CD Marathón, Real Estelí FC meet with Quarterfinals berth on the line

Both teams enter their final Group A match with opportunities to advance to Quarterfinals.

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras – The 2026 Central American Cup continues on Wednesday with CD Marathón hosting Real Estelí FC in Group B at Estadio Francisco Morazán.

The meeting will be the first between the sides in the Central American Cup, and third overall in their history. The series is levelled with one win per side to date.

The home side enters the match with aims of bouncing back after its 1-0 loss at home against Alianza FC. Overall, Marathón has put together a 1W-1D-1L record thus far in Group B and sits in third place with four points.

The Honduran side will book its spot in the Quarterfinals with a win if CS Herediano fails to win its match against Antigua.

Real Estelí arrives at its final group stage fixture in search of a positive result after its 2-0 loss to Herediano. The two-time Central American Cup runners-up have picked up two wins and a draw so far and sit second in the Group B table with six points.

Real Estelí will seal a place in the knockout stage with a victory, or with a draw if Herediano fails to win against Antigua.

Pre-match Stats: CD Marathón vs Real Estelí

• CD Marathón must defeat Real Estelí and rely on the result of the CS Herediano match to keep their hopes of reaching the knockout stage alive. A victory would also give the Honduran side its first-ever home win in the Concacaf Central American Cup, after falling 1-0 to Alianza FC (SLV) in its previous home fixture.
• Real Estelí need a victory to secure direct qualification for the knockout stage of the Concacaf Central American Cup. It would mark the Nicaraguan club's third progression beyond the group stage, having advanced in 2023 and 2024 before being eliminated in the group phase of the 2025 edition.
• This match features two of the three players with the greatest progressive carrying distance in the 2026 Concacaf Central American Cup: CD Marathón's Brian Farioli (454 metres) and Real Estelí's Byron Bonilla (374 metres).
• A total of 61.1% of Real Estelí's shots in the 2026 Concacaf Central American Cup have come from outside the penalty area, the second-highest proportion in the tournament, trailing only Alianza FC (SLV) (63.4%).
• Real Estelí own the second-highest average shot distance in the 2026 Concacaf Central American Cup at 21.1 metres, behind only Alianza FC (SLV) (23.1 metres). Despite that, the Nicaraguan side have yet to score from outside-the-box attempts in this edition of the competition.