Cup begins with three matches on Tuesday, including an all-Costa Rican encounter between Deportivo Saprissa and CS Cartaginés in Group C.

The occasion presents the 97th meeting in the storied rivalry. Saprissa leads the series with 44 wins to 24 for Cartaginés, with 28 other matches resulting in draws.

Deportivo Saprissa will be in the hunt for a first CCAC title and fifth cup in an official Concacaf competition. The Purple club reached the semifinals in 2023 and the quarterfinals in 2024. Saprissa qualified for the tournament as the second-best team in the cumulative standings throughout the 2024-25 season. The club recently began its 2025 Torneo Apertura campaign with a 1-nil win over Pérez Zeledon.

CS Cartaginés secured a CCAC spot with the third-best record in the cumulative standings to qualify for its second participation. Los Azules also began its 2025 Torneo Apertura campaign over the weekend, falling 1-nil on the road against Municipal Liberia.

Head-To-Head

They will meet for the second time in the Central American Cup. In the 2023 edition on Matchday 1 of Group A, on August 3, 2023, at the Ricardo Saprissa Stadium in San José (CRC), Deportivo Saprissa won 1-0 thanks to an own goal by José Vargas.

In general, between Saprissa and Cartaginés in official Concacaf club competitions, this will be the 8th meeting. The other six came in the Central American Fraternity Cup, where the “Monstruo Morado” earned 3 wins and 3 draws.

Cartaginés has yet to win an official international match against Saprissa. The last time the club avoided defeat against the “Monstruo Morado” was in the 1976 Central American Fraternity Cup in a 0-0 draw on Matchday 6 of the second round of the group stage. It has been nearly 50 years since Cartaginés last avoided defeat against Saprissa at the international level.

Out of their last 85 meetings across all competitions, Deportivo Saprissa has won 36, lost 24, and drawn 25 times.