CONCACAF Gold Cup

The CONCACAF Gold Cup (previously known as CONCACAF Championship) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the regional champion of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.

The Gold Cup is held every two years and when it does not fall the same year as an edition of the FIFA Confederations Cup, the winner, or highest placed team that is a member of both CONCACAF and FIFA, qualifies for the next staging of that tournament.

History

Prior to the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) being formed in 1961, association football in the region was divided into smaller, regional divisions. The two main bodies consisted of the Confederación Centroamericana y del Caribe de Fútbol (CCCF) founded in 1938 (consisting of Central America and most of the Caribbean) and the North American Football Confederation (NAFC) founded in 1946 (consisting of the North American nations of United States, Mexico, Canada, and Cuba). Each confederation held its own competition, the CCCF Championship and the NAFC Championship. The CCCF held 10 championships from 1941–1961, Costa Rica winning seven (1941, ’46, ’48, ’53, ’55, ’60, ’61), and one each by El Salvador (1943), Panama (1951) and Haiti (1957). The NAFC held two championships, in 1947 and 1949, won each time by Mexico.

CONCACAF Championship

CONCACAF was founded in its current form in 1961 after the merging of NAFC and CCCF and thus resulted in a single competition being held for the continent. However, the first official national team competition was not held until more than two years had passed, with El Salvador being selected as the first hosting country (1963). The CONCACAF Campeonato de Naciones, as it was called, was then held every two years from 1963-1971. The second edition (1965) held in Guatemala, saw Mexico defeat the host in the final of a six-team tournament. The 1967 competition was held in Honduras and saw a third different champion crowned, Guatemala. Costa Rica won their second title as hosts in 1969, knocking off Guatemala, while two years later, Mexico won their second championship as the tournament moved to the Caribbean for the first time, held in Trinidad & Tobago. In 1973, the tournament kept the same format of six teams in one site playing a single round-robin, but now there were bigger stakes attached: the Confederation’s berth in the FIFA World Cup finals. In Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the host country pulled off a shocking upset by winning the tournament and claiming a spot in West Germany 1974.

With the Campeonato de Naciones doubling as the final World Cup qualifying tournament, the next two editions were held in Ciudad de México and Tegucigalpa, Honduras in 1977 and 1981, respectively, the host country came away as champion and grabbed the spots on offers each time. In 1985 and 1989, the winner of the World Cup qualifying tournament was again crowned Confederation champion. Canada and Costa Rica were named champions in ’85 and ’89, respectively, but without ever lifting a trophy.

CONCACAF Gold Cup

In 1990, CONCACAF again created a tournament as its showpiece event to crown the regional champion. The event was named the CONCACAF Gold Cup, with the USA hosting the first competition in 1991. The host country was the inaugural champion of the eight-team tournament. Mexico dominated the remainder of the decade, winning three consecutive CONCACAF Gold Cup titles in 1993, 1996 and 1998. In the 1996 edition, the Gold Cup field included its first guest team, inviting the defending FIFA World Cup Champions Brazil.

Starting with the 2000 Gold Cup, the tournament field was increased to twelve teams. Canada made history winning their first major international honour in more than 100 years of football.

The 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup was contested in the United States from June 6 to June 24, 2007 where the hosts successfully defended their title beating Mexico in the final 2-1 in Chicago; Canada and Guadeloupe shared third-place. The 2009 Gold Cup took place July 3 to July 26, 2009.^[1] with Mexico claiming the title after beating the United States by a 5-0 score.

Since the formation of the Gold Cup in 1991, the CONCACAF Championship has been won six times by Mexico, four times by the United States, and once by Canada.

Qualification

North American zone

• Qualifies automatically, 3 teams.

Central American zone

• qualifies from Central American Cup, top 5 teams.

Caribbean zone

• qualifies from Caribbean Cup, top 4 teams.

Tournament results

(invited teams in italics)

¹ No formal tournament was held. In qualification for the World Cup, the top team in qualifying was considered champion.

² Costa Rica and Jamaica tied 1–1 after extra time and shared third place.

³ No third place match was played; third place was shared.

• Key:
  • aet - after extra time
  • asdet - after sudden death extra time
  • pen - after penalty shootout

Cumulative results

The following is a compiled national level championship table for CONCACAF region. Years in Italics indicate years prior to the Gold Cup.

^ a: Hosts
^ b: Teams invited to the tournament
^ c: Third place match was not held
Italic = Tournaments held before present Gold Cup.

Top scorers

Records

Gold Cup all-time scorers

In Bold indicates that the player is still active.

Hat-tricks

Total hosts

In italics tournaments prior to Gold Cup.

^ Co-hosted by Mexico and USA.

Tournament appearances

^ Teams invited to the tournament.

Participating nations

Gold Cup results, 1991–2011

Gold Cup winning head coaches

See also

• American Championships

References

External links

• Official Gold Cup Site
• CONCACAF Info about Championship
• Copa Oro coverage on Univision.com
• Gold Cup at RSSSF
• Gold Cup & Championship on RSSSF Archive