2022–23 Liga Nacional de Guatemala

The 2022–23 Liga Nacional de Guatemala, also known as Liga Guate Banrural for sponsorship reasons, was the 70th season of the Liga Nacional de Guatemala, the top-flight football league in Guatemala. The season began on 23 July 2022, when the Apertura 2022 tournament started, and ended on 27 May 2023 with the Clausura 2023 tournament second leg final.

Competition format
Same as previous years, the season was divided into two short tournaments: Torneo Apertura (opening) and Torneo Clausura (closing), each of which crowning its own champion. Both Apertura and Clausura tournaments were played under the same format which consisted in a Classification phase and a Final phase.

In the classification phase, teams played each other twice on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The top eight teams at the conclusion of the classification stage advanced to the quarter-finals of the final stage.

The final phase was played on a single-elimination format and consisted of the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the finals. All rounds were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, with the higher-ranked team in the classification phase of each tie hosting the second leg. The quarter-final pairings were pre-determined based on the teams' final position in the classification phase. In the semi-finals the teams were re-seeded based also on their final position in the classification phase in order to determine the two pairings. The quarter-finals and semi-finals matchups were determined as follows:


 * Quarter-finals
 * Match A: Third placed team vs. Sixth placed team
 * Match B: Fourth placed team vs. Fifth placed team
 * Match C: First placed team vs. Eighth placed team
 * Match D: Second placed team vs. Seventh placed team


 * Semi-finals
 * Match I: Second best placed semi-finalist vs. Third best placed semi-finalist
 * Match II: Top-placed semi-finalist vs. Fourth best placed semi-finalist

Both champions of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments plus the best placed team on the aggregate table (excluding the two champions) at the end of the season qualified for the 2023 CONCACAF Central American Cup.

Format changes
The following changes were adopted as of this season:
 * The away goals rule was abolished and was no longer taken into account as a tie-breaker criterion in the final phase series.
 * The tie-breaker criterion based on the seeds used to determine a qualification in the event of a tie on aggregate was also abolished. Instead, it was decided to play extra time and a penalty shoot-out if necessary.

Teams
A total of 12 teams took part in this season: the top ten teams from the aggregate table of the 2021–22 season as well as two promoted teams from the 2021–22 Primera División season, which were Deportivo Mixco and Xinabajul-Huehue. Deportivo Mixco earned promotion for being finalists in both Apertura and Clausura tournaments of the 2021–22 season, while Xinabajul-Huehue ensured promotion to the Liga Nacional on 4 June 2022, after winning the promotion play-off against Deportivo Marquense.

The two promoted teams replaced Sololá and Nueva Concepción, the bottom two teams in the aggregate table of the 2021–22 season, who were relegated to Primera División.

Managerial changes

 * Notes

Torneo Apertura
The Apertura 2022 tournament began on 23 July and ended on 18 December 2022. Comunicaciones were the defending champions, having won the Clausura 2022 tournament at the previous season.

Classification phase – Apertura 2022
The classification phase of the Apertura tournament ran from 23 July to 27 November 2022.

Results
The match schedule was decided based on the draw which was held on 17 June 2022.

Top goalscorers
Players sorted first by goals scored, then by last name. Goals scored during the final phase are not included as the tournament top scorer award only takes into account goals scored in the classification phase. Source: Soccerway
 * Note

Final phase – Apertura 2022
The final phase of the Apertura tournament ran from 30 November to 18 December 2022.

Quarter-finals
Comunicaciones won 2–0 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals.

Municipal won 2–1 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals.

Antigua won 3–1 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals.

Cobán Imperial won 1–0 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals.

Semi-finals
Cobán Imperial won 3–0 on aggregate and advanced to the finals.

Antigua won 2–0 on aggregate and advanced to the finals.

Finals
''Cobán Imperial won 1–0 on aggregate. As Torneo Apertura champions they qualified for the 2023 CONCACAF Central American Cup.''

Torneo Clausura
The Clausura 2023 tournament began on 21 January and ended on 27 May 2023. The defending champions were Cobán Imperial, who had won the previous Apertura 2022 tournament.

As of this tournament, the Liga Nacional was renamed "Liga Guate Banrural" for sponsorship reasons due to a three-year agreement signed with the Banco de Desarrollo Rural.

Classification phase – Clausura 2023
The classification phase of the Clausura tournament ran from 21 January to 7 May 2023.

Results
The match schedule was decided based on the draw which took place during the Extraordinary General Assembly of the Liga Nacional held on 20 December 2022.

Top goalscorers
Players sorted first by goals scored, then by last name. Goals scored during the final phase are not included as the tournament top scorer award only takes into account goals scored in the classification phase. Source: Soccerway

Final phase – Clausura 2023
The final phase of the Clausura tournament ran from 10 to 27 May 2023.

Quarter-finals
Xelajú won 2–1 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals.

Guastatoya won 2–1 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals.

Comunicaciones won 4–3 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals.

Tied 3–3 on aggregate, Antigua won on penalties and advanced to the semi-finals.

Semi-finals
Xelajú won 3–2 on aggregate and advanced to the finals.

Tied 1–1 on aggregate, Antigua won on penalties and advanced to the semi-finals.

Finals
''Xelajú won 3–2 on aggregate. As Torneo Clausura champions they qualified for the 2023 CONCACAF Central American Cup.''

Aggregate table
The aggregate table was used to determine the third qualified team for the 2023 CONCACAF Central American Cup, besides the Apertura and Clausura champions, and the two relegated teams to the 2023–24 Primera División.