CONCACAF Gold Cup
| Founded | September 18, 1961[1] |
|---|---|
| Region | North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF) |
| Number of teams | 12 |
| Related competitions | FIFA Confederations Cup |
| Current champions |
 Mexico (7th title) |
| Most successful team(s) |
Mexico (7 titles) |
| Website | www.goldcup.org |
 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup | |
The CONCACAF Gold Cup (Spanish: Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF) (French: Coupe D'or du CONCACAF) 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. Prior to 2015, when the Gold Cup did not fall on the same year as the FIFA Confederations Cup, the winner, or highest placed team that is a member of both CONCACAF and FIFA, qualified for the next staging of that tournament. Beginning in 2015, the winners of two successive Gold Cups (the 2013 and 2015 editions in the first instance) will face each other in a playoff to determine the CONCACAF entrant to the next Confederations Cup. If the same team has won the Gold Cup on both relevant occasions, there will be no playoff and that team will automatically qualify for the Confederations Cup.[2]
History
Championships prior to CONCACAF
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 four championships in 1947 and 1949 and later, after 41 years of absence, in 1990 and 1991 for the North American zone as the North American Nations Cup with Mexico winning three (1947, ’49, ’91) and Canada winning one (1990) before the introduction of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
CONCACAF Championship
CONCACAF was founded in 1961 through the merging of NAFC and CCCF which resulted in a single championship being held for the continent. The first CONCACAF tournament was held in 1963 in El Salvador with Costa Rica becoming the first champion. The CONCACAF Campeonato de Naciones, as it was called, was held every two years from 1963–1973. The second tournament was held in Guatemala in 1965 when Mexico defeated the host country in the final of a six-team tournament. The 1967 competition was held in Honduras and saw a third 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 Trinidad & Tobago, the first time in the Caribbean. In 1973, the tournament kept the same format of six teams playing a single round-robin, but there were bigger stakes attached: CONCACAF’s berth in the FIFA World Cup tournament in 1974. In Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the host country pulled off a shocking upset by winning the tournament and claiming a spot in the World Cup in West Germany.
With the Campeonato de Naciones doubling as the final World Cup qualifying tournament, the next two editions were held in Mexico City and Tegucigalpa, Honduras in 1977 and 1981, respectively. In each case the host country was crowned champion and earned a spot in the World Cup. 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 1985 and 1989, respectively, but without ever lifting a trophy.
CONCACAF Gold Cup
In 1990, CONCACAF renamed the CONCACAF Championship as 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 1996, the Gold Cup field included its first guest team, the defending FIFA World Cup Champions Brazil. Guests were invited to participate in the six Gold Cup tournaments from 1996 to 2005. Starting with the 2000 Gold Cup, the tournament field was increased to twelve teams and for the 2005 tournament, the Gold Cup again was contested exclusively by nations within CONCACAF.
The 2007 Gold Cup was contested in the United States where the hosts successfully defended their title beating Mexico in the final 2–1 in Chicago; Canada and Guadeloupe shared third place. Mexico won the 2009 Gold Cup by beating the United States 5–0. In the 2011 Gold Cup, Mexico defeated the USA 4–2 in the final while the USA won the 2013 Gold Cup by beating Panama 1–0.
Since the formation of the Gold Cup in 1991, the CONCACAF Championship has been won seven times by Mexico, five times by the United States, and once by Canada. Runners-up include Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, and Jamaica.
Tournament results
| CONCACAF Championship | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Host | Final Group Rank | ||||
| Winner | Runner-up | 3rd Place | 4th Place | |||
| 1963 Details |
 El Salvador |
 Costa Rica |
El Salvador |
.svg.png){kind=small} Netherlands Antilles |
 Honduras | |
| 1965 Details |
 Guatemala |
.svg.png){kind=small} Mexico |
Guatemala |
Costa Rica |
El Salvador | |
| 1967 Details |
Honduras |
Guatemala |
Mexico |
Honduras |
 Trinidad and Tobago | |
| 1969 Details |
Costa Rica |
Costa Rica |
Guatemala |
Netherlands Antilles |
Mexico | |
| 1971 Details |
Trinidad and Tobago |
Mexico |
.svg.png){kind=small} Haiti |
Costa Rica |
 Cuba | |
| World Cup Qualifying Period | ||||||
| 1973 Details |
Haiti |
Haiti |
Trinidad and Tobago |
Mexico |
Honduras | |
| 1977 Details |
Mexico |
Mexico |
Haiti |
El Salvador |
 Canada | |
| 1981 Details |
Honduras |
Honduras |
El Salvador |
Mexico |
Canada | |
| 1985 Details |
CONCACAF (No Fixed Venue) | Canada |
Honduras |
Costa Rica |
--- | |
| 1989 Details |
CONCACAF (No Fixed Venue) | Costa Rica |
 United States |
Trinidad and Tobago |
Guatemala | |
(1) Costa Rica and Jamaica shared the 3rd Place.
(2) Not Held.
Teams in Italics are Guest Nations.
Performance by country
The following table shows cumulative top four results for all editions of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The Third Place column lists all the teams who won the third place match, and the teams eliminated in semi-finals and never played the match.
| Team | Winners | Runners-up | Third Place | Fourth Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico |
10 (1965, 1971, 1977, 1993, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2009, 2011, 2015) | 2 (1967, 2007) | 4 (1973, 1981, 1991, 2013) | 1 (1969) |
| United States |
5 (1991, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2013) | 5 (1989, 1993, 1998, 2009, 2011) | 2 (1996, 2003) | 1 (2015) |
| Costa Rica |
3 (1963, 1969, 1989) | 1 (2002) | 5 (1965, 1971, 1985, 1993, 2009) | 2 (1991, 2003) |
| Canada |
2 (1985, 2000) | - | 2 (2002, 2007) | 2 (1977, 1981) |
| Honduras |
1 (1981) | 2 (1985, 1991) | 5 (1967, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2013) | 2 (1963, 1973) |
| Guatemala |
1 (1967) | 2 (1965, 1969) | — | 2 (1989, 1996) |
 Haiti |
1 (1973) | 2 (1971, 1977) | — | |
| El Salvador |
— | 2 (1963, 1981) | 2 (1977) | 1 (1965) |
 Panama |
— | 2 (2005, 2013) | 2 (2011, 2015) | — |
 Brazil |
— | 2 (1996, 2003) | 1 (1998) | — |
| Trinidad and Tobago |
— | 1 (1973) | 2 (1989, 2000) | 1 (1967) |
 Jamaica |
— | 1 (2015) | 1 (1993) | 1 (1998) |
 Colombia |
— | 1 (2000) | 1 (2005) | — |
.svg.png){kind=small} Netherlands Antilles |
— | 2 (1963, 1969) | ||
 Peru |
— | — | 1 (2000) | — |
.svg.png){kind=small} Guadeloupe |
— | — | 1 (2007) | — |
| Cuba |
— | — | — | 1 (1971) |
 South Korea |
— | — | — | 1 (2002) |
Records and statistics
See also
References
- ↑ Castro, Rodrigo A. Calvo (6 April 2012). "Costa Rica wins 1963 NORCECA title". CONCACAF.com. Archived from the original on 9 April 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ↑ "2013, 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup winners will play one-off match for 2017 Confederations Cup berth". MLS Soccer. April 5, 2013. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to CONCACAF Gold Cup. |
- Official Gold Cup Site at CONCACAF.com
- Copa Oro coverage on Univision.com
- Gold Cup at RSSSF
- Gold Cup & Championship on RSSSF Archive
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